Jenn Hall

Edible Jersey: Cape May – Victorian charm plus new energy in the city by the sea

December 1, 2018 by jennhallwrites

One could be forgiven the temptation to descend into Dickensian fantasy when the holidays arrive in Cape May, and not simply by virtue of the town’s annual Dickens Christmas Extravaganza. To walk Cape May’s Victorian-fringed streets, accompanied by the well-placed snowflake and a gingerbread-house backdrop, is to inhabit the metaphoric interior of a snow globe. Everything shimmers as dusk arrives, quaint and lovely. Shops and restaurants bustle, merry and bright. Yet to miss the new energy that has taken hold here […]

Categories: food and drink, travel

Culture: This Pennsylvania Cheese CSA Is Woman-Powered

November 5, 2018 by jennhallwrites

Manhattan cheesemonger Anne Saxelby has famously proclaimed that the future of cheese is female. If so, three Pennsylvania women may be the forerunners that define that future. Standing amid the sloped acres of Birchrun Hills Farm in Chester Springs, the ground heavy from rain, farmstead cheesemaker Sue Miller is in her element. Her herd of Holstein and Jersey cows is near, grazing or strolling to their robotic milker. Also at the farm are her cofounding members of Collective Creamery: Stefanie […]

Categories: food and drink, sustainability and justice

Civil Eats: High School Students Run This Dock-to-Table Sustainable Seafood Program

October 23, 2018 by jennhallwrites

On a late-spring Saturday, dock manager Stephen Bardsley held a monkfish high overhead at the Point Pleasant Fisherman’s Dock Co-Operative in New Jersey. Its mottled skin mimicked the color of the ocean floor, and a fishing-rod-shaped antenna dangled from its head. Its sharp teeth formed a gaping subaquatic grin as a group of visitors pushed in. “Little fish swim up, and they can’t even see the difference in color,” explains Bardsley to his guests. Then the fishing-rod antenna becomes a […]

Categories: food and drink, sustainability and justice

Gannett / Courier-Post: Lawnside’s Free Haven Farms Cultivates Knowledge

September 27, 2018 by jennhallwrites

It is common to measure a farm’s success by way of numbers. One speaks to the pounds of collards and sun-ripened tomatoes that rise from the soil. One calculates how many people gain access to fresh, local food. Yet the truest measure of impact may be found in the vision cultivated in the next generation. To speak to the children of farmers Micaiah and Dr. Cynthia Hall is to see this principle in action. Wise for a field crew that ranges […]

Categories: food and drink, sustainability and justice

Edible Jersey: Day in the Life of a Bayman

September 12, 2018 by jennhallwrites

You know you’re in the presence of a bayman by the way he guns his boat through a channel. That would be with confident speed, moderately alarming to a passenger in a landlocked trade. It’s hard to imagine how many times George Mathis has woven through the serpentine curves from Landing Crick out toward his aquaculture leases in Dry Bay, near Galloway in the Edwin B. Forsythe Wildlife Refuge. Thousands? Tens of thousands? Cutting the engine, Mathis pops one of […]

Categories: food and drink, sustainability and justice

Edible Jersey: Writing the Clam’s Next Chapter (2019 Eddy Award, Best Feature)

September 12, 2018 by jennhallwrites

“Mother Nature, she’s the boss.” Billy Mayer looks at the bay, his eyes taking on the deep blue hue of the waters where Obes Thorofare and Steelmans Bay meet. “You have to look at the moons. You have to look at the tides. All that knowledge? Nobody is going to teach you that. You can’t describe that. It’s just something that you pick up over time.” Mayer speaks to a primal truth with the poetry of a man who has […]

Categories: food and drink, sustainability and justice

Edible Jersey: Special Report – Clams

September 12, 2018 by jennhallwrites

Aquaculture is the wave of the future for NJ’s iconic bivalve. We explore the bay in this eight-part series, with additional recipes and how-to’s from Chef Emily Peterson. Writing the Clam’s Next Chapter A Day in the Life of a Bayman New Jersey Clams: Boom and Bust . . . and Boom? New Jersey Clams: Here’s What You Can Do Where to Savor Jersey Clams Hard Clam Aquaculture 101 New Jersey Clamming Memories A Tale of Two States: Hard Clam […]

Categories: food and drink, sustainability and justice

Edible Jersey: Surf. Sip. Repeat.

September 12, 2018 by jennhallwrites

September is officially the sweetest season at the beach. Those lucky enough to live there year-round call it Locals Summer; the magical time when long work hours subside, weekly renters pack up and the beach is reserved for the hometown team. With the launch of the LBI Surf & Sip Brew Trail, intrepid visitors have a new way to engage with the brewers, surfers and creatives who are bringing fresh energy to a classic destination— and now is the ideal […]

Categories: food and drink, travel

Gannett / Courier-Post: Zeppoli’s Sicilian Barbecues: An Italian summer tradition in Collingswood

August 22, 2018 by jennhallwrites

In Sicily, come summertime, the most memorable meals are taken al fresco amid fields and groves that offer up their bounty. By day, an aggressive sun presses down and nourishes the crops, white hot until dusk’s reprieve. The slender leaves that adorn olive branches frame a tumble of mountains in the distance. Viewed from afar, the landscape is all green earth and blue sky and the rugged geometry that defines this Italian island. Look closer, however, and the season’s jewel […]

Categories: food and drink

Time Out: The 15 Best Things to do in Maryland

August 13, 2018 by jennhallwrites

Maryland reveals its gems in a state of high contrast, from the otherworldly expanses of the Eastern Shore and its multi-generational watermen’s culture to the indie charms of Baltimore where the patron saint is John Waters. In a single day, you can watch the sun rising over the Atlantic, ogle art in the city and commune with nature in shouting distance of Northern Virginia’s grapevines. But why go so fast when there’s so much to savor? Maryland rewards those who […]

Categories: travel

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