What could be more enticing on a hot summer’s day than to sit down to a table covered with newspapers, fresh steamed crabs, Old Bay seasoning, cole slaw, and a cold beer. Or is it something more elegant that you’re looking for – Beef Chez Conduit (beef tenderloin with Bearnaise sauce), fresh asparagus, new red potatoes, and pumpkin cheesecake. Getting hungry? Take a peek inside and you’ll discover a region rich in culinary delights and history. The Chesapeake Bay region offers an abundance of food from the Bay, fields and woods. Recipes come from the earliest Native Americans to the influx of international flavors. The recipes are elegant and easy, designed for many different occasions. Menus make for easy planning with all the recipes contained in the cookbook. The history chapter region captures the true traditions of the Bay, and an insight into the background of many of the dishes. The pictures capture the Chesapeake at its best – skipjacks, oystering, the marshes, and Mount Clare Mansion, built by Charles Carroll who married Margaret Tilghman, uniting two of the wealthiest and most prominent families in Maryland.

Do you want to join a CSA, but don’t know where to start? Are you wondering what the difference between Certified Organic and Biodynamic produce is? This guide explains the many ways to participate in the local food movement in the Chesapeake. There was a time when most food was local, whether you lived on a farm or bought your food at a farmers market in the city. Exotic foods like olives, spices, and chocolate shipped in from other parts of the world were considered luxuries. Now, most food that Americans eat is shipped from somewhere else, and eating local is considered by some to be a luxury. Renee Brooks Catacalos is here to remind us that eating local is easier—and more rewarding—than we may think. There is an abundance of food all around us, found across the acres and acres of fields and pastures, orchards and forests, mile upon winding mile of rivers and streams, ocean coastline, and the amazing Chesapeake Bay. In The Chesapeake Table, Catacalos examines the powerful effect of eating local in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. Hooked on the local food movement from its early days, Catacalos opens the book by revisiting a personal challenge to only buy, prepare, and eat food grown within a 150-mile radius of her home near Washington, DC. From her in-depth, on-the-ground study of food systems in the region, Catacalos offers practical advice for adopting a locavore diet and getting involved in various entry points to food pathways, from shopping at your local farmers market to buying a community-supported agriculture share. She also includes recipes for those curious about how they can make their own more environmentally conscious food choices. Introducing readers to the vast edible resources of the Chesapeake region, Catacalos focuses on the challenges of environmental and economic sustainability, equity and diversity in the farming and food professions, and access and inclusion for local consumers of all income levels, ethnicities, and geographies. Touching on everything from farm-based breweries and distilleries to urban hoop house farms to grass-fed beef, The Chesapeake Table celebrates the people working hard to put great local food on our plates.

An appendix documents the many small islands that have dropped entirely from view since the seventeenth century.

This cultural and ecological history explores the rise of Chesapeake’s mighty mollusk from Colonial-era harvesting to contemporary cultivation. Oysters are an essential part of Chesapeake Bay culture and cuisine, as well as the ecological and historical lifeblood of the region. When colonists first sailed these abundant shores, they described massive shoals of foot-long oysters. In later years, however, the bottomless appetite of the Gilded Age and great fleets of skipjacks took their toll. Disease, environmental pressures, and overconsumption decimated the population by the end of the twentieth century. To combat the problem, Virginia began leasing its waters to private oyster farmers. Today, these boutique oyster farms are sustainably meeting the culinary demand of a new generation of connoisseurs. But in Maryland, passionate debate continues among scientists and oystermen whether aquaculture or wild harvesting is the better path. With careful research and interviews with experts, author Kate Livie presents this dynamic story and a glimpse of what the future may hold.

Known for its beauty and bounty, the Chesapeake Bay stretches nearly 200 miles from the mouth of the Susquehanna River to the ocean capes of the Atlantic, its tidal waters enriching the vibrant coastal communities of both Maryland and Virginia. Chesapeake Bay Explorer’s Guide is the perfect reference for visitors who want to know more about the things they see in their visit to the famous estuary, whether they are relaxing on a beach, paddling through a saltmarsh, or watching workboats duck beneath a drawbridge. Explore more than 14,415 miles of shoreline, myriad hiking trails, and scores of wildlife preserves nestled between resort towns and other attractions. This guide provides a concise history of how the Bay was formed, and brief entries with full-color images and easy-to-read descriptions of the flora, fauna, and man-made artifacts found in and around the Bay.

Second Place Winner of the Design and Effectiveness Award of the Washington Publishers Buttonbush. Hercules' Club. Panic Grass. Tearthumb. Beach Spurge. Sea Rocket. Ladies' Tresses. These name a few of the wild and wonderful plants found in this quick reference guide to plants of the Chesapeake Bay. Written by wetland scientists with decades of experience in the Bay's waterways, this guide includes detailed descriptions and beautiful photographs of the plants most commonly found in the Chesapeake Bay. Grasses, trees, wildflowers, aquatic vegetation—if it grows in the tidal or nearshore regions of the Bay, chances are it is in this book, the features of which include • over 200 illustrations • information on more than 100 species of plants • clear, accessible descriptions of each plant accompanied by close-up photographs for quick, accurate identification • discussion of where to find each plant, how they reproduce, and how humans use them • easy-to-follow organization by habitat The guide's vivid text and photographs make the wide array of plants along the waters, marshes, and shorelines of the Chesapeake Bay easy to identify and wondrous to behold. Its compact, portable design encourages naturalists, local residents, boaters, researchers, and the curious-minded alike to throw the guide in their pack and explore the botanical bounty of the Chesapeake Bay.

This twenty-fifth anniversary edition of John Shields’s classic cookbook includes additional recipes and a new chapter on Chesapeake libations. Twenty-five years ago, Chesapeake Bay Cooking with John Shields introduced the world to the regional cuisine of the Mid-Atlantic. Nominated for a James Beard Award, the book was praised for its inspiring heritage recipes and its then-revolutionary emphasis on cooking with local and seasonal ingredients. Part history lesson, part travelogue, the book captured the unique character of the Chesapeake region and its people. In this anniversary edition, John Shields combines popular classic dishes with a host of unpublished recipes from his personal archives. Readers will learn how to prepare over 200 recipes from the Mid-Atlantic region, including panfried rockfish, roast mallard, beaten biscuits, oyster fritters, and Lady Baltimore cake. Best of all, they’ll learn everything they need to know about crabs—the undisputed star of Chesapeake cuisine—featured here in mouthwatering recipes for seven different kinds of crab cakes. Extensively updated, this edition includes a new chapter on Chesapeake libations, which features Shields’s closely held recipe for his notorious Dirty Gertie, an authentic Chesapeake-style Bloody Mary.