Ari LeVaux, Flash in the Pan, Author at The Source

John Prine’s Weed Pesto

New project: Foraging for foods (some from your backyard) that can recharge you this spring

Ari LeVaux, Flash in the PanApril 26, 2020June 20, 2025

If he didn’t already know what a Spring Tonic is, John Prine was the kind of person who would have been disappointed to learn it isn’t an alcoholic drink. But I bet he knew. With roots in Western Kentucky, he was country to the bone. A Spring Tonic is a mix of wild plant parts […]

Food & Drink

Taste the Lime, Smell the Roses

A refreshing drink for summer entertaining—before or after July 4

Ari LeVaux, Flash in the PanJuly 3, 2019May 30, 2025

Summer in the Mountain West doesn’t reliably start until July 4. Then, the scramble begins in earnest to squeeze as much joy from the long hot days as we can. Lime is available all year but is never more in season than summer. Hot times mean an increase in the need for thirst management, a […]

Food & Drink

The Rhubarb Awakens

It’s just starting to pop up in Central Oregon gardens. Here’s how to use it, beyond dessert

Ari LeVaux, Flash in the PanMay 8, 2019May 24, 2024

During the heyday of the Silk Road, dried rhubarb root was at times more expensive than cinnamon or opium. Marco Polo went searching in northwest China for specimens that could thrive in Europe. A powerful laxative, rhubarb was a medicine long before it was a food. Half a century after Polo, the Spanish ambassador to […]

Sign up for newsletters