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Food / Dining

In this Saturday, May 4, 2013 photo, Ethan Welty, co-founder of the urban foraging website fallingfruit.org, tastes and examines a fruity seed pod from a tree at a public park, in Boulder, Colo. Welty's website, which grew out of one of his hobbies, already points the way to more than half a million edible plants in public spaces worldwide, and it is growing. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Found Fruit

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Boulder, Colo. — Ethan Welty is thinking ahead to harvest time as he cycles through tidy Boulder streets pointing out apple, plum and mulberry trees on public and private land. “We’re coming up on the best apple trees in Boulder,” said Welty, a geographer and doctoral student specializing in glaciers in the University of Colorado’s Environmental Studies program. He was …

Idaho Potato Giant Bets on Biotech Spuds

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Boise, Idaho — A dozen years after a customer revolt forced Monsanto to ditch its genetically engineered potato, an Idaho company aims to resurrect high-tech spuds. This month, tuber processing giant J.R. Simplot Co. asked the U.S. government to approve five varieties of biotech potatoes. They’re engineered not to develop ugly black bruises. …

McDonald’s Expected to Overhaul U.S. Menu

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Chicago — The Angus burger is going away, and it may not be the only McDonald’s dish on the chopping block. The world’s largest restaurant chain has also considered axing Caesar salads, the McSkillet Burrito, the Southern Style Biscuit and steak bagels, according to a franchisee email obtained by Bloomberg News. While the Angus burger contains as many as 820 calories and costs …

Whole Foods Takes Lead on  Product Labels

Sunday, April 21, 2013

In the past few years, Whole Foods Market has gotten much stricter about where its products come from. The natural foods grocer has rolled out a series of standards regarding animal welfare, seafood sustainability and genetically modified ingredients — to name a few — that is unprecedented in …

Pork, Beef Boards Announce New Names for Meat Products

Sunday, April 21, 2013

What’s in a name? Plenty when it comes to pork chops, and it’s all about to change. On labels, different cuts of pork chops are named from bone-in to boneless loin chops, to center cut to thick and thin to loin and rib chops. Confusing, isn’t it? The …

What the Pros Know About Beer

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

“Find The Thing You’re Most Passionate About, Then Do It On Nights And Weekends For The Rest Of Your Life” — headline in The Onion, March 20 Bridgewater — Several of my Facebook friends linked to the headline …

In Tough Times, A Cafe Runs on Faith

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

The employees at The Splatter Cafe and Bakery in Chelsea are used to hearing from customers who say the eatery’s prices are too modest. It’s that rare restaurant where one can purchase a cheeseburger for $3.50. One woman …

Vermonters Buzz About Beer, Breweries

Friday, April 12, 2013

Greensboro, Vt. — Everyone expects Vermonters to wow the world with their maple syrup and cheeses. But lately the buzz has been about the brews. Not that the craft beer movement is anything new to this tiny New …

Personal Chefs: In the Upper Valley, Some Cooks Bring the Dishes Home

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

You wouldn’t know it from looking at photographs of Brian Kasten in a chef’s standard white coat, but the cook and owner of Supper Solution in Thetford never intended to go into the food business. As a geology …

Along the Way, Take Time to Smell, and Cook, the Flowers

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Melville, n.y. — Greenport, N.Y., chocolatier Miche Bacher’s new book, Cooking With Flowers (Quirk, $24.95), came out last week. Bacher recently talked about picking, preparing and cooking with flowers. Q: What would you say to the cook who …

An Increasingly Sticky Situation

Friday, April 5, 2013

Portland, Maine — Sticky-fingered thieves are stealing the sap right out of Maine’s maple trees. With little more than a spout-like tap and a bucket, people are looting the liquid out of trees on private property and hauling …

On Tap: The Upper Valley Has Good Taste When It Comes to Gas Station Beer

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The menu of beers before me was like some kind of “Greatest Hits” album, each selection just as good as the last. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. Stone Arrogant Bastard. Victory Golden Monkey. Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. …

Baked Ham Has Many Uses

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

On Easter I baked an enormous ham shank that I’d brined in apple and hard cider with a mixture of cloves, bay leaf, juniper berries, cinnamon, allspice and mace. I’d glazed the ham with my own home-made marmalade, …