My boyfriend thoroughly enjoyed  a burger and was highly impressed by the toppings offered—smoked gouda even!—and had an excellent wheat beer. I, not being a big meat-eater, opted for a roasted chicken ravioli tossed with wilted spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, and covered with olive oil and a balsamic vinegarette. It was excellent, although sweeter than I expected. My friend chose a grilled chicken panini with a pesto mayonnaise and paired it with a Pale Ale. Simply, it was a delightful meal with wonderful ingredients and an even better atmosphere.

With white Christmas lights lining the railing of the open second story seating, paintings/photographs by local artists, a giant school-sized chalk board covered in the day’s specialties, and a taxidermy coyote in the window, the restaurant’s decor and fine dining exceeded my already high expectations. I have already made plans to re-visit Hunter Gatherer. If you’re in the area and hungry, check it out!

Cooking in the Moment: A Year of Seasonal Recipes

Some of the things I found particularly interesting included the “Icebox Pickles” section (dated September 15) covers everything from vinegar-pickled pumpkins, to salt-cured chiles, to sauerkraut. I am completely fascinated by canning foods. (I am also kind of obsessed with my dehydrator.) I have yet to try these recipes, but I’m a big fan of salt-marinating cucumbers and onions, and I am really looking forward to trying something similar with chiles. Also, one of my friends is rather enamored with sauerkraut and I’ve promised to share Reusing’s recipe for that too.

Cooking in the Moment also contains plenty of fantastic fall recipes that I am extremely excited about. I’m in the process of planning an apple-picking outing and can’t wait to make the “skillet apples and onions” recipe and pairing it with the “hard cider-braised pork shoulder.” I’ve recently been experimenting with apples, onions and pork chops cooked with hard cider and that recipe has converted even my pork chop-hating boyfriend so I have high hopes for the pork shoulder.

What truly struck me about this cookbook,however, even more than the awesomely simple techniques and ingredient minimalism, is that food became a community experience. The meals are built around locally-grown seasonal fruits and vegetables and the meats are often raised and butchered locally too. This is certainly not the only way to get these ingredients, but supporting the local food production often results in tastier and often less expensive ingredients. Also, getting to know the local farmers, butchers, and fishmongers is an excellent way to get a handle on a new area. The farmer’s markets that I’ve been loving here have given me ample opportunity to meet these people and start building relationships that will hopefully expand my food horizons. To put it simply, I’m thrilled with this community-based approach to food.

While Reusing’s seasonal approach to a menu is modeled after the crops that are local to the Carolina’s, with a little tweaking of the dates, it is largely applicable elsewhere too. If you are convinced that you won’t find anything comparable to your region, think again. Tomatoes, broccoli, potatoes, lettuce, pork, beef, peppers and apples grow just about everywhere in the continental U.S. and furthermore, even in the big cities of this country you are not terribly far away from the farms producing artisan cheeses, locally pressed cider, and even local micro-breweries. I would highly recommend looking into farm shares, farmers markets, and restaurants that support local agriculture too. You’ll be rewarded with the best food and the incredibly interesting, passionate people.

I’d highly recommend checking this book out at a library or buying it immediately (see the link above to Amazon) but I loved everything about this. I have read it twice from cover to cover and shared excerpts of it with everyone who has dropped by my apartment and brought up food in any way. It’s an awesome approach to food, and I cannot get enough of it. Even now, I am dreaming up a scheme that will convince my boyfriend to take me to Lantern, Reusing’s restaurant in North Carolina. Believe me, when it happens there will be pictures and a blow-by-blow review of the meal. Until then, however, I will content myself with these recipes and relish the fall colors and flavors that are in my future.

Having recently relocated from a middle-of-nowhere college town to a slightly less middle-of-nowhere state capital, Columbia, I have spent a lot of time wandering around and exploring. I have found that free, local newspapers make exploration a little easier—at first, anyway. Very early on I managed to find some awesome Farmer’s Markets (local everything! Including produce, herbs, meats, seafood, and better yet, apple, peach, and blueberry donuts baked on-site!) and believed that I was truly in heaven; then, as I was savoring my blueberry donuts, I decided to find the local coffee shop I had read about in one of the local newspapers.

What I found was mere minutes from the farmer’s market, offered individually brewed cups of coffee, and had a season brunch menu that I just couldn’t resist. The place: Drip. I’m no coffee aficionado, and honestly judge coffee shops more on the quality of their hot chocolate than the coffee, but one sip of their espresso milkshake and I was hooked.

I had quite a time deciding between the turkey, brie, and raspberry jam panini and the prosciutto, ricotta, and peach panini with a honey and balsamic vinegar sauce. I chose the latter of the two, and even now, ask myself what prompted me to turn down brie with raspberry jam. Except I know what prompted it: the prosciutto and ricotta were accents to the brilliance that is locally grown SC peaches in the middle of July + honey + balsamic vinegar. If I could resist eating fresh peaches long enough to bake them or cook with them in any way, I would have fulfilled my vow to serve every future peach dish with a honey and balsamic sauce, but the end of peach season snuck up on me while I was blindly eating peaches with (almost) every meal. Next year, though, it will happen. My friends and family will beg me to stop serving them this combination, and I’ll laugh and shake my head and keep doing it. I loved it! Even better, however, is that Drip buys all of the bread from a local bakery. Awesome.

But in all seriousness, how on earth could I ever turn down the classic that is turkey, brie and raspberry jam? Despite my newly-found love of the sandwich I did have, I was still debating with myself about which sandwich I should have ordered. I’ll return, probably after this weekends farmers market and I will limit myself to two apple donuts in order to leave room for the coffee and sandwich awaiting me.

Also, when I’ve learned a little more about the coffee brewing technique, I will return to this post and discuss the finer points. Until then, eat fancy paninis; have a panini party!