Ham Sandwich Indicted!

Because God knows I don't have enough going on in my life, I've decided to tackle yet another project--mushroom growing. My friend Alyssa got me this really great book for my birthday-- Fresh Food from Small Places --and between that and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle , I've been on a grow-your-own kick. (My garden is shaping up nicely--this weekend I'll hit up Oakland for some more tomato plants, and probably some herbs for a pot garden.) After doing a bit of research online, I found a company that got good reviews for their prolific mushroom starters ( Fungi Perfecti , if you're interested). $30 and a few days later, my shiitake mushroom starter showed up in the mail. After cold-shocking it in the fridge for 4 days, I soaked it in a pot of water for 24 hours and it looks like this: NB: I'm currently sans camera, and therefore sans pictures--this is one I borrowed from the web and shows a mushroom that I don't have yet. Once I get the camera back, I'll upd...

Hey Friends! I'm competing in a cupcake baking contest on Saturday May 9th! It's the first Cupcake Camp Columbus, being held at Surly Girl Saloon in the Short North. There's two sessions you can go to: 2-3pm or 3:30-4:30pm. $5 gets you in the door for all you can eat cupcakes in 4 categories: Best Use of Alcohol, Best Use of Bacon, Best Vegan, and Most Creatively Decorated. I'm entering the Best Use of Alcohol Category. (Shocking.) If you're free that afternoon, come down and try one (or several cupcakes) and know that your admission fee is going to a great cause...The Mid-Ohio Food Bank. Thanks and hope to see you there!!!!

I'm just getting a chance to post about my recent trip to Boston...Finally! DF and I went out there a couple of weekends ago to catch the season opener for the Boston Red Sox. While we ended up not being able to catch the game due to a rain delay and flights that were too expensive to change (Oh! The horror!), we did get the chance to enjoy some really great restaurants. I should preface this by saying that when I lived in Boston for college, "fine dining" was defined by two stalwart East Coast chains--Vinnie Testa's (Italian, big portions) and Legal Seafood (known for their chowder). On a very rare occasion, we may have ventured down to the North End for some authentic Italian--but that was usually reserved for Valentine's Day dates, or maybe when parents came to town. Older and allegedly wiser, DF and I returned to Boston, armed with extensive Internet research and some Epicurious recommendations. The first night we were in town, we had a late dinner at Neptune ...

April 1st saw my 31st birthday (Happy Birthday to me!) and my first non-friend/co-worker cupcake order for a central Ohio CSA workshop at Wild Goose Creative . Jaime Moore from Wayward Seed Farms, as well as representatives from Toad Hill Organic Farm , Bridgman Farm , Elizabeth Telling Farm , and 2Silos sat down with local residents to talk about CSA's, what they do, how to get involved, and how important it is to support your local farmer. (In case you're not familiar, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture--basically, you pay a certain amount of money at the beginning of the growing season, and for that money you get fruits, vegetables, meats, eggs, etc. on a weekly basis, depending on which type of CSA you sign up with.) With so many great local farms so close to Columbus, it's a great way to support small agriculture AND get super delicious fruits and veggies.* Anyway, thanks to Jaime at Wayward Seed, I had the opportunity to provide cupcakes for the event--S...