The Soul of the Story

Today is the last day of the lapsed blogger posts. It was almost a full week of trips down memory lane that included CelinaBean, Silly Goose Farm, and the old original Chowhound.

Do you remember Story Cooking? Well here’s the funny thing. It hasn’t actually gone anywhere. Well, that’s not really true. It’s gone to Brazil. Ellie Markovitch left the Capital Region and moved back home, and while that might be good for her, it was sad for a lot of us. Her blog continues, although now you might encounter a post in Portuguese.

There are a lot of things that I associate with Eliie. She and I had a fun adventure with Farmer Gordon at 9 Miles East Farm learning all about sourdough. I was inspired to deep fry a bean puree after finding the treasure trove of bean recipes on her blog. And of course we were both part of the Chefs’ Consortium.

But I think the first time I met her in person was at the Oakwood Soul Cafe.

If you’ve never been to one of these monthly dinners, they are really an experience. Here’s the blurb from the Facebook page:

Soul Cafe is a ‘pay what you can’ community meal prepared by a rotating group of volunteers held the second Monday of every month at Oakwood Community Center in Troy. The event aims to provide a low-cost nutritious meal available to all, serving as a bridge for neighbors and diverse communities in Troy. Effort is taken to base meals off of fresh produce which otherwise would not be sold by local grocery stores or farms.

I was alerted by one of my Yelp friends, Marisa H., that she would be cooking this month. She will be joined in the kitchen by Jim Welch, Rodney & Jolene Wiltshire, and other LifeChurch members for a Southern soul food feast.

That means fried chicken and braised greens. Plus beans and rice, cornbread, and apple crisp. There may even be more treats too.

Here’s the Facebook page so you can check it out yourself. I’d love to join you, but unfortunately already have other plans. Busy. Busy. Busy. My hope is that you can go in my place and tell me what I missed.

You know, besides Ellie. Because lots of us miss her. But our loss is Brazil’s gain.