The Southern Foodways Alliance has a pretty solid collection of community cookbooks in their office—and many more in their staffers' home libraries. And the holidays seem like the right time to whip them out and share some choice recipes with you, our readers. So fix yourself an eggnog, pull up a seat, and check back often between now and New Year's for their Holiday Throwback Recipes.

Today's Cookbook:
Talk about Good!
"Le Livre de la Cuisine de Lafayette"
Published by the Service League of Lafayette, Louisiana
First edition 1967; annual subsequent printings 1968–1971

It's game time, folks - and no, we're not talking about the college football post-season. Think wild game from land, air, and marsh: venison, quail, duck, and the like. We're not exactly avid outdoorsfolk here at SFA world headquarters, but you don't have to have a Mossy Oak wardrobe to notice that hunting season is in full swing. And really, we think it's pretty darn festive to serve up a holiday main dish you bagged yourself.
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Ryan Goodman is a generational rancher from Arkansas with a degree in Animal Science from Oklahoma State University in Animal Science, and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree at the University of Tennessee, studying beef cattle management. He is one of many farmers using social media to bridge the gap between farmers and urban customers. Follow his story daily at AgricultureProud.com or on Twitter and Facebook.

The term "local" is used frequently in conversations centered on the American food system. Is it 50 miles from your home or 500? Must the food be purchased directly from the farmer? Can the food be sourced by a retailer and sold under a "local" label for stronger buying power?

I have listened to several panel discussions on food topics over the past year and the topic of local food sources normally pops up. Some of these panel discussions have included suburban or urban mothers and restaurant owners. When asked what they considered local food and farmers, a common theme arises, and it bothers me: the urban ideal of what local farmers should look like.
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While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday.

Love it, or love to loathe it - December is National Fruitcake Month!

So maybe you didn't manage to finish off that fruitcake Aunt Betty is always so kind to bring you for Christmas ... every single year. The good news is, you still have time to enjoy it!

Fruitcake gets its name from the variety of chopped candied fruit and nuts that stud the batter and exterior of the round. The earliest known fruitcake, discovered via an ancient Roman recipe, included pomegranate seeds, raisins and pine nuts. During the Middle Ages, innovative minds tossed preserved fruit, spices and honey into the mix.
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