Homegrown Happy Valley

A Local Holiday Feast

One of my favorite things about living local is the food. Treat someone special on your list to a local dinner or some homegrown treats. Here are a few ideas (feel free to leave your own suggestions below).

• Drinks: Otto’s or Elk Creek brew, local wine, Tait Farm Shrub with sparkling water
  

  Give the gift of local brew this holiday season

• Appetizer: Salmon spread from a local farmer’s market served with crackers; cream cheese with Tait Farm Chutney spread on crackers, served with local apples

Holiday Tree Trio; $16

O Christmas Tree

Stained glass isn’t just for church.  Add a little light to someone’s home with Heidi Urbanski’s stained glass art. Her Tannenbaum trio will add some shine to the Christmas tree, while catching any rays that manage to sneak through our windows this winter.

Heidi’s work can be found locally at Spela Children’s Store and Cafe and at Nature’s Hue off Main Street in Boalsburg.

Functional, Funky, Fun

Lip Balm Pouch with Clip; $6

Stefanie Canich of Hollyberry Designs makes bags, purses and pouches that would please any lady this holiday.  But this year the smaller accessories top my list.  The Hollyberry Lip Balm Pouch (made with a clip, so it’s handy whenever your lips need some TLC) and Checkbook Holder are designed with funky fabrics and make perfect stocking stuffers.  You can find Hollyberry items locally at Gift Adventures in downtown State College (137 East Beaver Avenue) or The Black Cat in downtown Bellefonte.

Checkbook Holder; $7.50

From now until Christmas, we’ll feature locally produced items to impress everyone on your list.

Visions of Pearls Danced in Their Heads

Local jeweler Staci Egan created this striking pendant by wrapping and weaving freshwater pearls and small coral beads with sterling wire. It’ll dress up a New Year’s Eve outfit or inject some beauty into a dreary winter evening.

Carli Necklace; $86; http://contempojewelry.net/

Kick off your holiday shopping by going local. The talented ladies at the Surface Artist Cooperative have added the following special dates to their calendar:

Local supporting local, November 19

Surface is holding its first fundraiser on Thursday, November 19 from 9 a.m. - 6p.m. Fifteen percent of total sales that day will benefit the Corl Street Elemetary PTO.

Add Surface to your holiday shopping route, November 27 and 28

Surface will be open on Friday, November 27 from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. In addition, other local artists will share the space and sell their goods on Saturday, November 28. The following artists have been invited to join them:

Here in the United States pasta is treated more like filler than food. But fresh pasta, which belongs in an entirely different food group than the $.79 supermarket brand, is a delicacy that deserves as much attention and praise as the ingredients poured over it. So when Carolyne stumbled upon a new vendor at the farmer’s market selling artisan pasta and ravioli, she immediately pulled out her wallet. The pasta didn’t disappoint, and when she learned that the company was opening up a permanent location downtown, she went back for more.

It’s hard to say goodbye to the characters of a good book. Unless the novel is turned into a movie (and you like the director’s interpretation), the closest you’ll ever get to them again is meeting their creator.

That’s why I’m looking forward to Thursday evening November 5^th. New York Times bestselling author and State College local Tawni O’Dell will discuss her literary experiences, including a career-changing call from Oprah informing O’Dell that her novel Back Roads had been chosen as an Oprah Book Club selection. The Mid-State Literacy Council is cosponsoring the talk, entitled “A Writer’s Tale of Coal Towns, Oprah, Bullfights & Hollywood,” and a percentage of proceeds from the evening will benefit the organization. The event takes place at Webster’s Bookstore Cafe on 128 S. Allen Street at 7 p.m. (O’Dell speaks at 8).

Guest blogger Carolyne Meehan–a mom, former English teacher, and supporter of all things local–finishes her diary of working on a local farm in exchange for fresh, local produce with Part Three: “When Life Happens — Literally.” If you’re just joining in now, check out Part 1 here or Part 2 here.

While my Happy Valley friends watched the Nittany Lions handily defeat the Zips on Saturday, I took an alternative approach to the afternoon.  I canned.

I finally heard the call of the mountain of Roma tomatoes growing on my countertop.  So after driving to the Millheim Farmers’ Market to buy a bit more garlic and basil (stopping at Elk Creek Café for delicious brunch) I decided to go home and test my newly learned skill (I use the word “skill” loosely).

Guest blogger Reenie Kuhlman is co-founder of GoodPR, Inc., a communications consulting agency that helps businesses, organizations and people whose mission is to do something good for the world.  Reenie, a mother of two and a lover of all things local, details her experience planning an eco-friendly tailgate with food from Pittsburgh (her hometown) and State College (her favorite tailgating locale).

Time to trade the flip-flips and t-shirts for booties and sweatshirts—make those Nittany Lion sweatshirts. The best part about this weather is the electrified feeling in the air. In Happy Valley you can actually smell the leaves falling from the trees. And that means only one thing: Penn State football.