Photo by Carol Topalian. By Nancy Taber Mid-March is when winter storage vegetables get their moment in the sun for Saint Patrick’s Day. Along with orange carrots, white potatoes and corned beef, the traditional Irish Boiled Dinner menu includes boiled green cabbage, all colors of the Irish flag. For a lot of people, Saint Pat’s boiled dinner and coleslaw at summer picnics might be the extent of their cabbage consumption, but there are great reasons to mix more cabbage into the regular menu. Cabbage (along with the carrots and potatoes) has plenty going for it as a low-calorie food that’s high ..read more

By Yayoi Koizumi, of Zero Waste Ithaca Texting and social media have made many of us armchair experts at acronyms. Today we’re talking proudly about B.Y.O. FYI, BYO, aka Bring Your Own, is a practice gaining steam, and ICYMI (In Case You Missed It), BYO is the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) of the zero waste movement. And in this case we’re not just talking about BYO beer, or even bags. We mean bring your own… mugs, plates, napkins, utensils – whatever you’d need instead of grabbing a single-use foodware. Creating more opportunity for Bringing Your Own to reduce waste is the spirit of the curren ..read more

Cider Week New York Returns May 5, 2023.This ten-day celebration of New York State cider features an incredible line-up of events, from New York City to Buffalo, and promises all the cider you could ever want to sip. Photos courtesy of the New York Cider Association Calling all cider lovers: Cider Week New York returns this Friday, May 5! This statewide celebration of New York cider will feature events at a wide array of unique venues all across New York State, from New York City to Buffalo, including cidery tasting rooms, restaurants, bars, retail stores and more. Starting on Friday, May 5 an ..read more

Lamoreaux Landing’s Estate Red Cuvée. It’s common these days to find many Finger Lakes red wines running in the upper $20s and lower $30s price range, with some reserve wines costing even more than that. The quality of our local red wine has improved exponentially over the past decade, and there’s no doubt that these wines are worth it. But for many of us committed to drinking Finger Lakes wine, it’s nice to find some red wines of good quality with a lower price point. Which is why we’re big fans of this red blend from Lamoreaux Landing on the east side of Seneca Lake. It runs $14.99 in the wi ..read more

Located in the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of New York State along the rolling hills of Seneca Lake, Red Jacket Orchards has mastered the art of harvesting and pressing premium fruits and juices! Three generations of the Nicholson family have grown apples and summer fruits, including berries, currants, cherries, peaches, plums, and the largest apricot orchard on the East Coast. Founded in 1958, what began as a local fruit farm has grown to a trusted producer of finest fresh and healthy foods. In addition to producing fresh fare, we offer a range of cold-pressed, all-natural juices and pantr ..read more

By Laura Winter Falk, Experience! The Finger Lakes. Photos provided. On Tuesday evening June 13th, scores of fabulous Finger Lakes food and beverages producers will be coming to the Ithaca Farmers Market Pavilion to share their creations at the Taste of the Finger Lakes celebration. This annual special event supports local organizations working to address food insecurity and promote food justice in our community. 100% of the ticket sales go to funding these organizations, and last year it raised over $26,000! People come throughout the region to enjoy the flavors and festivities of the event ..read more

Photo by Carole Topalian There are certain fruits and vegetables I only eat in season even though you can get them all year long. Some might consider that a ridiculous sacrifice but the wait for ripe flavors is always worth it to me. Tomatoes, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, corn, green beans all taste so much better when they’re eaten at peak freshness. And then of course there is asparagus season (which sadly is only about two weeks in length). Here in the Finger Lakes it’s one of the first crops to burst through in the spring and wow, do we ever get excited seeing the crowns of gre ..read more

Photo by Carole Topalian By Jochen Beheydt, Seneca Sunrise Coffee Decaffeinated coffee certainly is the black sheep of the family. Stripped of its most popular feature, coffee without caffeine is often regarded as flavorless and pointless by “real coffee” drinkers. For people who are sensitive to caffeine, however, decaf allows them the coffee experience without heart palpitations. Although, fun fact: decaf coffee may still contain as much as 10% of its original caffeine. But what is decaf exactly? Decaffeinated coffee beans start out as regular coffee beans. After they are harvested and proce ..read more

Seasonal Family Almanac: Recipes, Rituals, and Crafts to Embrace the Magic of the Year by Emma Frisch & Jana Blankenship A review by Laura Larson, Odyssey Books Emma Frisch, author of Feast by Firelight, and co-owner of Ithaca’s own glamping resort, Firelight Camps, has partnered with Jana Blankenship to create a book which is part recipe, part craft manual, and part meditation on our connection to the seasons. The result is Seasonal Family Almanac which invites you to deepen your connection to the world around you. Structured to mirror the rhythms of the seasons and the cycles of the moo ..read more

Print Potato, Cabbage & Lobster Soup Course Dinner, Lunch, Soup Cuisine American Servings 6 Author Brud Holland Ingredients 1 tablespoon butter 1/2 cup onion, 1/2” dice 4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly 2 cups savoy cabbage, 1/2”dice Zest & juice of 1 lemon 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, rough chopped, or 1 teaspoon dry thyme leaves) 2 large Kennebec potatoes, washed and cut 1/2” cubes, skin on 1 cup Chardonnay or Gewürztraminer 1 quart heavy cream 2 teaspoons kosher salt 25 turns fresh black pepper mill 1 Lobster tail & claw meat 2 tablespoons Chives & leaf parsley, sliced as th ..read more