Recipe: Basic Blueberry pie

Basic Blueberry Pie
1     recipe of basic pie dough6     cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)1     cup sugar1/3  cup all-purpose flour1     lemon, zested and juiced1/2  tsp. cinnamon1/4  tsp. grated nutmeg2     Tbsp. butter1     egg (for egg wash)

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1 min read

Recipe: Strawberry-Rhubarb pie

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
1     recipe of basic pie dough1     quart strawberries, washed and quartered1     pound rhubarb, chopped into 1-inch lengths1     cup sugar1/2  cup all-purpose flour1/2  tsp. vanilla extract2     Tbsp. butter1     egg (for egg wash)

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1 min read

Upper Crust: Pie, demystified

For most of my life, I believed that pie was special occasion food, reserved for big family dinners and primary holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Because of that, I developed a parallel opinion that making pie was extraordinarily hard. Why else would it be trotted out only once or twice a year?

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2 mins read

Cheese of the Month: Hummingbird

When Kristian Holbrook named his mixed-milk robiola “Hummingbird,” he couldn’t have chosen a more perfect image. Like its namesake bird, this soft cheese is bright and delicate, with a nectar-like flavor profile that calls to mind vanilla and citrus. At one week, Hummingbird has the consistency of airy cheesecake; at three, the center liquefies and

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1 min read

On Tap: Frecon’s Hard Cider

Dry, aromatic and alcoholic, cyser (pronounced sizer) is a type of mead made by fermenting honey in apple cider. According to Hank Frecon, humans have been keen on the stuff since ancient Babylon. His family’s orchards in Boyertown provide the raw material for Frecon’s Hard Cider, an all-local line of fruity ferments made for Kutztown’s

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1 min read

It’s Thinking: Are you ready to become one with the smart grid?

Over the past several years, smart grid technology has been held up as a way to achieve energy independence, combat global warming and improve grid reliability. Who could be against that? But for most consumers, the smart grid is a nebulous, monolithic technological advancement that has little relevance to their everyday lives. It’s hard for

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2 mins read

Recycling Challenge: Cell Phone Chargers

FACT: Globally, 51,000 to 82,000 tons of cell phone charger waste is generated per year.
PROBLEM: One hundred million cell phones become obsolete each year and, in most cases, so do their chargers. The European Commission has recently solved this problem for residents of the European Union by persuading 10 major cell phone manufacturers to sign

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Getting There: Drexel’s Ridaroo makes carpool connections.

The brainchild of Drexel grads Aksel Gungor and Andy Guy, Ridaroo is an online application that solves one simple problem: carpool coordination. After spotting an on-campus “ride board” where students and faculty would tack Post-it notes offering and requesting transportation, Gungor had the idea to streamline the process—eliminating the time needed for the board’s one-woman

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1 min read

Growing Grayer? A crucial state environmental fund is in danger of withering away.

Think of Growing Greener as the massive invisible partner to Pennsylvania’s environmental movement. Hardly anyone has heard of it, and yet the state granting program supports countless local organizations—including the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Penn Future and The Pennsylvania Environmental Council—with thousands of conservation, recreation and educational projects. Now, as the natural gas industry takes hold,

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2 mins read

Race to the Harvest

The farming collaboration between Marathon Grill and Emerald Street Urban Farm’s Patrick Dunn [Dec. 2010 Grid, Agriculture p.18] has come to fruition in Brewerytown. In March, Marathon Farm hosted five workdays that attracted more than 60 volunteers, who transformed a vacant lot into a promising agricultural haven. On March 21, Mayor Michael Nutter himself hosted

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1 min read