Virginia Talks: Your voice, your opinion, loud and clear.

Standing in the beverage section of the Salvage Barn on Hull Street, I’m feeling pulled in too many directions. I’ve already got my sights set on two pairs of $1.50 sunglasses. Nevermind that they’re women’s. They seem unisex enough to serve my disposable purpose. What’s got me really uneasy is the newly installed wall [...]

It’s not very often that I eat bacon. Or fried eggs. But for this sandwich I’ll make an exception. You’ve probably noticed by now that I strongly believe in using nutritious high-quality ingredients in my cooking. With a sandwich this simple, it makes …

Sunday September 12, 2010Maldini’s Ristorante Italiano6:30 p.m. 5-course Wine DinnerOpening toast, Cinzano Asti Spumante1st CourseOctopus & Shrimp Salad with Extra Virgin Olive Oil Lemon Sauce2008 Feudi di San Gregorio Falanghina Campania2nd CourseFa…

On our drive back from Polyface Farm we stopped to pick a few of the first apples of the season… Galas and Ginger Golds. I’ve been stashing away my apples recipes, anticipating Fall. Since September is here, I’m bringing apples back! Galas are not my…

Last weekend we took a drive into the beautiful rolling hills of Shenandoah and visited Polyface Farm. If you’ve read The Omnivore’s Dilemma or seen Food, Inc. you’re familiar with this place. This little farm became famous for defying the industrial f…

TweetSo summer seasonal beers are on sale and, Oktoberfest/Fall beers are starting to hit the shelf. That must mean Fall is around the corner and with that fall beer tastings are here. Normally I would have two separate posts happening. The weekly events would normally be up on Thursday night and beer tastings in the [...]

When my life gets busy, the first thing to go is homemade bread. Sometimes I wish I could barricade myself inside my kitchen and just bake, with no worries in the world besides how high my dough will rise and whether I should have let that loaf cool lo…

Poisoned fish tacos Everything was set for the grilled fish taco throwdown.  Jonah’s husband had seared off his 2lbs of mahi and I did the same with my orange roughy.  At the picnic table, we arranged our ingredients. Her purple cabbage and flour tortillas. My jalapeno crema cabbage and corn tortillas.  Assembling and eating got underway [...]

TweetHey it’s Wednesday and that must mean it’s time for a midweek update. Well normally I wouldn’t do this today but we got several events happening around the state that I wanted to be sure to get them out in one notice. So let’s get started. For my friends up in Northern VA, Dogfish Alehouse [...]

Thank goodness September 1st doesn’t bring the end of summer. It’s not over just yet! (Here in the northern hemisphere we still have 3 weeks left.) I’m not ready to lose the sunny hot long days. Here in Virginia it’s still hitting the high 90’s and I’m…