When I first heard about Fire, Flour and Fork, I thought it sounded like a great way to celebrate Richmond’s diverse food scene from a food history perspective. Planned by Real Richmond Food Tours, the weekend-long event spans tastings, dinners and educational sessions. Now that the schedule of events has been released, I can’t wait to… Read More Looking Forward to Fire, Flour and Fork
In spite of threatening weather reports all week, yesterday’s Edible Food Fest in Orange couldn’t have had a more gorgeous day for the food-packed festival. The Edible Food Fest, sponsored by regional food magazine Edible Blue Ridge, the local Blue Mountain Brewery and the Orange Downtown Alliance, showcased the central Virginia region’s finest foods, from farmers and… Read More Edible Food Fest in Orange
I almost didn’t want to use this space to make any sort of commentary on the whole Paula Deen fiasco. As a white girl foodie, part of me feels out of my depth in even having an opinion on such a complicated, racially-charged issue. But I have to admit I can see both sides. Let… Read More On Paula Deen
Yesterday evening, my mother and I had the honor of enjoying a period meal with Mr. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, at Walkerton Tavern, a circa 1824/5 tavern and meeting house literally around the corner from my house. The program was presented by Henrico County’s Division of Recreation and Parks and the Henrico Historical… Read More Dinner with Jefferson Davis
I was flipping through the channels the other day and came across a show that has quickly become my new favorite – “A Taste of History” on RLTV. On each 30-minute long episode, Chef Walter Staib, an international restaurant consultant, visits historic sites and uses their kitchens to prepare dishes of their time period. Many… Read More “A Taste of History” showcases historical cooking techniques and recipes
Mary Randolph, a relative of Thomas Jefferson, published her cookbook, The Virginia Housewife in 1838. The volume is notable for its use of items native to the colonies, such as pumpkins, squash, shellfish and venison, and preparations familiar to English cooks. In honor of Thanksgiving, I whipped up a batch of individual pumpkin puddings to take… Read More Colonial Thanksgiving recipe – Mary Randolph’s Pumpkin Pudding
As any Virginian worth his or her salt can tell you, Thanksgiving started right here in the Old Dominion. In 1619, a full two years before the famous “first Thanksgiving” of the New England pilgrims, English settlers at Berkeley Hundred (what would later become Berkeley Plantation) held a “day of thanksgiving to Almighty God.” One… Read More Roundup of Virginia Thanksgiving food history events
Dogwood Dispatches 