Winning (literally) apple pie recipes for Thanksgiving

After everyone finishes their seconds tomorrow at the Thanksgiving table, you always have to make some room for dessert. After all, dessert is as much a part of the Thanksgiving spread as the turkey.

Back in late October, Way Fruit Farm held their annual Apple Pie Contest. I had the honor of judging around a dozen excellent entries and it was very difficult to decide on a winner. After the contest, I thought to myself, any of those pies would be perfect at Thanksgiving. So, I figured I’d share a few examples of the wonderful pies I sampled.

The winner, Jamie Liner of Port Matilda, and a runner up, Cathy Cohan of State College, were gracious enough to offer their apple pie recipes for you to use if you decide to bake an apple pie for Thanksgiving dessert. Enjoy!

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Tags: applepie | recipe | Thanksgiving |

Five local food additions to your Thanksgiving table

It’s likely a bit too late to get a local turkey if you already haven’t, but there are a lot of local food items that you can add to your Thanksgiving table. You still have time to head out and pick them out (although based on the weather forecast might want to do it before Wednesday).

Here are five fine additions to your Thanksgiving table from local food producers:

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Tags: Thanksgiving | gluten-free | wine | beverage | bread | BoalsburgFarmersMarket |

Final day of the season for two popular farmers market

If the brutal cold this week hasn’t got its point across that winter is more or less here, the fact that two outdoor farmers markets having their final day today and tomorrow is the final bit of proof. Soon our stone-faced friend in the picture above will get his winter coat of snow.

Today, the outdoor Downtown State College Farmers Market on Locust Lane closes the season on a chilly note. That market runs today from 11:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Then tomorrow, the Bellefonte Farmers Market will be open from 8:00 a.m. to noon.

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Tags: farmersmarket | winter |

Shrubs are an “old-fashioned drink for modern times”

Though summer seems like a long way off (and it is, as my newly frozen hair indicates), it’s never a bad thing to plan ahead a few months. For those seeking out a refreshing drink to try at their summer dinner parties—or really anyone just looking to add another item to their drink mix—I introduce you to shrubs. And for most (read: all) of my information on shrubs, I turn to author Michael Dietsch, whose book, Shrubs, was published on October 6 by The Countryman Press.

A shrub, Dietsch tells me (and states in his book), is an acidulated beverage, or a drink made with some type of acid—historically vinegar, lemon juice, or other citruses.  This acid is mixed with sugar, water, and sometimes alcohol; then, to give the drink a unique flavor, a fruit or a type of fruit juice is steeped in the mixture. Though the acidic components might seem unpalatable in what would be an otherwise sweet beverage, they were orginially a practical component. “Vinegar used to preserve fruit after the harvest,” Diestch says.  “This was in a time before refrigeration.”

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Tags: shrub | MichaelDietsch |