Category Archives: Technology

Heading west in search of food

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On December 24, I will say goodbye to the contents of my one-person refrigerator and head to a table for more than 600. Yes, I’m off to the Hazon Food Conference in Pacific Grove, CA. According to the Twitter buzz, the conference promises to draw the largest gathering of the New Jewish Food Movement ever!

Not that we will all sit down and nod our heads together. Indeed, as the debate about meat at the conference shows, you can expect a few disagreements. I look forward to observing and perhaps taking part in some of these discussions (I already jumped into the meat comment combat — in defense of the stuff, believe it or not!).

If you’re curious what this is all about, check out the website and the schedule. Then try not to salivate too much!

I look forward to writing about this experience and guiding you to other accounts in word and image.

Local foods for couch potatoes

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(This is cross-posted from my Examiner.com site.)

For a practice that is supposed to reduce food miles, eating locally can sure take a lot of footwork. Finding that one particular ingredient or a farmers market within a short distance can prove difficult. Luckily, the Internet can step in to do that work for you! Here are two sites that allow even the biggest homebody foodie or most busy Washingtonian to go local or sustainable. Continue reading →

Electronic beer bread, all the way from the edge of irony

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To participate in the sustainable food movement today is to live on the edge of irony. Especially if you’re taking part in the movement from a seriously urban setting like, say, Washington, D.C.

What do I mean by this? Just look at this summer. Over the past few months, I’ve taken digital pictures of my hands covered in garden soil, emailed for advice on thinning carrots, Googled rustic local farms, and watched a documentary about real food from a plastic seat in an air conditioned theater.

It’s not just me. Recently, more and more small farms, local food organizations, and gardeners have set up blogs or created Facebook groups. Continue reading →

Quick tweets meet slow eats

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In the foodie world, it isn’t just greens that are going micro. Folks on Twitter (Tweeple, if you will), are now sharing tiny reviews and itty bitty news items about everything from restaurants to cooking at home to public foodie events in 140 characters or less. I have to say this has been fabulous for keeping up with D.C.-area food fun. I’ve doubled or tripled the scope of my D.C. gastronomical awareness, and it’s only been a few weeks.

One set of tweets I recently enjoyed came from chefrock, of The Carlyle Club in Alexandria. He took us through a meal at Rammy-winning Brabo in a play-by-play that could rival any Tom Sietsema review or Iron Chef narration. In quick, nutritious bursts, chefrock took us from the very beginning of the meal (“Fresh baguette was gooder than good. Nothin like great bread to start a meal off right. Service is awesome, so glad its still alive”) to dessert (“Apricot cobbler was nice and refreshing, not too sweet. The chcolate terrine was ridiculous! I’m stuffed!”). Continue reading →