If you’re going to make gelato, then it might as well be from ingredients that are both seasonal and known for having been made in America.  At Splendora’s Gelato Café in Charlottesville, Virginia one of the flavors of the month is Jack Daniels.  Created in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, Jack Daniels is certainly fitting for the cause.  One bite, and you know that you’re dipping into some serious Tennessee Whiskey.  Want to try it?  Visit the gelateria today and give them a reason to continue the trend of highlighting seasonal, American flavors like this one.

-Serena

What could be more worthwhile on a Thursday evening than tasting superior liquors and chocolates in good company?  Not much, I’d say.  At a family-run fine beer market/restaurant on March 12, I was actively engaged in my first coordinated whiskey tasting.  Eades, an up and coming Premium Double Malt Whisky brand, is modeled after the very best of Scotland but distilled in Virginia.  How did this rather random combination of locations come to be?  Co-founders Chris Allwood, Brian Gray, and Joe Hungate, all residents of the Washington, D.C. area, had shared a passion for the famously Scottish drink and wanted to master the technique of making it closer to home.  Having found a zone of Scottish immigration along the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia’s Nelson County, they were sold.  And it’s a good thing— each of the three double malt’s flavors is exceptionally distinct.  One is your “typical” whiskey but is also of what could only be the highest caliber.  Another is almost pink in color and is so smooth that even Grandma would be asking for a second shot.  The last?  Smoky, like a barbecue of Grade A steaks or a pack of American Spirits.  Can’t wait to try them for yourself?  Eades Whisky can be purchased in several locations in California, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

-Serena

An Oregon resident whose plan it was to eat only foods that came from that state and Washington forfeited his endeavor.  The main reason that Justin Rothboeck cited for having given it up?  He realized that he was squandering more energy by driving unnecessarily long distances just to put foods on his plate than he would have been by buying some non-local items from his usual grocery stores.  Another issue Rothboeck had with eating 100% locally?  There just weren’t that many different types of foods available to him.  (According to an Oregon economist, 80% of the food that is grown in America is accomplished by just 13% of the farms, creating an acute lack of diversity within areas.) 

Still enticed to challenge yourself like Rothboeck did but would like to learn a bit more about modern-day farms beforehand?  From the Farm to the Table: What All Americans Need to Know about Agriculture might be a good resource.  In it, author Gary Holthaus relays the experiences of around 40 U.S. farmers to the reader.  It probably wouldn’t be such a bad idea to really get to know the producers of your food before relying on them so completely…

-Serena