"MarisaMcclellan" news and stories

Pickles. Photo: Kat Kinsman

There's a canning revolution going on and Kim O'Donnel -- former food writer for the James Beard Award-winning Washington Post -- has brought it to a boil.

Upon tremendous response to her re-Tweet of an Ethicurean post about a canning party in San Francisco and subsequent suggestion that Seattle and other cities follow suit, O'Donnel asked interested home canners to contact her. Thus Cans Across America was born. On the weekend of August 29-30, cities across the nation will host classes, can-a-thons, canning meet-ups and raise awareness of this retro-haute preservation method.

More about the nation's can-do attitude after the jump.

In the last year and a half, Slashfood has been an integral part of my life. Over that time, I've written nearly half a million words, posted countless recipes and taken so many pictures of my food that I had to get a larger harddrive installed in my computer in order to store them all. It has been a delight to have the opportunity to write for and interact with the amazing community of readers and writers that come to this space everyday. However, the time has come for me to move on and so today is my last day as a Slashfoodie.

Thank you to all of you who came here, read my posts, cooked my recipes and kept me on the grammatical straight and narrow. You made it all so worthwhile. I also want to thank the amazing team of writers with whom I had the opportunity to work with, I feel so fortunate to have worked with so many talented, passionate foodies.

For those of you who are interested in what's next for me, I will continue to make noise on these here interwebs. I'm going to be blogging about local foods, canning, pickling, jam making, food preservation and the occasional cookbook at Food in Jars. Scott and I will continue to make food in front of a camera for your amusement on Fork You. I'm still writing Apartment 2024, the blog that started it all. And finally, if that's not enough, you're welcome to follow me on Twitter.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

I think that black bean soup, especially when served with rice and topped with chopped onion, sour cream and a squirt of lemon juice, is one of the most perfect meals on earth. Savory and flavorful, low in fat and totally filling, it's just delicious. The picture you see above is actually one of mine, and I eat it just as you see it, out of my little orange pot, perched on a cutting board to protect the table from the heat. If the picture makes you hungry, you can find the recipe over at Super Eco.

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And her first interview was with me! Last week, while I was out in Los Angeles, I had the pleasure of meeting up with Average Betty at the Getty (a gorgeous museum in the hills overlooking the city). We talked about Slashfood, blogging, Fork You (the online cooking show I make with Scott) and Philadelphia food. She took my rambling answers and distilled it all down to a fun and concise 5 minute video.

If you haven't watched any of Betty's past videos, take some time to check them out. She has a particular way of combining food with quirky characters that is different from what anyone else out there is doing and it's really terrific!

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