Nothing says Christmas quite like a spiced holiday drink to warm your insides. In November, I set out to explore the options, and in the end settled upon the most traditional of holiday drinks. Sure, there are always new cocktails being invented but a Wassail, Swedish Glogg, Classic Eggnog and Hot Buttered Rum will always…

There is a three-pronged fork in our silverware drawer. I don’t know where it came from, but it has lived in our house for a long time. It’s always the last fork picked when setting the table and I have watched others trade the fork for another in the drawer before eating. I am not…

“Just close your eyes and take a bite,” I said to the uneasy tourist. I found myself saying that quite often the summers I waitressed at a local waterside restaurant. Many travelers, enamored by the water culture they had discovered here on the Eastern Shore, would often order a soft crab sandwich not realizing what…

I suggest you read “The Oxford Vignettes – The Oxford Carry-Out,” an interview with Leo and Jean Nollmeyer, before reading this as the two columns are sister stories. When I read through “Cousin Sara’s” journals there is one topic that keeps popping up and every time I read about it, I get the giggles. It’s…

I have an ambivalence to August that is difficult to quantify. On one hand, I love summer for warm days, blue skies, boat rides, swimming, and gardening. The other half of me becomes tired this time of year. Tired of the humidity, the squalls, mosquitos in the garden, and, yes, by late August I’ve had…

Waitressing in restaurants during high school, college years and beyond, I learned very quickly what “in the weeds” meant. Having been in the weeds a few times myself – it’s a rather uncomfortable place to be. You can’t handle the tables you have and more keep piling in the door. Think of standing in tall…

Shel Silverstein wrote a book in 1974 titled Where the Sidewalk Ends. This book was given to me as a present in the third grade, and I loved it. My childhood friend that lived across the street would come over and we would read this book together on the living room floor and roll around…

I enjoy writing this column very much, but I am equally passionate about gardening, which allowed me to procrastinate and put off writing this column. Those frequent readers of my column know my love of the sport. Yes, I consider gardening a sport, after all, I strategize, sweat and need Gatorade breaks, so I treat…

In my youth, I attended Methodist confirmation classes. These classes were religious classes that taught us not only about our own religion, Methodism, but as part of the curriculum we learned about other faiths as well. This curriculum was developed to better understand religion as a whole and why different religions eat different foods, pray…

Leftovers. It’s not a word that is often said with zeal or affection, but perhaps it should be. Leftovers are a relatively new option for humans. Until about a hundred years ago, leftovers may have been fed to the chickens or pigs, composted, attracting cats or rats, or simply became garbage. In the human timeline,…

It has been said that amongst these tidewaters we call home exists some of the most pleasant living. This phrase actually comes from a National Bohemian Beer slogan. The “Land of Pleasant Living” slogan reached its peak in the1960s when National Bohemian bought a Chesapeake Bay skipjack and named it the Chesterpeake after a pelican…

I love a good boat ride. Getting up at 3 a.m. to drive an hour or more in the windy winter to launch a Jon boat into an icy dark, stunningly cold marshland is not my idea of a good boat ride, but we all have our preferences. I like to take in my sea…

As a child, I did not read much more that what was required of me. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens were memorable exceptions. Summer reading lists weren’t a thing or at least my parents did not make me aware of any. My summer reading consisted of a…

By the time you read this, I’ve been blessed with another year of foraging in my secret spot for wild blackberries. In July, just after dayspring while the Mourning Doves coo and grass is still wet with mid-summer dew, I steal a few minutes away from my modern life to forage for these essential berries.…

I occasionally visit flea markets and antique stores. During such visits I’ve kept an eye out for a wooden box lined with fine metal screening of a particular design. As a child, I was told these boxes would perch on the tops of Oxford roofs with figs in them. In August, the intense summer heat…

When my husband and I were dating, we went fishing quite often. Amongst all our fishing gear, there was always a bag of Fritos. Salty, crispy, corn chips taste pretty good on a hot summer day with a cold drink. Fritos became so synonymous with fishing that something was amiss when a bag didn’t make…

During summers of the 1980s, I attended many sailing regattas on the Eastern Shore. In those days, we would sail a race or two in the morning, sail back to land for lunch, and then reconvene on the water in the afternoon for another race; but that was soon to change. When I was 13,…

Climate change is complex and overwhelming in so many ways. I would be remiss if I didn’t touch on its impact on our food supply. After all, that’s what I write about – food and anything related to food. Climate change is and will play a permeating role in our food quality and availability. My…

Written by Cathy Schmidt Nature works in fascinating ways that we as humans are only beginning to comprehend. I can read about gardening techniques, experiment, observe and adjust my garden from year to year to get closer to nature’s perfection, but it is an unreachable goal. I am always the student and always will be…

Cathy Schmidt writes from Trappe where she and her husband Chef Brian Schmidt own Garden and Garnish Catering. A food explorer, Cathy loves to garden and cook from scratch. As a child, I brought vegetables home from the garden in a wheelbarrow. When we stopped to pick up Bill Eason’s corn on Oxford Road, it…

In my childhood and teen years, I spent my summers, almost every fall and spring weekend, Thanksgiving and Easter at my grandparents’ home in Oxford. On fall weekends, the Friday ride to Oxford was fraught with anticipation of all things Eastern Shore. Once we had left at the end of summer to go back to…

Plants have many ways of sending messages to us humans, if we pay attention. Thorns, scents and colors are some of the ways that plants send clues about their compatibility or usefulness. For vegetables and fruits, many of us are missing the biggest clue of all – color. The vibrant orange of a carrot, the…

To serve or arrange food on a plate or plates is a simplistic definition for the plating madness we have seen displayed on the internet and television in the last decade or so. From Christmas cookie bake offs, to cooking competitions – presentation is a major focal point. Plating, arranging, garnishing, – the embellishing of…

As this column is about food you may be perplexed as to why I have taken up space discussing paper towels. I am writing about paper towels because, for most of us, paper towels hold a prominent place in the kitchen, usually next to the sink or maybe under a convenient cabinet. I buy lots…

I had no idea that parsnips were so delicious until this past year. I’ve been aware that parsnips existed my whole life, and I’ve seen them at the grocery store for years but never took the time to investigate them. In my head, I assumed they were similar to turnips or rutabagas – another white…

As a young school aged child, I didn’t bother much with a calendar. That was left to the grownups in my life. Months for me were merely punctuated by one main event, for example: Santa came in December, school started in September, and my birthday was in June. But there was one month, July, that…

Peeler crabs shed around a full moon; plant vegetable seeds after May 10; plant rows north to south; yellow perch run early in February. These are just a few native wisdoms about food I heard growing up. Over the years, I’ve followed this sage advice and other local knowledge and generally the information passed on…

No one ever gazed upon a sunflower with a heavy heart that was not turned to the sunshine. The flower’s happy inclination draws you in and changes dispositions as easily as it follows the sun. Sunflower heads naturally turn to follow the sun and this response to sunlight and its will to follow it is…

My childhood doctor was straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. Small and quaint, the center of his office boasted a beautiful wooden rocking horse painted in red and white and adorned with a worn leather saddle and strap; waiting chairs encircled it. Doctor Jones had white hair and round spectacles, wore a suit under…

While sipping some herbal tea and watching songbirds at my feeder from my kitchen window, it occurred to me that my articles have only featured food for thought for the human clan. So, this one’s for the birds. I mostly abandoned my garden for the months of December and January favoring inside activities like baking…

On a cool, sunny February morning, I met Sonny and Karli Diefenderfer on a remote windswept waterfront property in Windy Hill, Maryland. I was there to learn about muskrat trapping. The footpath we followed to the river was cushioned by pine needles and flanked by phragmites, and as Karli walked beside me, I was instantly…

December skies have a different look to them, or at least they do to me. December is the darkest month of the year for us here in Maryland, and I have observed the sky appears a darker blue and the stars somehow seem brighter. My observations could be predicated on the fact that I’m looking…

The shiny red cranberry, whose blossom looks like the head and neck of a sandhill crane, hence how it gets its name, is a simple curiosity and an easy sell to a young child. With sweet palates and a love for berries, children are easily attracted to these glossy show-stoppers at a young age. But…

In late September of 1985, I cautiously trudged through cold river water in darkness to check on a family boat. The tide had risen about a foot or so above the dock. As my dim flashlight reflected off the water and back onto my face and sharp pellets of rain made me squint, it was…

Last fall I purchased a wondrous curiosity of a book at the Oxford Fire Company’s annual antique sale. Published in 1945, Emily Post’s Etiquette, The Blue Book of Social Usage was an item not to be passed up. I had planned to read the antiquated 654-page bible of good manners throughout the winter and write…

As I sit down to write this article, I am enjoying a popsicle my son made by pouring cranberry juice into a silicone mold. It’s 84 degrees out, a little humid and this homemade popsicle tastes just right. I’m not at all bothered by the juice dripping down my fingers as I delight in its…

An exploration of two gardens in Trappe, both labors of love and colorful examples of hard work, creativity and giving back to nature, friends and ourselves.  In this tale of two gardens, while it may feel like the worst of times, it is the best of times in terms of gardening. With the world in…

When we are used to buying almost any food we want when we want it, we consequently become spoiled with this privilege. This is a privilege that many people around the world do not have; a privilege that perhaps only the last few generations have known. Scarce are people still living today that remember the…

In mid-March, I wanted to bake a pecan pie and subsequently discovered there were no eggs in the house. I put my plans on hold and added eggs to my store list for the next day. After some investigation, there were apparently no eggs in Easton, at least I couldn’t find any. In fact, there…

I have been known to draw attention to those around me, the date and time in which I eat my last garden tomato of the year. This usually happens in late October or, if I’m lucky, early November. When this moment occurs each fall, the day becomes overcast. It is at this time I may…

Martha, the Passenger Pigeon, passed away on September 1, 1914 in the Cincinnati Zoo. She was the last of her kind. It almost seems an impossibility given passenger pigeons once filled the skies in such numbers as to block out the sun. In 1860, an estimated 3.7 billion pigeons flew across Fort Mississauga, Ontario. So…

Seed company catalogs appear in my mailbox every January and February and it’s one category of catalog I truly look forward to receiving. The covers display gorgeous glossy photos of incredible tomatoes and stunning flowers. These breathtaking visuals are something I count on. In the dark depths of a cold and overcast winter, it is…

In my early teenage years, a friend and I decided we were going to surprise our families with homemade taffy for the holidays. While my mother was off at the grocery store, we found a recipe and began our taffy journey. We read about candy thermometers, gathered equipment and assembled ingredients. In the beginning of…

In middle school and again in high school I actively participated in home economics and shop classes. These weren’t elective courses, they were required and, throughout the many years of instruction in these courses, I learned a wide variety of very useful skills like sewing, cooking, childcare, household budgeting and how to make a bookshelf.…

Cooking up “Yin and Yang eggs” was a happy accident one morning at my house. Amused by it, I took a picture. I found it very symbolic of breakfast because, as the modern story goes, many people are too rushed to sit and enjoy a breakfast, yet, it would probably be in their best interest…

In many Eastern Shore hamlets, country stores have been the epicenter of rumor and truth and everything in-between about one’s neighbors, local lore and public warnings. You are known by the company you keep, and the nightshades family of plants is a great example of this social convention. It is hard to overcome speculation and…

On the corner of Routes 662 and 404, history and food collide, and it is the perfect combination for an article. Straddling the border between Talbot and Queen Anne’s counties lies a modest wooden structure with a long story to tell. Accented by our state flower, the Black-Eyed Susan, the Old Wye Mill property might…

On a dew filled August morning, the sun leaks into my tent, brushes my face, and I am comforted by the smell of bacon cooking on a nearby fire. On this particular morning, I will be making our Mountain Man Breakfast. There are no mountains here on the Eastern Shore, but a late night of…

“To spitchcock an eel you must split a large eel down the back and joint the bones. Cut it in two or three pieces, melt a little butter, put in a little vinegar and salt, let your eel lie in it two or three minutes. Then take the pieces up one by one, turn them…

When I was very young, possibly four, I recall a bare patch of ground near our house. I remember my mother handing me a packet of carrot seeds and telling me to sprinkle them on the earth. Opening the packet, I peered inside at some very tiny seeds. My mother helped me carefully pour a…

With a prolific number of recipes available to us through so many resources such as websites, cookbooks, magazines and cooking shows, it seems as though our options for dinner are almost endless. Coupled with the availability of food flown in from every region of the U.S. and other countries, the world is literally our oyster…

Do you ever drive back roads on the Mid Shore and wonder what the landscape looked like 40 years ago? If you grew up here and are pushing 50, you can probably remember. I do. There were fewer houses, fewer stores, and less manicured roadsides. Do you ever drive around and wonder what the landscape…

I am not known to fall prey to the latest and greatest kitchen gadgets. It’s not in my nature. However, with the holidays omnipresent, one cannot help but be visually and aurally bombarded by television and radio commercials about the newest kitchen gadget must haves. Perhaps before we run out and purchase a new countertop…

November hosts one of my favorite holidays of the year because we focus on “giving thanks for what we have,” instead of shopping for what we don’t have. There are no mythical visitors such as the Great Pumpkin, Santa Claus, Cupid, Leprechauns, or human size pink Easter bunnies. There are no birthday candles to blow…

One day in late August, I attempted to sit down in my yard on a blanket to eat a sandwich. My yard was ripe with mosquitoes and so I had lathered myself in homemade bug spray for this special event. I had a front row seat to a live nature show. You see, around July…

I googled the word “farm” the other day. That sounds silly, right? We live in an agricultural community and just across the street from me is a farm complete with tractors, a cow pasture and a collection of vintage red barns. When I think about what a farm is, I think of what I am…

In the last article, I began to explore what is in our food. The definition of food has challenged our intellect, so that educating ourselves and deciding what we should or shouldn’t put in our bodies has become paramount to our health. Here I continue to investigate food additives. Sulfites Sulfites have been used as…

When did food become so complex? Before the introduction of pesticides, chemical additives and preservatives, food was simpler – it was just food. In search of convenience, long shelf life, and a skewed perception of “perfect food” (apples aren’t naturally shiny), food is not at all simple. Looking further, I struggle when a food additive…

Every spring hoards of dandelions are sentenced to death. Television commercials for weed killers often feature the dandelion as an example: “Just a few squirts of this herbicide and your weeds will be gone!” the advertisers boast. What I would like to know is where in history did the dandelion turn from friend to foe?…

Early one morning, when I was a young child of age 6, my father took me fishing off of the Oxford public wharf. I proudly caught an 8” spot and my father enjoyed it for breakfast. As I got older, I spent some time fishing with Mr. John. He was a cousin and very much…

On a brisk January morning I woke up at 6:15 a.m. to cook breakfast for my boys. We had eggs and home fries before I scooted them out the door into the cold darkness to catch the bus. The wind caught the door as I tried to close it and I thought to myself: “At…

On a recent cloudy day, I had the pleasure of sitting down and talking with Tracy Ward and Deena Kilmon from Chesapeake Harvest. As soon as we began to discuss the mission and activities of Chesapeake Harvest, I just knew clouds were parting outside the office and their words ushered in a ray of sunshine…

I’ve watched videos of people eating bugs. The video locations are usually in a remote far off land in a country I’ve never been to or maybe even heard of. I have cringed at the sight of people opening their mouths and inviting in a creepy crawly. Interestingly enough, while I am cringing, the consumer…

I come from a family of lunch packers. At a young age, my mother would pack my lunch, but as I matured that responsibility was handed over to me. The refrigerator was stocked for me with nutritious choices and from there I built my lunch. It usually included a sandwich made of peanut butter and…

Food allergies can be a blessing. Of course, I never believed that sentence when I had my initiation in to the complex and disturbing world of food allergies. I grew up in a time when food allergies weren’t on the radar. None of my schoolmates or close friends had allergies that I can recall and…

Cathy Schmidt has faithfully provided the Food for Thought column in Attraction magazine in recent years. Learn more about her partnership with her husband, Brian, at Garden and Garnish. When Brian and Cathy Schmidt worked together busing tables at the old Masthead on Mill Street in Oxford, 28 years ago, they never anticipated it was…

  Quenching summer thirst can be quite an emotional experience for those parched by the intense summer sun on the Eastern Shore. While most of the time ice water will do the trick, sometimes we long for something even more satisfying. Desperate for hydration on a searing June day, nothing elicits a more emotional response…

Most of my perennial herbs are now stretching their arms into the sky and appear to be fully awake. Each year, however, I seem to have a few casualties. This is the nature of gardening – you win some, you lose some, but there is always the chance for rebirth. When I first began herb…

The most wonderful time of the year is here – gardening season! With the spring rains settled into the soil and the warmth of the June sun upon us, we are about to have an explosion of fresh fruits and vegetables. This is good news for everyone, not just the gluten free community. Anyone reading…

~ Originally printed in June 2015. “Money doesn’t grow on trees!” How many times have you heard that expression? Probably more than you can count with a substantial number of those times coming from your parents, when you left the lights on all over the house or took an extra-long shower. So, what if I…

I am fixated on oysters right now. Perhaps because a cold snap is on its way. Consequently, as the seasons change, so does my appetite. Many generations ago, my family ran an oyster packing business. As I sit in my office and type this column, across the room in my peripheral view, is an old…