Let’s say you just finished eating an apple. You loved it. You start imagining more apples. Maybe even growing some in your backyard. So you look at gnawed apple in your hand. What happens if you plant the apple seeds nestled…
One of my favorite Christmastime tales is Truman Capote’s short story, “A Christmas Memory.” I dare you to read it without crying. If you have a soft spot for dogs, then I double-dare you. In it, a boy named Buddy, his childlike…
We should all make our own pie crusts this Thanksgiving. I say this as a person who has been known to hurl unsuccessful homemade pie dough into the trash can in frustration and run to the store for refrigerated pre-made pie dough. Learning to…
One of my most embarrassing middle school memories involves a pumpkin. My mother had rounded up our family for a fun fall jaunt over to a local farm stand to pick out pumpkins for carving or painting. When we arrived, pumpkins…
Bittersweet and rose hips grew wild alongside the driveway of my childhood home. Sometimes, in high school, I would clip some and use it to decorate my bedroom. Imagine that. Fall decor, there for the taking. Having lived in urban or…
Family has long been a touchstone for chef J. Scott Martino of Lancaster-based Cortazzo Foods. When he left his full time job as a chef at The Restaurant at Donecker’s and devoted himself to making pasta sauce, he used his grandmother Marianina Cortazzo’s…
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives,” says the writer Annie Dillard. And, since it’s back-to-school time, many parents are spending portions of their days making sandwiches. Whether peanut butter and jelly, egg salad,…
At Weaver’s Orchard, Johnny Appleseed Day comes just once a year. For the past six years, on the Saturday after Labor Day, John Henschel has become John Chapman (a.k.a Johnny Appleseed), to the delight of eager elementary-age kids who come…
Our TV has been tuned to Rio lately, delivering contests from the traditional (gymnastics, track and swimming) to the unexpected (judo, racewalking and handball). So I’ve been thinking about contests. And then next month, on September 10, Weaver’s will also be hosting a…
Nan Reinert taught our Cooking Class on Tuesday, August 2. Find her recipes and tips below! Canning Basics Always make extra! Canned goods make great presents and once your family and friends start tasting the deliciousness you will be popular! Always…