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My name is Sarah Spence and I am excited to introduce myself as a “foodie correspondent" of sorts. I am a cook who moved to Barnet in December 2002 and to St Johnsbury in 2005.

I have worked in farm stores, restaurants, gourmet stores, and bakeries over the years, yet I tend to think back to some wonderful things I learned and experienced after moving to Vermont. I first saw brussels sprouts growing on the stalk at the St. Johnsbury Farmer’s Market. I had no idea how they grew before actually seeing them. That spring, I was lucky enough to be invited to a neighboring farm to see a lamb born. I had never seen an animal born before that day. Beautiful. Over the next few years, I was able to practice cooking game meat that I had never tried before, such as rabbit, venison, and moose. I learned about fiddleheads and dilly beans and the classic recipes in the Ball Blue Book of Canning. Garlic scapes and ramps were new to me as well. It also became clear that farm eggs are vastly superior to regular grocery store eggs and duck eggs are extra rich and very large.

It’s been wonderful to see how local restaurants and food producers have been developing. In the early 2000s, it was difficult for farmers to sell meat produced locally, and now I can go to a nearby processing facility and buy from their storefront. Local farms are selling beef, pork, and chicken at their farm stands in addition to veggies, canned goods, maple syrup, pasta, coffee, wool, artwork, and flowers. In the early 2000s, many of the cheeses produced in the area (outside of Cabot) tended to be fresh cheeses as it was an investment to construct an aging cave. Jasper Hill in Greensboro helped change that situation and I was lucky enough to sample some aged cheeses from Karim Farm in Ryegate recently and they were fantastic.

It has been great, delicious fun experiencing the diversification of local restaurants and producers of beer, cider, mead, kombucha, and other spirits. Pop-up restaurants and farmer’s markets have been a great way for local folks to test the waters and build a following before considering a fixed location. This area is small enough that there are opportunities that aren’t available in more populated places.

When I moved to Vermont, I didn’t know that maple syrup came in different grades and it was several years before I understood that it takes around 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup. It took a few years before I discovered that syrup can be made out of birch sap as well.

I have enjoyed getting to know people here over the last 20 years and I appreciate my wonderful family, friends, and community. There are a lot of people here who value the importance of knowing how to make, grow, forage or hunt your own. The food systems and official pathways for consumers to purchase local food products are improving all the time. I’ve been learning more recently about efforts to reduce food waste, improve food security and make sure that more of the produce grown here is enjoyed locally (and contributes to our good health) through for-profit and nonprofit channels. Growing food is hard work and a labor of love; reducing waste is a great way to show appreciation.

For now, I’ll leave you with my local variation on a recipe from The Parish House Inn in Ypsilanti, Mich., for Michigan Baked Oatmeal. This dish is easy to make ahead of time and reheats well as individual servings in the microwave. It can be assembled the night before and baked off in the morning. The sweetener can be increased or decreased, dried fruit or flavoring changed up, nuts added or not. The grated apple is important as it contributes to the texture of the dish. This oatmeal is not ‘sticky’ in the way that oatmeal is when prepared using traditional methods. This is a hearty, warm, nutritious breakfast for fall. Enjoy!

Coat a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Mix all ingredients except for nuts in a bowl and add to the dish, top with nuts, and bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for about an hour. The top should be lightly browned and the milk fully absorbed.

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