The LA Food Swap was launched in March 2011, and met with great success. Its founder, food writer Emily Ho, banded together with other swap organizers around the country and worked to put together an online portal for food swappers. The Food Swap Network launched Monday. more ›

It's June, and while sultry summer weather has yet to make an appearance, we're more than ready for the tastes and treats of the season. Farmers' markets are full of strawberries and stone fruits, gorgeous cucumbers, succulent squash blossoms and bright berries. It's impossible to resist the temptation to overindulge. So what do you do when your larder overflows and these fresh fixings look ready to wilt? You preserve them of course. It's easier than you might expect, and the process is no longer something done out of pure necessity--stocking up for a frigid winter. Instead, preserving has become about the art of simplicity and economy, as well as taking advantage of local options. more ›

Looking for Mason jars at Target a few weeks ago in preparation for batches of preserved lemons, homemade yogurt, jam and pickled beets, a number of employees responded with blank looks when I asked where to find canning jars. This temporarily led me to believe that canning was a foreign concept in farmers’ market and Whole Foods-laden Los Angeles, work best done by Midwestern grandmothers still influenced by Depression-era frugality. But Angelino Kevin West’s blog Saving the Season makes it very clear that canning is still a relevant and if not strictly necessary than undoubtedly delicious means of preparing food. more ›