The opinions expressed in these blogs are solely those of the people who wrote them, and do not represent the views of WPSU or Penn State University.

Journey to the Borderland

April 28- 29

Posted by Lindsey Whissel on 04/30 at 01:06 PM

My first few days in Ukraine!

[My Internet access is a bit unreliable, so I will probably be posting several days worth of entries at a time]

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Local Food Journey

Winner of the Mushrooms Recipe Contest

Posted by Emily Wiley on 04/30 at 08:41 AM

Congratulations to Amy Grenoble of Sandy Ridge! Her recipe for vegetarian stuffed mushrooms is the winner of our April contest, and she is the recipient of a $25 gift certificate to Fasta Ravioli Company.

Continue reading for all recipe submissions and stay tuned for the start of our May recipe contest.

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Local Food Journey

Roller Coaster Ride of Weather

Posted by Tony Ricci on 04/30 at 08:32 AM

Last week brought with it a roller coaster ride of weather events – one day sweating into the black plastic as we lay out the onion crop; the next day freezing in an arctic wind as we try to tack down row covers to protect tender seedlings from impending frost. 

And, of course, there was the freak snow storm that came and went like a gaff from presidential candidate. It was horrible at the time, but we were over it by the next day, having forgotten what all the fuss was about as we went on with the daily task of surviving in an uncertain world.

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Local Food Journey

Spring Pasta Salad with Asparagus, Spinach, and Mint

Posted by Kristin Camplese on 04/27 at 06:54 AM

One of the best things about belonging to your local Community Supported Agriculture farm (CSA) is how quickly the season gears up — and how big your box of veggies gets. It starts small with bunches of asparagus, spinach, and rhubarb. And radishes, how I love the radishes — they are eaten the minute they get in the house.

You start to plan meals based on what needs to be used, rather than what you are in the mood for. But I find that it allows you to become much more creative in the kitchen — matching what you have with what sounds good. This dish is a perfect example.

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Local Food Journey

April Weather and Asparagus Salsa

Posted by Kim Tait on 04/26 at 09:20 AM

Mid-April felt more like July. We had full irrigation running on the crops in the fields since the beginning of the month, as we took turns waiting for the next available hose to water a greenhouse. It was dry, dry, dry!

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Local Food Journey

Green Coconut Curry with Chick Peas

Posted by Kristin Camplese on 04/25 at 11:05 AM

Curries fall into the category of totally flexible and easy and cheap weeknight meals. Lentils (or in this case, garbanzos) or Tofu are perfect for vegetarian options — but any kind of meat or seafood protein works equally well. Vegetables can be anything that you have on hand, provided that you have a nice amount of ginger and garlic. If you don’t have coconut milk and Thai curry paste (which take you in the Thai Curry direction), you can go the Indian Curry route and use a good quality Indian/Madras curry powder and garam masala with some broth or water. Serve it over rice if you like — or without rice and thick like a stew, or thinned out as a soup.

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Local Food Journey

The Great Coffee Adventure: Standing Stone Coffee Company in Huntingdon

Posted by Naomi Elle Schwartz on 04/24 at 09:01 AM

There is a “welcoming feeling” that permeates Standing Stone Coffee Company in Huntingdon. Like a bear hug you get from your big brother after being away all summer. It’s nice and warm and all-kinds-of-happy. It says “I’m glad you’re here! Sit down and stay awhile.”

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Local Food Journey

Harrison’s Seasonal Spring Menu

Posted by Emily Wiley on 04/23 at 10:30 AM

Snow may be falling today, but it is April, and Harrison’s Wine and Grill is serving its seasonal spring menu.

The globally-inspired menu includes a few new partners that attended the PASA conference in February—Vale Wood Farms and Clover Creek Cheese Cellar, with several more in the works. Harrison’s now has over 25 local growers and purveyors. See the full list here.

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Local Food Journey

Paper Pots Offer Cost-Effective, Environmentally Friendly Home for Seedlings

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 04/20 at 07:59 AM

In my last post I talked about planting seeds indoors. And given that we are four to six weeks away from the last frost as I write this, you should have seedlings growing somewhere in your house.

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Local Food Journey

Pink Slime

Posted by Emily Wiley on 04/19 at 12:28 PM

Americans have turned up their noses at the hamburger additive officially known as Lean Finely Textured Beef, now infamously called Pink Slime. Technically it IS beef, just not what consumers generally think of as beef. A celebrity chef’s televised expose about the amonia-treated beef scraps set off consumer outcry, prompting supermarkets nationwide to stop selling the stuff. So, what’s all the fuss about?

WPSU’s Patty Satalia begins her audio report at the meat case in the State College Wegmans.

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Our Town

Our Town: Emporium—Still room for volunteers!

Posted by Jessica on 04/19 at 11:48 AM

What a fantastic show “Our Town: Emporium” is shaping up to be! Last night about 20 community volunteers came to the fire department to meet and exchange ideas on what stories should be included in the show. Volunteers had a brief training on how to shape their stories, then signed up for times for their on-camera interviews on Saturday, April 28th at the Cameron County Chamber of Commerce and Artisan Center.

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Local Food Journey

The Great Coffee Adventure: Saint’s Cafe in State College

Posted by Naomi Elle Schwartz on 04/17 at 02:36 PM

When you talk to any State College resident about locally-owned coffee shops, Saint’s Cafe is without-a-doubt the first place they mention. And it’s no wonder; it’s been voted State College’s Best Gourmet Coffee for years!

My husband and I drive by Saint’s Cafe on our daily commute, and we’re always amazed at its popularity. People practically tumbling out the door all of the time. And so it would be Saint’s Cafe and their obvious success that determined our visiting time at 7:00 am on a Friday morning. We arrived before the place opened and were the first ones through the doors.

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Local Food Journey

Why Organic? Part 5: GMOs

Posted by James Eisenstein on 04/16 at 08:31 AM

Two fundamental truths proved most useful to students in my environmental politics class—both from the field of ecology. The first is, “You can’t do just one thing.” The second explains why the first is true: “Everything is connected to everything else.”

Previous parts of this “Why Organic” series illustrate the usefulness of these two principles. A conventional farmer can’t just kill harmful insects or noxious weeds or boost crop growth with chemical fertilizers without doing other not so wonderful things. Not so wonderful things include killing pollinators and other beneficial insects, depleting the soil, reducing the nutritional content of food, and jeopardizing human health with pesticide and herbicide residues in food.

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Our Town

WPSU Set To Hear Stories From Indiana County For “Our Town”

Posted by Whitney on 04/13 at 12:37 PM

The 67th episode of the “Our Town” series will feature Indiana County, last visited in 1998 for this program. We’re excited to hear what’s changed, and what’s stayed the same. There is so much to see in this gorgeous community. Home of world famous actor Jimmy Stewart, known as the “Christmas Tree Capital of the World”, with the heritage and community of the IUP campus, Indiana County offers endless story possibilities for this program.  We want to know more! Share your stories as part of this program — join us for the community meeting on Thursday, May 31 at the IUP Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex at 6:30 p.m.

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Our Town

Our Town Emporium Community Meeting Update!

Posted by Jessica on 04/12 at 02:59 PM

We’re less than a week away from the community volunteer meeting for “Our Town: Emporium”! By now, you’ve hopefully heard about the project—we’ve had a ton of great coverage so far! Several pieces have appeared in the local papers, we’ve had volunteers distributing flyers, and if you notice those small glossy cards on counters at local businesses, those are advertising the meeting as well! There was even a screening of “Our Town: Emporium” (2001) sponsored by the Cameron County Chamber (thanks, Tina!)!

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