Our winter issue arrived last week and has made its way to stands across the region! This is our holiday issue, full of ways to celebrate the joy of local this holiday season. Read about the growing truffle industry, then try your hand at a tasty truffle tartine recipe from chef Tim Moore of Early Mountain — a perfect indulgence for your holiday gathering. Looking to spruce up your dining room table? Learn from a local expert about what plants make for the perfect dried winter arrangement or wreath. Wine expert Janine Aquino guides us through Virginia’s sparkling wines and suggests a few to celebrate with.
And of course, we have our Holiday Gift Guide with all manner of ideas to show your love of local businesses. Pick up your copy at one of 200 distribution locations.
Many thanks to our talented contributors for sharing their passion and knowledge of our region. Of course, all of this would not be possible without our advertisers, who support our mission to build community by celebrating the story of local food.
EVENTS
Have an event you’d like us to share? Email: info@edibleblueridge.com
12.02, 12.06, 12.16 Dickens of a Christmas - Roanoke
12.03 Hill City Holiday Beerfest - Lynchburg
12.03 Crozet Winter Brews Festival - Crozet
12.03, 12.10, 12.17 Holiday Farmer’s Market - Harrisonburg
12.03 Grandin Village WinterFest - Roanoke
12.03 Buena Vista Christmas Market - Buena Vista
12.04 Foodie Holiday Market - Roanoke
12.10 Palmyra Arts Fest - Palmyra
12.16 Gingerbread House Challenge - Lynchburg
12.21 & 12.22 Winter Solstice Evening Market - Charlottesville
Photo by Annie Spratt
WHAT WE’RE COOKING
Lentil Soup with Sausage & Kale
EDIBLE DIY: Citrus Wheel Ornaments
Having spent the majority of my adult life in too-small apartments with little to no closet space, I created a rule for myself that all holiday decorations had to fit in one small box. The caveat to this rule is that I could decorate with as many recyclable/compostable materials as my little heart desired. I would make paper chains and ornaments, forage for pinecones and craft rosemary and lavender wreathes for the front door. The last few years I’ve enjoyed adding a bit more color to my tree and mantle with dried citrus wheels 🍊.
I’m not sure where I saw the trend first, but decorating with dried citrus has been all the rage on Pinterest and IG for a few years. You can use any citrus; oranges are a great staple, but consider adding a grapefruit, blood orange or lemon for color. I also save a few handfuls of cranberries from Thanksgiving to add to my garland. Cinnamon sticks are a fragrant addition and I’ve even given these ornaments away as mini pre-holiday gifts.
Dried Citrus Ornaments & Garlands
Materials
a mixture of citrus, blemish free
a chef’s knife
cookie sheets
parchment paper
twine, thread or ribbon
scissors
a large needle
fresh cranberries
cinnamon sticks
wooden beads
Instructions
Preheat oven to 170F. Line cookies sheets with parchment paper. Thinly slice citrus into wheels and place on cookie sheets. Bake 4-5 hours, turning slices over every hour until rinds have wrinkled and are dry to the touch. Remove from oven. At this point, the flesh of the fruit will still be tacky. Loosen citrus wheels from parchment paper and allow to dry overnight. The next day, measure and cut twine, ribbon or thread to desired garland or ornament length (you’ll need to double up the ribbon when making ornaments). Thread your large needle with your ribbon and pierce through the flesh of the citrus just where it meets the rind. String for a garland or create a lop for an ornament. Thread on wooden beads or cranberries or tie ribbon around a stick of cinnamon. Repeat process using various materials and patterns!
POEM OF THE WEEK
Refrigerator, 1957 By Thomas Lux More like a vault: you pull the handle out and on the shelves not a lot, and what there is (a boiled potato in a bag, a chicken carcass under foil) looking dispirited, drained, mugged. This is not a place to go in hope or hunger. But, just to the right of the middle of the middle door shelf, on fire, a lit-from-within red, heart-red, sexual-red, wet neon-red, shining red in their liquid, exotic, aloof, slumming in such company: a jar of maraschino cherries. Three-quarters full, fiery globes, like strippers at a church social. Maraschino cherries, “maraschino” the only foreign word I knew. Not once did I see these cherries employed: not in a drink, nor on top of a glob of ice cream, or just pop one in your mouth. Not once. The same jar there through an entire childhood of dull dinners—bald meat, pocked peas, and, see above, boiled potatoes. Maybe they came over from the old country, family heirlooms, or were status symbols bought with a piece of the first paycheck from a sweatshop, which beat the pig farm in Bohemia, handed down from my grandparents to my parents to be someday mine, then my child’s? They were beautiful and if I never ate one it was because I knew it might be missed or because I knew it would not be replaced and because you do not eat that which rips your heart with joy.
Thanks for subscribing and reading our newsletter. Until next time!
Eat Well,
Lisa