A food entrepreneur from Longswamp Township entered an international cooking competition.
Joyce Marin reached the quarterfinals of the World’s Favorite Cooking Contest before losing her place in the top slot in the last second before the voting ended.
Although Marin was unable to reach the semifinals, he had dominated the first four rounds and ended up in first place each time. This is due to the support she has received from many people who cast free votes on their Facebook accounts every day.
With more than two decades of culinary experience, Marin owns Macungie Mountain Herb Farm, a 5-acre mountaintop farm in Longswamp Township, and operates her mobile restaurant from a converted horse trailer that she pulls to farmers markets and other events.
Her nutritional philosophy is that she uses her herb-informed foods and drinks to awaken people’s senses and connect them to the wonders of the earth.
If she had won the competition and got the grand prize of $ 50,000 plus a double-sided paid advertisement in Bon Appétit Magazine, Marin would have hoped to buy an old fat fender antique truck to pull her trailer, to local food banks and JuxtaHub, too donate and have a big party on their farm.
“I have a fat fender on my vision board, but it was just a dream. My desire to make this dream come true and bring the converted horse trailer / mobile restaurant to market in style was the reason I entered the competition, ”she said.
Marin offers advice on community and economic development at JuxtaHub, an up and coming arts and innovation center in Emmaus. This project will ultimately provide the community with a commercial kitchen for common use.
At her farm party, she planned to introduce other food business owners, raise awareness of JuxtaHub’s common-use commercial kitchen plan to help food business owners get started, and support Second Harvest Food Bank’s anti-hunger work.
“I can’t think of a better way to thank the lovely souls who have helped me in my farm, business, and competition while supporting other food business owners who need a little attention and raise awareness and money for JuxtaHub and the.” Sharpen the hungry. ” Said Marin.
Marin’s cooking journey began in her mother’s kitchen while she was sitting on the counter helping to count the ingredients as she baked cookies.
Her food trip included a soup and bread class at Community College in Pittsburgh after college. It included an expense report that took her to the best restaurants in New York City and she trained in French cooking techniques at the Institute of Culinary Education (under the previous name from Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School) and travels the world, including a year in Madrid, Spain in 2010.
Her eyes opened to the possibilities of taste as she worked as a commercial real estate banker during the day and attended cooking classes at Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School at night. Motivated by her interest in being closer to good produce, she moved to Emmaus in 1990, restored a Victorian mansion at the Heritage House Bed & Breakfast and eventually bought a 5 acre farm on top of Macungie Mountain.
After a divorce in 2012, she literally joined the “if life gives you lemons, make lemonade on” philosophy and opened a mobile restaurant off her farm, Macungie Mountain Herb Farm. Using the herbs, flowers and fruits that she owned and those of local producers, she began making freshly squeezed lemonade and herbal teas and selling them at farmers’ markets.
Based on four “authentic flavors” of freshly squeezed lemonade, the list of flavors has since grown to include more than 20 fruit, flower and herbal teas. Every favorite seems to be Pink Hibiscus as it comes from an antique “Magic Teapot” with a free wish.
“I think my mountain top is a magical place,” she said. “The water I use comes from my well and contains this energy. The flower and herb syrups that the lemonade tastes come from my organic mountain tops. The fruits that I make into syrup for the lemonade come from local producers I don’t pay any fees for the flavors and people enjoy mixing and matching the flavors and enjoying Blueberry Lavender and Strawberry Mint Lemonade. “
In addition to mobile lemonade and tea, their mobile restaurant also prepares fresh food from the farm, which is made from local ingredients and is often obtained from other market vendors and their gardens. Her big hits include her “Breakfast Burrito Good Enough to Marry” and her French apple pie. It also offers gluten-free baked goods, quiches, soups and chilli.
A loyal fan said: “In their lemonade, herbal teas and their food, I can feel and taste the good vibrations and healing energy that come from the well water, the fresh ingredients and the love from Joyce’s heart.”
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