Savor Culture

Produce from Chang Farm is served at Amherst Chinese Food.
Last night, I dined with Wonderful Husband Charles at Amherst Chinese Food.  Don’t be deceived by its unassuming name: Amchi, as it’s fondly known, was chosen by Gourmet magazine as one of the country’s best “Farm-to-Table” restaurants in 2007.  
The restaurant is owned by Dr. Tso-cheng [...]

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I work for Trader Joe’s, the coolest grocery store chain in the world and one of the best employers.*  That being said, there’s room for improvement in any enterprise, and one quibble with Trader Joe’s is that the produce section mainly offers packaged fruits and vegetables from California or farther.  While this approach allows the [...]

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I hope that you’ve been enjoying a bountiful variety of fresh fruits and vegetables this summer.  As a newcomer to western Massachusetts, I quickly learned that this region is blessed with many small farms.  Regional agriculture is promoted by Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA), which maintains a directory of farms, retailers, and restaurants that [...]

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Lucky is the cook who lives next to a shiitake mushroom farm!
Yesterday, Charles and I walked through the woods to say hello to our neighbors… who happen to raise shiitake mushrooms.  They started the commercial operation two years ago and sell their shiitakes to the nearby Whole Foods Market and a local produce distributor. A noteworthy aspect [...]

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There goes the neighborhood: Ronde de Nice zucchini dominates The Nest.
When we returned from our vacation (well, it was a vacation for me, though Charles had to work a bit), I was relieved to see that the garden had received plenty of rain in our absence.  Though a gang of weeds launched a sneak attack [...]

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