Geechee Girl Cafe

12/09/2024

This Saturday, September 14th, Valerie is going to be part of an "all seafood" afternoon of programming at the Parkway Central branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia. Programming includes viewing part of the film at 1:30. (Val is briefly featured). A panel discussion--of which Val is a part--is at 2:00. Check the photos for more details. Registration is not strictly needed, but you can add your name here so the powers that be can plan. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fishadelphias-seafood-stories-extravaganza-registration-938663978227And remember: local fish is as important as local produce.

07/08/2024

On Saturday, August 10th, at 11:00, Valerie is doing her second workshop of the summer at Wyck Historic House, Garden, and Farm. This time the theme is summer fruit. Val is making blueberry dumplings (dessert with no oven!), watermelon agua fresca (one of the original "red drinks"), and maybe a 3rd dish. It's free to attend, but you do need to register in advance. You can register here: https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/wyckevents/farm-to-table-summer-fruit-recipes
Here's an interview Valerie did many years ago on NPR about blueberry dumplings.
https://www.npr.org/2013/06/27/195633254/blueberry-dumplings-the-star-of-lasting-summer-memories

22/07/2024

On Thursday 7/25/24 at 5:00 ET, Val is doing an online panel with Free Library of Philadelphia and culinary historian Donna Battle Pierce on foodways of the Great Migration. Join us for food memories and a little bit of controversy--the program is called "Sugar Don't Go on Grits". It's free and from the comfort of your home, but you do have to sign up in advance.

How Black is sweet cornbread? Do WE put marshmallows on sweet potato casserole? Sugar Dont Go On Grits: An Archival Look at The Great Migrations Effect on How We Eat will be a conversational space dedicated to retracing the divergent pathways of the African American culinary tradition. Leaning on ar...

14/06/2024

Calling all Philly chefs!! On Friday June 28th, The People's Kitchen Philly is partnering with Neighborhood Gardens Trust and PHS : Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to hold a Unity Dinner event to save Tioga-Hope Park and Garden, a historic Black gardening space. The gardeners (some of the original gardeners are pictured here) specifically asked for Black chefs so I’ll ask too. All chefs welcome, though!! It’s an early evening event. Are you a chef without a kitchen? The People’s Kitchen can provide prep space. Please DM me if you can help. The Unity Dinner partners will reimburse for ingredients

30/05/2024

So ready for your jam? My friend April McGreger, master preserver is holding a private class on Sunday, June 2nd. Only 2 slots left!! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/small-batch-berry-jams-and-preserves-tickets-900362898667?aff=oddtdtcreator

09/05/2024

The Unseen Role of Prisons in Our Food System

Our legal system is complicated, with roots in racial capitalism that drive mass incarceration; there's also a mix of incentives within the prison network that promote various versions of convict leasing, agricultural labor programs, and coercive labor practices. And while the definitive numbers on....

05/05/2024

Valerie, who is on the board of The People's Kitchen Philly is joining April McGreger to hold a Mother's Day bake Sale. Show the moms in your life some Motherly Love! Order here: https://donorbox.org/events/589937
We are selling April's flaky, buttery biscuits, plus some her her fantastic preserves. Val is making calas--sweet rice beignets. And some sorrel to wash it all down with. Advance ordering only. Pick up times: Saturday May 11th evening at the People's Kitchen in South Phila, PLUS a Mt Airy pickup; Sun morning May 12th at the People's Kitchen.

30/03/2024

Princeton Alumni Weekly asked Valerie to write a travel article about Philadelphia. She wrote about Northwest Philadelphia, namely: Material Culture; Uncle Bobbie's Coffee & Books; Wyck Historic House, Garden, and Farm; Young American Hard Cider & Tasting Room; Morris Arboretum.

I’ve lived in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood for more than 40 years, so I know the area. I also know food.

29/10/2023

The Flavor Spot makes jerk chicken fried rice. They call it a Jamaican twist on an Asian tradition.

I decided to try it last night; and man when I tell you it was absolutely delicious: all the loose fluffy moistness of Asian fried rice accompanied by deep savory Jamaican flavors. A tribute to both Jamaican and Asian foodways.

I’m not Asaian; and I’m not Jamaican either but I am a Geechee (with a Jamaican son) and if there’s one thing we know it’s rice.



Lj Erwin

21/07/2023

Lorenzo Dow Turner (1890 –1972)

Was an academic and linguist who conducted seminal research on the Gullah language of coastal South Carolina and Georgia. He earned a master's degree from Harvard and a Ph.D. from the Univ. of Chicago. He taught at Howard Univ. (1917-1928) and Fisk Univ. (1929 – 1946) and traveled West Africa, identifying over 300 (Mende, Vai, Fulani) Gullah loanwords and 4,000 personal names. He published his findings in his book “Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect (1949).
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