We know, we know! We all have that thought from time to time when trying a new recipe, or an ingredient we maybe haven’t cooked with before. That moment inevitably occurs when you are quite sure it is going to be a failure, and the thought passes through your mind like a freight train. “What was I thinking?” From that point, the recipe is either wildly successful or a complete disaster. We find that duck is one of those things that troubles many home cooks. When preparing for

Death. A topic that is never easy. This past spring I had added a few new team members in the form of chickens to my team. Growing up, my parents had chickens and I was always taken with how busy they kept and just how cute they were. There was also the added bonus that they paid for their rent in eggs. Naturally my mother always had a surplus because she kept way more chickens than she needed, but the company was so pleasant. This year was the first time I was able to raise

July 28th | Heirloom Fire | Into the wild

The launch of Heirloom Fire was a dinner in partnership with Magdalena Events and Design, set in the middle of a farm, in the heat of the summer. To this day that is one of my favorite events we have done. Granted, there were many elements of that night that we could never replicate even if we tried, and mother nature seemed to be pulling for us. The dinner took place in the fields of Taft Farms, located in The Berkshires. The menu consisted of dishes crafted from what was av

Few things are as beautiful as watching the sun rise over mountains or traveling past a herd of deer enjoying their morning breakfast. This sounds like I was camping on a mountainside while enjoying the sights, however, I was driving into New York City on the Taconic State Parkway. Despite the gentle rattle of my mill and mason jars filled with grains, it’s a relatively quiet morning with not many cars on the road. As always when taking the Taconic its the calm before the sto

I have been to many a wedding, as you would imagine. The feeling of magic, love and happiness is so real in the air that you can feel it throughout your body. That feeling is always there for me because we get to know each client, seeing them at their excited stage, nervous stage, shut down stage and finally their epically ecstatic stage. We literally watch and help make this rainbow effect of emotion happen. I love it, every time. Something new to me that made the hair stand

This time of year there is not much coming from the farms. In the Northeast, once the frost starts arriving at night, the farmers begin to harvest and put up the last of their storage crops. Foods like potatoes, onions, apples, beets, rutabagas and winter squash start showing up on the lists for the next few months. Now is the time we dig in and start enjoying a heartier fare. Gone are the summer nights with crisp, field grown lettuces with succulent tomatoes and herbs. For t