whatever did this so worthy of a cocktail shaker look like?

anything like these?

http://thejazzage.com/items.asp?grp=2&R=1

what is the history of those things anyway?

VIETNAMESE-STYLE PORK
Time: 30 minutes

2 tablespoons minced lemongrass
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon nam pla, or to taste, or soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
1 1/2 pounds boneless pork chops or country-style ribs
1 lime, quartered
Chopped Thai basil or cilantro for garnish (optional).

1. Whisk lemongrass, garlic, honey and nam pla in large bowl. Add lime juice and pepper. Place pork in the bowl, turning to coat; let stand while you preheat grill or broiler.

2. Grill or broil pork, spooning marinade over as it cooks, until nicely done, about 10 minutes. Turn only once so that each side browns nicely. Serve with remaining lime and, if you like, the herb garnish.

Thank you so much for your insightful comment! I am so glad to have a clear understanding of exactly what Columbia County Bounty does. You are doing an important service to the community up here. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for all the terrific feedback on “A Taste of Columbia County Bounty.”

When we started Columbia County Bounty a little more than a year ago, incredibly no one even had a list of all the farms in Columbia County — we created that data base. There were farmers that didn’t even know each other existed. We also canvassed restaurants that would be interested in buying local products from local farms and producers and created that data base. We have created a binder with these listings which was mailed and distributed to members, launched a new Web site with these listings — plus up-to-date information for chefs and farmers, and produced a retail brochure with lists of farms that welcome visitors for U-pick, farmstands, and culinary/agri-tourism visits — from U-pick berries to pumpkins, apples, and Christmas Trees. And we’re adding new farms and restaurants to our data base all the time.

We do a tour of farms for the local chefs to help educate them about what it takes to grow and produce ingredients and we do a tour and hands-on demos in the chefs’ kitchens for the farmers to educate them in how we work and put product on the plate. We also do a Chili Cook-Off at the Hudson Waterfront partnered with Greene County, which features local ingredients in the chili. Every year we also help host an Agriculture Brunch in tandem with the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce.

In addition, we’re adding symposiums in the winter months this year to help farms and chefs have some professional help and advice in marketing themselves. We’ve been hearing about Napa and Sonoma for so long, it’s time we started celebrating and marketing the Hudson Valley region.

Thanks to Columbia County Bounty, as chefs we get to put superior, fresher product on the plate without thousands of food miles on the food and local farms can sell portions for 100-300 to a restaurant or caterer, as opposed to just standing all day in a Farmer’s Market hoping to sell to a family of 4. The hope is not only increased economical viability for the farms, but incredible eating for everyone. What has become clear to me, is that the same pride the growers and producers have in their products, the chefs have in preparing their dishes.

Advocacy takes money. The reason we need to raise funds is that we are an entirely volunteer organization, so the funds we raise go for Web site design and maintenance, printing, postage, event costs, basic supplies, educational materials, fuel, and maintaining data bases.

The “Taste of” event was also about raising awareness of growers and allowing farmers and chefs to pair together and get to know each other while actually tasting and enjoying the comrardery of the table. And isn’t the laughter and community of the table ultimately what it’s all about?