One of the guys in our neck of the woods used to have annual Christmas party the Saturday night before Christmas. The invite would show up in your mailbox, as well as on the bulletin board at the firehouse, by word of mouth at the general store and so on. There was no need to … Continue reading (B)Raising the Lowly Shank
Local Food
A Man. A Ham. A Plan.
About a year ago, I had to take care of some family business in Virginia. On my way down, I stopped at a groovy little gas station-turned barbeque joint called “Shaffers” in Middletown, Virginia. In the bays where once stood lifts and tool boxes and oil drums were beds of mac and cheese, greens and … Continue reading A Man. A Ham. A Plan.
Exonerating the Pot Roast
I don’t like the term “comfort food.” I think it’s condescending and drips with unnecessary, misplaced nostalgia. When I was in high school, I walked to school. It wasn’t uphill both ways. Sometimes there was snow, but the sidewalks were generally plowed. It didn’t build character. It didn’t "make me who I am." It was … Continue reading Exonerating the Pot Roast
Fresh Local Produce All…Winter?
(This piece was originally published in The Van Wyck Gazette) Sounds of emptiness fill the spaces between shelves stocked with jars of jams and jellies and refrigerators chilling meats, cheeses and produce. Mechanical hums from around the room harmonized with faint background music. On one end a girl in her early twenties squats, loading gallons … Continue reading Fresh Local Produce All…Winter?
Give Me The Bird
It was the kind of phone call that makes you stop and wonder how you’d gotten to the point that the phone call could even happen in the first place. And yet, at the same time, the kind of call that eventually brought to light all of the answers to the questions about how you’d … Continue reading Give Me The Bird
The Freeloading Goat 