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Food Photos: The eyes have it!


Five Pound Grifola Frondosa (Hen of the Woods ) Mushroom. Photo by Ellen C. Collins

Took this right before Thanksgiving. This was the first time Dave and I were doing a holiday at our house. Soon all this was going to be dinner.

Erica M. Neufeld, Lake Placid

The fall root crop heading to the root cellar storage. The garden is at the 1800-foot level in the Adirondacks and every year it becomes clearer why the early farmers had to abandon this area to find more friendly locations for agriculture.

Howard Linke, North River NY

Teachers at Indian Lake Central School have student assistants that can help them in the classroom, many do some of the preparation work. Amber, Ms. Brand's student assistant in home and career class, gets ready to bake.

George DeChant, Indian Lake Central School

This picture was taken in the root cellar of Rob & Winnie Sachno. I love venturing down there as the organization of the "jars of colors" on the shelves (not to mention the incredible, homegrown foodstuff put up for winter) are a work of art. I am framing an 8 X 10 for my kitchen wall as a reminder of the beauty of North Country Food! Thank you Rob & Winnie! Photo by Paula Schechter.

A Home Canner's Cautionary Tale

In the late 1940s, my parents, who lived in New York City during the winter, began to spend summers in the Champlain Valley. At that time, it was apparently not uncommon for people who had roots elsewhere to be regarded with some suspicion by those whose families had lived here for generations.

Once my mother had her own garden, she grew many of her favorite vegetables -- tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, onions, and zucchini among them. At harvest time, she took great delight in putting up jars and jars of ratatouille for us to enjoy during the winter months. But as much as she loved cooking, my mother would grow impatient as jar after jar had to be dated, labeled, and taken down to the cellar, or frozen, and would sometimes abbreviate the labels and dates. One day, a local lady who sometimes helped my mother in the kitchen, came over to assist in preparations for a dinner party. My mother asked her to get one of those jars out of the freezer, and the next thing my mother heard, after the opening of the freezer door, was Gladys, screaming at the top of her lungs, "RAAAAAAAAAT???????????!!!!!!!!".

It took my mother some time to regain her composure, but not as long as it took Gladys.

Carole Anne Slatkin

At Paul Smith's College's Homecoming September 15, 2007, we had a student, staff (even the President), and alumni "Tin" Chef competition and it was great fun. The
participants received the same ingredients and had to prepare and cook in a tent and on a barbeque. It was raining and freezing cold. The results were amazing. Photos by Kathleen Keck.