Boston Flora

Tag: Cooking

  • Friday, March 27, 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm – How to Grow and Cook Native Edible Plants

    Join Dan Wilder for a two-part series sponsored by the Ecological Landscape Alliance dedicated to growing and cooking some of his favorite native edible plants. In the first session Dan will introduce viewers to various edible plants and discuss growing conditions, sustainable and seasonal harvest, and ecology. The following session will be centered around one or more in-season plants where Dan will guide viewers through various preparations. From scrambled eggs with wild leeks, to groundnut chips, to cocktails full of bee balm, viewers will learn how to create garden-to-table fare with native plants!

    You MUST register for each class separately. https://www.ecolandscaping.org/new-events-calendar/

    $10 for members
    $20 for non-members

    Dan Jaffe Wilder is an ecologist, horticulturist, and botanist with over fifteen years’ experience working with native plants and their associated ecology. His work has ranged from classrooms to nurseries to botanical gardens to wildlife refuges specializing in native plant ecology, propagation, wildlife habitat construction, and native edible landscapes. Dan is currently the Director of Applied Ecology for the Norcross Wildlife Foundation whose mission is to protect, enhance, and expand wildlife through conservation, education, and support. A prolific photographer and author Dan’s book Native Plants for New England Gardens was released in 2018.

  • Thursday, March 20, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm – Abuelita’s Kitchen with Dr. Sarah Portnoy

    Join documentary filmmaker, activist, and scholar Dr. Sarah Portnoy to discuss her documentary and museum exhibit, Abuelita’s Kitchen. The event, part of the Pépin Lecture Series at Boston University, will take place at 6 pm at 808 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 124, in Boston. Free. You may reserve a spot through Eventbrite HERE.

    This multimedia exhibition, led by USC professor Sarah Portnoy, shares the food stories of ten Indigenous, mestiza, Mexican-American, and Afro-Mexican grandmothers, or abuelas, in Los Angeles through photography, text, a documentary film, kitchen artifacts, family recipes, and audio stories. The exhibition examines food, identity, place, and culture, showing how these abuelas preserve traditions for future generations. 

    Abuelita’s Kitchen: Mexican Food Stories features 22 photographs and one large map and 10 objects, including molcajetes, a comal, a tortilla press and more, one from each abuela in the exhibition. The exhibition explores the dishes the grandmothers make in their home kitchens, including chiles en nogada, mole, tamales, pozole, mixiotes, enchiladas, and more. Their migration stories are detailed in a colorful map of Mexico and L.A., while a final section of the exhibition presents their identities as traditional cooks, mothers, and grandmothers through photographs with their family members. Jessica Magaña-Sandoval is the exhibition’s photographer. A 28-minute documentary directed by Ebony Bailey, also called Abuelita’s Kitchen: Mexican Food Stories, will screen continuously at LA Cocina during the exhibition.  The project has an Instagram account, AbuelitasCooking. 

    The exhibition reveals each abuela’s relationship to Mexican cuisine, their birthplaces in Mexico, and the city of Los Angeles, where the grandmothers live. For that, the 17 students of Portnoy´s USC Annenberg class, “Recording the Voices of Latinx Women & Food in Los Angeles: A Multimedia Oral History Project,” have created a website and audio stories and videos which will be available for viewing online on Telemundo’s streaming platform and on smart devices via QR codes. The audio and video tell the stories of these women, two of whom were born in the U.S., while the rest immigrated from places such as Mexico City, Puebla, Yucatán, Jalisco and Guerrero, bringing with them their knowledge of traditional dishes. 

  • Saturday, August 6, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm – Native American Summer Festival

    Travel to Georges Island, one of the Boston Harbor Islands, on Saturday, August 6, from 11 – 4, for the Native American Summer Festival.  This is a celebration of traditional and contemporary cultures of Northeastern Native American peoples, and will celebrate the connections between native peoples along the rivers and coastline of the Massachusetts Bay region.  Highlights include cooking demonstrations, music, traditional crafts, carving, weaving, storytelling and contemporary film.  No drugs, alcohol or pets allowed.  For complete information on this free event, log on to www.bostonharborislands.org, or call 617-223-8666.  Photo from www.woodlandindianedu.com.

  • Friday, August 12 – Sunday, August 14 – NOFA 2011 Summer Conference

    Join the Northeast Organic Farming Association on Friday, August 12 through Sunday August 14 on the campus of UMass/Amherst, and attend over 200 workshops on organic gardening, farming, food politics, permaculture, homesteading, landscaping, draft-animal power, alternative energy, livestock, cooking, and more! Hundreds of vendors and exhibitors will be on hand, along with live entertainment, childrens and teen conferences, country fair and farmers market, plus silent auction. This year NOFA is proud to feature the Northeast Animal-Power Field Days. Spend the weekend or come for the day. Activities for all ages.

    Sponsored by: Whole Foods, Stonyfield Farm, Farm Family, Jeff Clements Law Office, Greenleaf Foundation, Vermont Compost, Franklin Community Cooperative, Boston Organics, Groton Wellness, Neighboring Food Coop Association, Bejo Seeds, Chelsea Green Publishing, Northeast Animal-Power Field Days, River Valley Market, RMA, UMass Amherst, North County Organics, and Harris Seeds. Keynote speakers will be Eric Toensmeier, a perennial edibles expert (pictured below, courtesy of www.gazettenet.com,) and Dr. Ignacio Chapela of University of California/Berkeley, a GMO activist. Register now at www.nofasummerconference.org, email info@nofasummerconference.org, or call 413-230-7835.

  • Monday, March 8, 7 pm – The River Cottage Cookbook Class

    British chef, writer, activist and teacher Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is widely known and respected for his dedication to creating beautiful dishes comprised of seasonal, ethically produced food and raising a general awareness of where our food comes from. One of several impressive River Cottage books, The River Cottage Cookbook is as much a fantastic collection of gorgeous, simple, rustic dishes as it is an inspirational treatise on how one chef grows, gathers, and cooks his own food.  Join Barbara Lynch Gruppo’s Stir chefs for an enlightening evening full of discussion, cooking and eating.  The price is $145,  and the program will repeat on Tuesday, March 9 and Wednesday, March 10.  For information, or to register, log on to www.stirboston.com, or call 617-423-STIR.

  • Tuesday, September 29, 6 – 8:30 pm – Cooking with Farmer’s Market Finds

    What’s so special about local farmer’s markets?  See for yourself the benefits in this hands-on class.  You will discuss buying locally grown produce, ways to get the most for your money at a farmer’s market, and some shopping rules of thumb.  Then, depending on what’s available in the market that day, you’ll taste unusual fruits and vegetables, and learn to cook several colorful dishes with a bounty of farm fresh ingredients.  A materials fee is included.  Cost $45 (members of the Boston Center for Adult Education $39), and a materials fee of $18.  The instructor is Leah Bloom, and the class, which is held from 6 – 8 pm at the Boston Center for Adult Education, 122 Arlington Street will run from 6 – 8:30 pm.  For more information, and to register, log on to www.bcae.org.