Burlington Food Tours

Whether you’re a resident of or a visitor (or even a wannabe visitor) to my home state of Vermont, you’re probably well aware that the Burlington area is a food-lover’s paradise.

Now there's even a food-focused walking tour of Burlington.

Burlington Food Tours offers a cultural walking tour of the downtown area, with tasty sampling stops along the way at various vendors at the farmer’s market as well as specialty food shops and area restaurants. The experienced guides also provide some Burlington food history and overview of the area farming and locavore culture along the way.

I recently took part in this food-focused walking tour. You can read about my experience in this piece I wrote for Vermont Life magazine's web site.

Gardening: hardening off your seedlings (part 2)

If you've been playing along at home, the seeds you started indoors under a grow light are now healthy little seedlings.

Congratulations! They're nearly ready to be planted in your garden.

But not so fast. Being inside, protected from the elements, and growing in ideal conditions under 16 hours of perfect light every day is just a wee bit different than being outside in the garden, exposed to the natural elements.

You'll need to prepare your seedlings for this transition so they don't die from the shock (literally!).

Just as you would with any change in your own routine or environment, introduce the seedlings to change gradually. This is called hardening them off.

Hardening off can take anywhere from a one to two weeks. If you're pressed for time, just follow the advice I give below for about a week. If you have a little more time, stretch it out to two weeks to ensure you have the best-prepared seedlings for planting. Over this one- to two-week period, you'll be gradually exposing your seedlings to increasing levels of of sun and wind exposure, as well as temperature fluctuations, which will all be much more like the outdoor environment in which they will live for the summer. 

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday: DIY cold & flu relief

I wrote a piece for Vermont Life magazine's web site on DIY cold and flu relief. Of course, it includes a recipe for chicken soup that doesn't suck.

Peppermint sugar scrub

Peppermint sugar scrub

It has been a while, but I think it's time for a recipe that you can't eat.

While the holidays are a food blogger's dream -- that is, having the perfect excuse to spend all your free time baking -- it's also a great time to do a little making, too.

And, trust me, you don't have to be crafty. At all.

Case in point: this peppermint sugar scrub.

Who doesn't love to get a fun, spoil-yourself, spa-style gift for the holidays?

There really is nothing to this gift: mix the ingredients, pack it into some cute jars, wrap it with some festive ribbon and you're done. I used peppermint oil in this scrub because it seemed wintry and holiday-ish. You could certainly substitute other scents -- lavender, rosemary, whatever is your favorite -- and adjust the color accordingly.

Soap making

I recently took a class in soap making and wrote a little about it for Vermont Life magazine's web site. Why not have a peek?

http://www.vermontlife.com/a-bar-of-soap-closer-to-self-sufficiency/