Food

Discover the best food, farms, and dining in the Hudson Valley, Berkshires, and Litchfield Hills. Rural Intelligence shares local restaurant reviews, seasonal recipes, and stories celebrating regional flavor.

Food

A Nuns' Story: Sacred Hearts and Heady Cheeses at Sprout Creek Farm

As the year enters its final days, many of us are frantically gearing up for our holiday rituals. But the staff of Sprout Creek Farm in Poughkeepsie, two of whom are nuns from the Society of the Sacred Heart, a socially conscious international order, are slowing down as the days

By Editor

Food

The Handy (and High Minded) Hoarder

AgriCulture bloggers Peter Davies and Mark Scherzer are the owners of Turkana Farms in Germantown, NY. This week Mark writes. It’s the eve of the departure of our geese and ducks to be transformed into festive holiday dinners. For us, who don’t make it to the malls very

By Editor

Food

Indian Pudding: A Secular Staple

Berkshire native Alana Chernila, local politician, mother of two, and author of the new cookbook, The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making (Clarkson Potter), dispenses change and cooking ideas to readers and friends. She shares her peak-of-the-season recipes with Rural Intelligence to help us make

By Editor

Food

Fire Cider: The Hot New Mixer for Warming Winter Drinks

Cold season is here; the wildly vacillating weather, with its regular dips into frigidity, drives the annual search for ways to ward off the inevitable onslaught of coughs, sneezes, and sore throats. There’s a relatively new addition – albeit steeped in tradition – to the all-natural anti-cold arsenal: Fire Cider from

By Editor

Food

Seasonal Sweetheart: Gingerbread Uncut

Berkshire native Alana Chernila, local politician, mother of two, and author of the new cookbook, The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making (Clarkson Potter), dispenses change and cooking ideas to readers and friends. She shares her peak-of-the-season recipes with Rural Intelligence to help us make

By Editor

Food

Prairie Whale

An exceptionally popular eatery by star restaurateur Mark Firth

By Lisa Green

Food

One Smart Cookie: Lisa Newmann's Snack Revolution

Photo by Ginny Hussey In September, food entrepreneur Lisa Newmann of Housatonic was called upon to give a speech in Palm Springs, California. The topic, while not addressing global climate change or the gritty situation in Gaza, was an important one, one that has quickly become Newmann's life

By Editor

Food

Potato Celery Root Skillet Cake

Berkshire native Alana Chernila, local politician, mother of two, and author of the new cookbook, The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making (Clarkson Potter), dispenses change and cooking ideas to readers and friends. She shares her peak-of-the-season recipes with Rural Intelligence to help us make

By Editor

Food

AgriCulture: In Grateful Memoriam

AgriCulture bloggers Peter Davies and Mark Scherzer are the owners of Turkana Farms in Germantown, NY. This week Peter writes. It is with a great sigh of relief that Mark and I find ourselves the day after Thanksgiving restoring order to the house and farm. The intensely deadline oriented nature

By Editor

Food

AgriCulture: Talkin' Turkey

AgriCulture bloggers Peter Davies and Mark Scherzer are the owners of Turkana Farms in Germantown, NY. This week Mark writes. It is that time of year when major transitions take place at the farm. We have been harvesting vegetables all summer but now it is time for the major fall

By Editor

Food

Reaping the Winter Harvest

It used to be that this was a nation of farmers: From our Puritan forebears eking out a life on the unforgiving land to patriotic families planting victory gardens to aid in the war effort. Everywhere you looked, even in the urban nooks and crannies, the land yielded its riches

By Editor

Food

Thanksgiving, Tart and Sweet

Berkshire native Alana Chernila, local politician, mother of two, and author of the new cookbook, The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making (Clarkson Potter), dispenses change and cooking ideas to readers and friends. She shares her peak-of-the-season recipes with Rural Intelligence to help us make

By Editor