Baltimore City Paper | Michelle Gienow

SOLE Food: Eating Organically (and Responsibly) on a Food-Stamp Budgetnew

Given this brave new economy and our financially fragile place within it, when feeding my family do I now have to choose between my beliefs and my budget? Only one way to find out.

Baltimore City Paper | Michelle Gienow | 10-13-2009 | Food+Drink

Tags: local produce, food, sustainability, economic issues, organic food, recession

Kombucha: Science-Fair Project or Refreshing Beverage?new

I had shied away from brewing my own home kombucha because, well, I make so many other damn things from scratch, I didn't need one more high-maintenance weekly food chore. But once budget woes axed my Whole Foods checkout-line kombucha treat, I missed my 'booch and decided to take a shot at making my own.

Baltimore City Paper | Michelle Gienow | 10-06-2009 | Food+Drink

Tags: food, DIY, drink, kombucha

Jam Session: Turning Seasonal Fruit Into Spreadable Goodnessnew

You can savor local-berry flavor year round by making jam, which is ridiculously easy. Jam is a low-exertion project in that it's simply mashed fruit cooked with some sugar and pectin until thickened, then poured into jars. With recipe for Very Berry Alterna-Jam.

Baltimore City Paper | Michelle Gienow | 06-16-2009 | Food+Drink

Tags: seasonal eating, Very Berry Alterna-Jam, food, recipes, DIY, jam, fruit

Formerly Demonized Fat is Actually Good For Younew

Lard--rendered pig fat--is mostly unsaturated oleic acid, the same exact fat in olive oil--monounsaturated, the healthiest of all fats. Lard: the new health food. Who'd a thought? Includes recipe for Lard Pie Crust.

Baltimore City Paper | Michelle Gienow | 08-12-2008 | Food+Drink

Tags: fats, recipes, trans-fat, cholesterol, pies, lard, pie crusts

Inside Baltimore's Home-Birth Undergroundnew

Disenchanted with a medical system that treats birth as an emergency instead of an emergence, seeking an alternative to the tubes and wires and monitors of a high-tech birth, some women are stepping outside of the hospital to have their babies. And some say their numbers are growing. But is home birth safe?

Baltimore City Paper | Michelle Gienow | 07-01-2008 | Sex

Tags: Baltimore, health care, midwife, childbirth, women's issues, sex & reproductive issues, hospitals, home birth