Recently, I was able to attend the 14th Annual West Virginia Small Farm Conference, where I met lots of folks working to move food forward in West Virginia.



And, of course, there was lots of good food the whole time.

The Great West Virginia Pop-Off is a super fun competition where local popcorn growers compete to win the title.



This year, there were 11 competitors. You can get a cup of each and then cast your ballot.



The winning popcorn is actually sold at the Underground Cinema in Charleston.


Menu for the social networking hour


Dinner all sourced locally


Squash soup


Lamb


Apple pie

Have you been? What's your favorite part?

The best part of lent is that you can find good fish frys all over West Virginia. Since moving to Charleston, I've been trying to figure out where to get my grubby mitts on some good fried fish.

That's when I discovered St. Anthony's fish fry.



This church serves up three different kinds of fish dinners, plus a shrimp/crab cake dinner. You can get a baked fish dinner with green beans, baked potato, cole slaw, roll and drink. Or you can get a regular fish dinner with batter dipped fish OR cajun style OR lightly breaded with hushpuppies, fries, cole slaw and a drink. Or you can get the sampler where you try all three - SO many options.



Of course, I went with a sampler so I could try a little of everything. AND, I got a crab cake on the side.



Hi Brittany!



Have you ever been? What's your fav?

This small cafe opened in my former workplace in Marina Tower, so when I found myself in town during a weekday, I went to check it out.



My good friend Vicki met me bright and early for breakfast.



River Birch Cafe has a number of grab & go breakfast and lunch options.










West Coaster Bagel: Avocado, egg and tomato with garden feta spread on an everything bagel.

A Philly Pretzel Factory recently opened up in Morgantown.



The menu features a number of pretzel types and specialty items.



Their signature: Our “Philly-Style” Soft Pretzels are hand twisted & fresh baked.










Signature pretzel with honey mustard

The newest DiCarlo's location (and now closest to me!) has opened in downtown Parkersburg.









You can get the cheese melted or "DiCarlo's style"









Cold cheese right on top of hot, baked dough and sauce.



Gotta keep it safe!



Once the lid is on top the pizza, it lightly melts.