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Food

Beech Tree Syrup Could Unlock Economic Potential

April 2, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Syrup made from beech treesThe farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has announced the results of research into the economic feasibility of producing syrup from American beech trees. Conducted by Adam D. Wild, director of the Uihlein Maple Research Forest in Lake Placid, the research examined the yield potential and economic feasibility of tapping beech trees for syrup production. [Read more…] about Beech Tree Syrup Could Unlock Economic Potential

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Food Tagged With: Beech Trees, Food, Forest Products, Forestry, Maple Sugaring, Northern New York Agricultural Development Program, trees

Banner Year for Northeast Maple Syrup Makers

June 24, 2022 by Anthony F. Hall Leave a Comment

Maple syrup makers in Thurman, Warren CountyThe stock market may be down, but maple syrup production is up.

New York produced 845 thousand gallons of maple syrup in 2022, breaking the state’s own 75-year-old record from 2019, when its maple industry produced 820,000 gallons of syrup. [Read more…] about Banner Year for Northeast Maple Syrup Makers

Filed Under: Food, Nature Tagged With: Food, Maple Sugaring, Maple Trees

Saratoga County Was Once A Leading Pork Producer

April 24, 2022 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Duroc Pig courtesy National Swine RegistryNot that they’re boasting, but lots of Saratoga County people like the ring of the “health, history and horses” theme used by the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce. But 150 years ago, the thoroughbreds didn’t yet run at Saratoga Race Course on Union Avenue, and the county motto could have been “homesteads, harvests and hogs.” [Read more…] about Saratoga County Was Once A Leading Pork Producer

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Food, History Tagged With: Culinary History, Food, local farms, pigs, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable

A Monroe County 19th Century Brewery Offers Great Beer & An Old Time Experience

March 11, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The lower level of Grieve’s Brewery, a working 19 th -century brewery on site at Genesee Country Village & Museum.Genesee Country Village & Museum, located in Mumford, in the town of Wheatland, Monroe County, has a historical connection with Rochester’s rich brewing scene. The Museum’s founder, John L. “Jack” Wehle, also served as Chairman of the family business, Genesee Brewing, which his father Louis Wehle purchased in 1932. Today, the Museum’s President & CEO is Becky Wehle,  granddaughter of Jack Wehle.

Museum visitors interested in learning more about the history of brewing in the region can visit Grieve’s Brewery on the Museum grounds, a reconstruction of a ca. 1803 Geneva, NY brewery. Genesee Country Village & Museum is the only museum in the United States to showcase a working 19th-century brewery. [Read more…] about A Monroe County 19th Century Brewery Offers Great Beer & An Old Time Experience

Filed Under: Food, History, Western NY Tagged With: beer, Food, Genesee Country Village & Museum, Hops, Monroe County, Rochester

Mott’s Apple Empire Began in Saratoga County in 1842

February 17, 2022 by Guest Contributor 9 Comments

Horse Powered Apple PressYou may have noticed that “Since 1842” appears on the label of all Mott’s apple products. That was the year Samuel Mott began selling apple cider and vinegar to his neighbors in Halfmoon, Saratoga County, NY. The Mott’s apple processing empire we know today grew from that humble beginning. [Read more…] about Mott’s Apple Empire Began in Saratoga County in 1842

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Food, History Tagged With: Agricultural History, Apples, Culinary History, Food, Fruit, Halfmoon, Industrial History, Kayaderoasseras Patent, local farms, Madison County, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable

A Dog’s Tale: Dachshunds, Hot Dogs, Coney Island & Greenwood Cemetery

January 31, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp 2 Comments

The Feltman mausoleumExploding urban populations during the nineteenth century demanded new solutions towards burying the dead. Traditional congregational graveyards were either full or overcrowded. A combination of practical thinking and the wish to commune with nature (inspired by Romantic poetry) led to the development of serene burial grounds outside the city boundaries.

Founded as a “rural” or “garden” cemetery in 1838, Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery is famous for its picturesque landscape features with evocative names such as Camellia Path, Halcyon Lake, Oaken Bluff, or Vista Hill. Elaborate monuments and mausoleums, designed in an array of architectural styles, honor the Lispenard dynasty (Norman), William Niblo (Gothic), the Steinway family (Classical), and others.

And then there is the Feltman mausoleum, the columns of which feature Corinthian capitals. On each side of the doorway stands a trio of mourning figures. Those on the left hold symbols of faith (cross and doves); those on the right show grief and sorrow. The pediment features two cherubs holding a wreath with the initial F in the center. On top of the temple is a cupola with the Archangel Michael standing guard, sword at the ready. The building serves to celebrate the memory of just one man. Who was this person? A Founding Father maybe? A respected politician (if that is not a contradiction in terms)? A celebrated artist? [Read more…] about A Dog’s Tale: Dachshunds, Hot Dogs, Coney Island & Greenwood Cemetery

Filed Under: Food, History, New York City Tagged With: American Kennel Club, Brooklyn, Cemeteries, Coney Island, Culinary History, dogs, FDR, Food, German-American History, Green-Wood Cemetery, Immigration, Manhattan, World War One, World War Two

Jonathan Swift’s Oyster Test: Oysters, Sex and Culture

January 22, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

satirical print after Robert Dighton, Molly Milton, the Pretty Oyster Woman, 1788At least since Roman times oysters were associated with sex. The most obvious reason for this association is the oyster’s resemblance to the pudendum. Raw oyster was praised as an aphrodisiac. Giacomo Casanova boasted to have eaten fifty at breakfast together with a lady of his fancy.

European painters used oyster as a symbol of fertility and sexual pleasure. Aphrodite (Venus), the Goddess of love and lust, was blown over sea on an oyster shell landing at either Cythera of Cyprus (both islands were regarded by the Greeks as territories of Venus). In “The Birth of Venus” Botticelli painted her approaching the shore on a giant oyster (clam) shell. By then, the associations with female beauty and physical love were well established. [Read more…] about Jonathan Swift’s Oyster Test: Oysters, Sex and Culture

Filed Under: Arts, History Tagged With: Art History, Culinary History, Cultural History, Food, Literature, Musical History, Oysters, painting, Poetry, Vice

Mustard Power: An Historic Food Crop

January 15, 2022 by Paul Hetzler Leave a Comment

mustard plant courtesy Wikimedia user Nafiur RahmanFirst domesticated in Central Asia some six-thousand years ago by ancient cultures looking for the best way to ruin shirts, mustard has evolved from zesty warm to blistering hot to the point that it’s now being developed as an ultra-low emission jet fuel.

Given the large size of the mustard or Brassica family – some 3,000 strong, according to Cornell University – it’s no surprise that it comprises historic food crops, showy flowers, noxious invasive weeds, and more. [Read more…] about Mustard Power: An Historic Food Crop

Filed Under: Food, Nature Tagged With: Agricultural History, Culinary History, Food, gardening, local farms, nature, wild food, wildflowers

Great Pumpkins: A Ton Of Fun

October 8, 2021 by Paul Hetzler Leave a Comment

Competitive Entries for largest pumpkin at the State Fair of Virginia in 2007 by Joy SchoenbergerPrecocious, blanket-toting Linus from the Peanuts comic strip awaited the Great Pumpkin each Halloween night from 1950 to 1999. If anyone else had been stood-up that many times, they’d have thrown in the blanket for sure.

Perhaps Linus’ resolute faith that the mythical pumpkin would show up was because every year brings the world a greater pumpkin. [Read more…] about Great Pumpkins: A Ton Of Fun

Filed Under: Food, Nature Tagged With: Food, Halloween, nature

New Food Scrap Recycling Regulations Adopted

September 5, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

DEC LogoState Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has adopted final regulations to implement New York’s Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law.

The law and implementing regulations are part of the state’s addressing contributors to climate change and assisting those in need by supporting the donation of quality food. [Read more…] about New Food Scrap Recycling Regulations Adopted

Filed Under: Food Tagged With: DEC, Food, Recycling

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