There's an interesting Google group out there called Baltimore Food Makers where the discussion is mostly about ambitious home-cooking projects.
There was a guy on there a while back explaining how he made duck breast prosciutto. During the blizzards, when someone asked, "What's everybody cooking?," one member replied that he had Vietnamese pork chops marinating, French bread rising and some sort of celery salad waiting in the fridge.
These are people who make their own crackers -- even grow their own luffa sponges.
A topic that came up yesterday was a little more pedestrian, but one that I think Dining@Large readers might have an interest in. It concerns local honey.
"i loooooove the honey i buy for us, but it's $15/qt -- and i tend to buy 4 qts/time," Food Maker writes. "this is locally produced really really good honey, but i'm facing some let's just call them sudden unexpected financial challenges and am looking for alternate sources. ... or, i dunno, maybe $15/qt is just what local honey costs? anyway, i'm wondering what everyone else does for honey, if you buy locally then where/from whom, and what yours costs."
Frankly, I'm surprised there's a Food Maker out there who doesn't keep her own bees. Slacker!
Does anybody know if there's less expensive local honey to be had?
Sun photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor