And, a very big thank you to everyone who came out last night to celebrate my Opening Reception at The River Center! It was wonderful to see familiar faces and to meet many new people ~ My show is there until the end of February. Many of the farm & food images are for sale as Fine Art Prints!

And, don’t miss the Opening Reception (fancy term for party with food & art!), Friday, February 3. 2012, from 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm.

cheers!

** I am taking appointments for summer 2012! Spots are filling fast, so please don’t wait to make your session appointment. Appointments are limited for 2012 due to my having other projects and assignments this year, and I am not able to accomodate last minute requests (so sorry to all the people that I had to turn away last year!) Call or email today to get your session booked: 603.924.6556 or via the Say Hello page **

With this mild winter weather (so far…and I probably just jinxed it), I have been able to continue my outdoor sessions later than expected. This family was such a treat, very earthy, real and loving. The images of mama and her girls really makes my heart  swoon.

My hope is that you will start a new relationship with your food, to know where it comes from and to connect with the people who provide it. I believe it strengthens our community when we have a connection with the hard-working people that provide us with fresh, natural and organic food. The next time you purchase locally raised grass-fed beef or a locally-grown organic vegetable (or two!), you will know exactly where it came from and who made it – how exciting is that!

Come with me on my culinary journey through the foods and farms of the Monadnock Region – let’s make the choice to support the people who are genuinely taking care of our land and our dinner tables. Join me in celebrating the amazing food folk of the Monadnock Region!

Manning Hill Farm

Sam Canonica and Sarah Costa, owners of Manning Hill Farm in Winchester, have been supplying the region with high-quality milk, grass-fed beef, and pastured pork, chicken and eggs for the past six years. On their 126 acre farm — which includes a farm house and barn built in the 1850s — they raise a unique dairy herd of heritage Dutch belted cows, an efficient breed selected for its ability to produce super-premium milk that is naturally sweet and easily digestible. Eleven cows on Manning Hill Farm are milked twice a day; the milk is gently pasteurized and bottled right at the farm in a stone garage that was converted into a state-inspected bottling facility. With no employees, Sam & Sarah do all of the work themselves, collecting and bottling 200 gallons of low-temperature pasteurized, non-homogenized milk (plain and chocolate milk) each week and delivering it to 22 local stores and restaurants. All of their farm products are also sold at the farm and at area farmers’ markets. The couple notes that since the milk is not “ultra-pasteurized” or homogenized, it is the perfect milk not only for drinking, but for making your own cheese, butter or yogurt. Plus, you have to admit, those glass milk bottles are the coolest things around. For more information about Manning Hill Farm and where you can purchase its milk and farm products, visit their website.

I will be posting a large Locally Known column for Manning Hill Farm in the next few days ~ stay tuned!

He said nothing until dinner was finished, then: ‘That was a wonderful dinner; you must have a terrific stove.’

 - Sam Haskins