Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Feast.
Cool Drinks for Summer
There's nothing quite like a refreshing frozen drink after a summer day of playing or working in the hot sun. Not only does it hydrate you, but it also cools your core body temperature. With choices you cannot find in fastfood establishments or restaurants and fresh ingredients, you can make a beverage better than anything you could buy.
By Julie Lacksonen4 years ago in Feast
Summer Food Vibes
Karsten looked through the cabinets above Bobby’s fridge. There was bread, gin, crackers, and flax seeds. He grabbed the gin, which was a giant spherical bottle with a corked top labeled Monkey 47, and placed it on the counter. It wasn’t what he was looking for, but it was booze. Cabinets on either side of the microwave were for plastic cups and glassware. Above the microwave, there were cartridges for the coffeemaker. A fly hovered in and out of the drain in the sink. The cabinets underneath the sink were for the pipes, dishwashing liquid, trash bags, and other essentials Karsten didn’t care about. Drawers to the right of the sink had playing cards. Beneath those drawers were the cabinets for paper cups, paper plates, and regular plates.
By Robert Baas4 years ago in Feast
Summertime Delight
When I look back on summer days as a child, I’m immediately overwhelmed with memories of sand and sun, hamburgers and hot dogs, and ice-cold sodas from the cooler. It seems like the definitive experience of a child growing up near the Florida coast, but I want to look a little further than that. To find the most iconic summertime food, I think back on the days I spent with my grandparents at their home in The Middle of Nowhere.
By Rowan Vetere4 years ago in Feast
La Dolce Vita Estiva
We lived in a typical wartime house on the south end of town. A single maple tree dotted most front yards, though ours had a swing my Dad built. I was always proud of that. It felt like a little notch above the other neighborhood kids. I imagined it felt similar to when someone in the neighborhood had a pool, though nobody in ours did. Each backyard was nothing more than a bland rectangular patch of grass, and on sunny days my sister and I dragged our deck chairs to the middle of it, plugged our ghetto blaster into the extension cord and fed it through the kitchen window to blast the Cranberries or Counting Crows. Sometimes we listened to the radio to hear of any concert ticket contests we could try for. We lathered our bodies in tanning oil, and spritzed our hair with lemon juice, setting a timer to remind us to turn over every twenty minutes or so. Two whole months stretched before us with nothing to do. Those summers tasted like sun-drenched peach juice dripping down my chin, and salty, soggy chips from wet hands diving into the bag after a swim at the local beach. The hours ticked by while our parents were at work; too young for jobs ourselves, we basked in the freedom to choose what the day would bring. I can still taste the penny candy from the variety store on the main street. We'd swing our little paper bags around for all the neighborhood kids to see as we walked back home from our splurge. Some days I'd buy the giant jawbreaker and lick it while we walked until my tonge was raw and stained red and blue. We tried all the new flavours of pop from the dispenser, and mixed them together melting a popsicle into it and called it swamp water. In the evenings, Dad would put the sprinkler on and ask us to pick snap peas and cherry tomatoes from the little garden that lined the edge of the yard. We'd split the skin of the peas open pulling from the vein and count how many were in each, popping them in our mouths like m&m's as we worked. Back then we still ate meat, and so those summers tasted like grilled hamburgers with too much ketchup and mustard, homegrown garden salads and buttered and salted corn on the cob. Mom proudly used the corn holders I had made at school which were bright orange melted plastic and hard to hold with greasy fingers. On Sunday evenings after dinner, Mom, my brother, sister and I would get on our bikes and head over to the park to listen to the music playing on the barge. Dad didn't like the crowds and said the style of music wasn't great, so he stayed back. Some evenings it was an Elvis impersonator, or an old-folks band that played songs I'd never heard of. But it brought a crowd, and families sat on picnic blankets or camp chairs until the mosquitos came out. That or the donation basket started getting passed around which split the crowd up pretty quickly. On humid evenings we were allowed to get an ice cream from the concession stand, but mostly we swam near the shore while Mom listened to the music. She knew all the songs, and sang along to each one.
By Christina Hunter4 years ago in Feast
A Chippy Tea
Rolling hills of long grass and shrubland give way to dunes of crisp, golden sand. Sand that singes your feet as you saunter across it. Heading towards the ocean, a cooling, salty breeze refreshes the skin and stings the eyes. As you leave the trail, heading towards the beach, the smell of farmland gives way to an earthy, umami scent of seaweed filling the olfactory glands. Sunlight dapples in the rockpools around you, as all manner of tiny crustacea play, untroubled by the day-to-day ways of people.
By Ben Peachey4 years ago in Feast
The Best Summer Food
The best summer food in North Carolina comes from the Miller's house. Yes, other people have cookouts. And Lauri's grilled Salmon is a close second, but eating Mary Miller's cooking always used to be one of my favorite treats. She would make the fruit and vegetables on the outside grill. I know in most people's minds a cookout is hamburgers and hotdogs, but I always thought her fruit and vegetables won the contest. I used to go over there and occasionally eat with their family. Life though has moved on. I went back to work and my schedule became more hectic. The Millers were no longer dinner partners.
By Antoinette L Brey4 years ago in Feast
A Comprehensive Guide to Coffee Roasting
Almost everyone loves Coffee. However, the preference does tend to differ depending on the taste. Usually, the raw coffee beans are roasted for various time frames to create a host of exotic ranges. The concept of coffee roasting in India refers to the roasting of the beans and producing flavours that are complex yet scrumptious on the palate. The beans can be roasted lightly, and you can even go for a complete dark roast, and this range is usually referred to as the degree of coffee roasting.
By Akshaya Sidh4 years ago in Feast
SHEET PAN SALAD
There is nothing like a crisp cool salad on a hot summer day by the pool. So refreshing. And they are so quick and easy to fix. I absolutely love the versatility of toppings you can use for a sheet pan salad, and the wide range of dressing selections. You can be so creative with them, and make them very eye appealing.
By Lynn Leach4 years ago in Feast
Arizona Sun
Summertime in Arizona is a scorching beast. We call it a "dry heat", because the only moisture to be found is coming from our bodies, seeping out the try to keep us desert lizards cool. The temperature starts to creep up into unbearable territory starting in March all the way to October, but the real survival test is those summer months.
By J. L. Green4 years ago in Feast
