Category Archives: Cooking and Food

The Sadness of the Last Apple

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Julie-Ann Baumer

Our American culture pays significant tribute to being environmentally friendly and green. A commercial that runs regularly on a local sports talk radio station tells me to do “just one thing” to help improve the environment. I can buy “green” … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking and Food | Tagged 100 Mile Diet, apples, greenwashing, it ain't easy being green, paying the tribute, producers and consumers, Real local | 1 Comment

Too Big for their Britches

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Julie-Ann Baumer

My tomato seedlings are getting too big for their britches. It’s time to repot them. Once seedlings start growing and getting their “true” leaves, it’s time to transfer them to bigger pots. There are thousands of blogs and websites with … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking and Food, Farmers | Tagged consumption, potting up tomatoes, production, repotting tomatoes | 1 Comment

Meals with Friends

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Julie-Ann Baumer

Last Saturday, I was invited to my brother’s house for an afternoon “working session.” We toiled away in his upstairs home office while his wife, Miss Mary, visited with her sister, Dianne. As we went over story and essay ideas … Continue reading →

Posted in Abundance, Cooking and Food | Tagged about having it all, Berkshire Hathaway, Doris Christopher, family mealtime, Selling out, The commoditization of everything, The Pampered Chef | 2 Comments

Forty Dollar Carrots

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Julie-Ann Baumer

During one of my strolls through the Seacoast Eat Local Winter Farmers Market, I overheard a woman say to her husband “Can you believe they want five dollars for a dozen eggs? I can get the same eggs at Wal*Mart … Continue reading →

Posted in Abundance, Cooking and Food, Experiments and Challenges, Farmers | Tagged Barry Estabrook, carrots, Farmers Markets, frankenstein eggs, goldfish, green moral high horse, True cost of food | 6 Comments

Fair Winds and Dream Bars

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Julie-Ann Baumer

Even though I’ve packed up 8 boxes of books and stashed them in a temporary location, I still have a few idle stacks kicking about The Coop. In one of them is an Encyclopedic Cook Book from 1950; I keep … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking and Food | Tagged Cargo, Carnival Triumph, Containerization, Dead in the water, Dream Bars, Flett Shetlands, S.S. Laurentia, shipping, Who is Dena Teegarden? | 2 Comments

Tossing and Turning All Night

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Julie-Ann Baumer

During my ten-year gig at The Big Corporation up north, I took part in a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test. In the late 80’s and early 90’s, it was a trendy tool for “team building.” My teammates and I found out … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking and Food, Friday Pillow Talk | Tagged Doritos don't grow on trees, food freedom, INFJ, Michael Moss, Myers-Briggs, You can grow your own damned food! | 6 Comments

A Story about Seeds

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Julie-Ann Baumer

After two successful years growing garlic and tomatoes in Uncle Bob’s garden, some of the people in my life started thinking I was a gardening expert, or the Julia Child of gardening. Sometimes they requested certain crops to be grown; … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking and Food, Farmers | Tagged agribusiness, Aubuchon Hardware, Hardwick, High Mowing Seeds, Seth Godin | 2 Comments

The State of the Garlic

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Julie-Ann Baumer

I got an e-mail from my friend Janet yesterday. She writes: “I got notification that my CSA will start June 12th. I am looking forward to it. They are already starting plants. I will look into the winter one at … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking and Food, Farmers | Tagged Buy Local, Community Sponsored Agriculture, CSA, friends, garlic, Locally sourced food | 3 Comments

Who Moved C’est Cheese?

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Julie-Ann Baumer

In 1998, Spencer Johnson wrote perhaps one of the silliest “business” books of all time, Who Moved My Cheese? I read it when I worked at The Big Corporation Up The Road and the simplistic allegory was a regular source … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking and Food | Tagged allegory, Bad business books, C'est Cheese, Nancy Briggs Guilmette, North Hampton, Who Moved My Cheese | 2 Comments

The Garden of the Mind

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Julie-Ann Baumer

On Monday, Robin Follette posted her Fedco seed order on her blog. What was that sound in my ear? It sounded like a giant clock ticking; the ticking got faster and faster, just like the voices at the end of … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking and Food, Farmers | Tagged dark ages, Fedco, GMO seeds, logical fallacies, Luddites, Robin Follette | 3 Comments