cooking heritage breed turkey

how to cook a heritage breed turkey this thanksgiving

1- go to a farm and purchase a heritage breed turkey 2- take a drink of some american made whisky 3- put the turkey in the oven 4- take another two drinks of whisky 5- set the degrees at 375 oven 6- take three more whiskys of a drink 7- turn oven the on 8- take four whisks of drinky 9- turk the bastey 10- whisky another bottle of get 11- stick a turkey in the thermometer 12- glass yourself a pour of whisky 13- bake the whisky for four hours 14- take the oven out of the turkey 15- take the oven out of the turkey 16- floor the turkey up off the pick 17- turk the carvey 18- get yourself another scottle of botch 19- tet the sable and pour yourself a glass of turkey 20- bless the saying, pass and eat out happy thanksgiving

virginia wine on film.......

the virginia wine industry's rise from humble beginnings and the tale of the creation of the states 2008 vintage is told by this engaging new documentary- VINTAGE: The Winemaker's Year... the players and places of the Monticello (ava) wine region in central virginia serve as main characters, filling the screen with bucolic landscapes, beautiful wineries and a range of european and american accents to tell this captivating story... produced by the oenophiles at silverthorn films out of charlottesville, VINTAGE: the winemaker's year examines the factors that make virginia unique among the wine-producing regions and AVA's of the united states..... for all that are interested in the history of winemaking in this country the film explores why, 200 years after Thomas Jefferson's failure to cultivate grapes at Monticello, the region is finally flourishing as a producer of quality wines... This documentary will also shows how virginia is an advancing player in the boutique wine industry, gaining national attention and attracting top winemakers, enthusiasts and professional chefs alike.... the allure of c-ville and the surrounding wine country is easy to understand in this fascinating film- the soil, the climate, the landscape and the local culture scene make winemaking an appealing pursuit... this documentary is available at: SILVERTHORN FILMS- 313 2nd street south east, c-ville, va 22902 for $19.95 + $4.95 SH..... and remember- in virginia, every vintage has a story......

what is local............?

when dining in some of america's favorite 'local foods driven' neighborhood restaurants one has to ask themselves- what determines that a specific product utilized in the kitchen by your favorite chef IS truly local............ who draws the parameters, and how do we keep the moral 'FOOD POLICE' active and how do we sleep at night knowing that some of the bragged about products on that favorite menu of yours are not local......... is 400 miles away local......? local cannot mean that a product was shipped in from over 400 miles away..... the carbon footprint on this product alone creates a conflict....... chefs and food purveyors in general usually practice local product procurement on the products that make sense geographically..... if your favorite neighborhood eatery boasts how LOCALLY driven they and their menu are- then offers up lamb from new zealand, how are you going to react at the chef's choice to bring in that lamb from over 3000 miles away to put it on your plate....... (the question is- do you even care) I would prefer to purchase the above mentioned lamb from a family run farm down the road that has adopted careful animal husbandry, rotational pasture grazing and other sustainable measures that will assure a low impact on the environment, put money directly into the community and allows me to travel to THE FARM to see with my own eyes that all of these standards have been met...... lobster from the cold coastal waters of maine are not local when served in the foothills of northern virginia...... do we consciously think of these facts before making that food purchase.....? prior to rapid mass transit, refrigerated cargo containers and factory farming the family meal plan and dinner choices were natural.......... you ate what grew in your region- hence no okra in vermont...... it just did not grow there....... but okra flourished south of the mason-dixon....... and come to think about it- there are no cranberry bogs in arkansas either....... as a professional chef I respects everyones efforts in the kitchen, and hell even I bend a little...... I have put sustainably harvested american (texas) shrimp on my menu from time to time...... and yes I am currently operating a 'local foods driven' kitchen in the piedmont........ but more over- I purchase 99% non industrial, sustainably raised, certified humanely dispatched meats (from blue ridge meats), as well as tons of local fruits, berries, nuts and tubers grown in rappahannock county to compile my weekly changing menus..... virginia has some true culinary treasures whether fermented, farmed, foraged or grown..................... traveling the hiways and biways of america you pass over 100 restaurants that offer crab cakes.......... is this right.......have you given it much thought...........!

virginia grape juice.........

with over 190 wineries, virginia is showing promising strides in the oenophile world....... meeting and dealing with virginia winemakers, vineyard managers, tony kornhieser's official champagne guy and legendary virginia winemakers like mike bowles and gabrielle rausse has brought me closer to the vine here in historic virginia..... I have become a devout virginia norton apprercia-nado and have also become a true fan of virginia viognier, cab franc and meritage..... most of these vineyards fall in the monticello AVA (an american viticultural area) situated in the central piedmont region of the state.... this area is nestled along the eastern slopes of the blue ridge mountains and encompasses the small ridge known as southwest mountain..... it is historic in that it is home to thomas jefferson's monticello, where he spent years trying to grow european grape varieties.... there are currently 198 AVA's in the united states, and a total of 6 are here in virginia..... there are 191 registered 'farm wineries' in virginia, I have well over 130 left to visit.... the winemakers make it easy to want to taste their juice, they like to compare the climate here to that of bordeaux, with humidity and the potential for rain (and even hurricanes) at harvest.... making each vintage an adventure for the palette, as a result the wines tend toward an old-world balance that emphasises acidity and freshness rather than big, bold cali-style ripeness..... here are some of the virginia grape juice producers that I have tasted over the years and more specifically over the past few months- while this blogspot sat blank and motionless...... gray ghost . albemarle cider works . barrel oak winery . horton . chester gap cellars . chrysalis vineyards . gadino cellars . foggy ridge cider . ducard vineyard . jefferson vineyard . narmada winery . prince michel . rappahannock cellars . the now defunct oasis winery (fricken white house crashers) . unicorn winery . veritas winery . williamsburg winery . thibaut-jannison . gabrielle rausse (the god father of va wine) . boxwood . barboursville . kluge estate (not even $100 million can keep a good thing going good luck to the trump family) . montdomaine (mike is the pioneer who applied for the monticello AVA many years ago) . blenhiem vineyards . hume vineyards . keswick vineyards . pearmund cellars . phillip carter winery . sharp rock vineyard..........