Food and Drink

"If I owned a coffee shop, this is what it would be like. It would have books to borrow, a pile of board games, and a woman with multicolored hair and librarian specs kneading dough in a small, open kitchen."

For many book lovers, the idea of writing in a book is simply cringe-worthy, but how about eating one?

April 1^st marked national Edible Book Day, in which organizations around the country hosted an Edible Book Contest. On March 31^st the RCAH Center for Poetry held their 8^th competition in the LookOut Gallery of Snyder-Phillips Hall, on the MSU campus. The only requirment of this contest is that whatever a contestant creates, it must be edible and related to literature.

The fleshy bit hanging over the bill of this tom is called a snood. The fleshy bit hanging below the chin is a wattle. Image courtesy MSU Extension.

A drive into the countryside around East Lansing will take you into turkey habitat. The domestic or wild turkey is native to the East Lansing area, and turkeys have been in North America for more than 20 million years. Relatives of the turkey go back to the dinosaurs, about 85 million years ago in the late Cretaceous period.

Above: terrarium makings at Clever Clover

Been invited to be a dinner guest or house guest this holiday season? Whether your destination is local or in a distant state, consider picking up a gift for your host or hostess at one of East Lansing’s many locally-owned small businesses.

Sometimes it’s delightful to get an invitation that says “bring a dish to pass.” It’s delightful if you like to cook and you’re confident that you can make something other people will willingly eat. It’s delightful when you have lots of time to shop for ingredients, putter in the kitchen, and create something delicious for the family Thanksgiving or a neighborhood holiday gathering.

Frazier and daughters

Have you ever wandered around your local grocery store bakeries searching for a delicious treat that’s healthy, too? Maybe something gluten-free, vegan, or made without allergens like wheat and dairy? The options are limited, and local East Lansing mom, Nikki Frazier plans to change that.

This Saturday night, November 7^th, local band, Time2Play, will host a fundraiser to help the Greek island of Lesvos provide aid to the large influx of refugees, mostly Syrian and Afghani, arriving on the island. The band is joined in their fundraising effort by Tommy Malvetis owner of the Unicorn Tavern in Old Town Lansing. Malvetis, of Greek heritage himself, is providing the venue for the fundraiser.

Photo: Pioneer sugar plant in Sebewaing, Michigan, in a photo taken by the author about two weeks ago.

The sugar beet harvest has arrived in Michigan just to the north and east of East Lansing. Driving by the areas where the beets are farmed, you can see huge piles of the beets piled in trucks and on staging pads across the region. The beets look like big, cream-colored turnips. One pile I drove by in Sebewaing two weeks ago was about 15-feet high, two lanes wide, and as long as a football field. (See below.)

Image: Peppers for sale at Wildflower Eco Farm.

It’s funny what a difference a preposition can make. In English, putting up with refers to tolerating something or someone. But putting up refers to preparing a foodstuff to keep over the winter.