When Andrew Mark Veety moved here from New York in 2003, he took in the people, customs, culture and history of St. Louis one bite, one restaurant, one cooking adventure at a time.

"Food gave me an excuse to learn about the city I'd moved to," he said. "I've always been a history buff. I think you can draw parallels between a people's history and the foods they eat."

Veety shares his St. Louis discoveries on his blog, andrewmarkveety.com. "I've been blogging on the Internet 10 years, the last five years about food, but in the past two years, I've gotten more serious about the art of writing," he said.

In 2010, he shepherded a group of foodie friends to what he dubbed the Church of the Burger. Guided by suggestions from readers, the group met monthly for a burger supper, and then he blogged about what they ate.

"This year, my blog is focused more on cooking," Veety said. "I've always cooked. As a kid, I'd sometimes get up in the middle of the night and cook, to my parents' dismay. Cooking is so different than how I spend my time at work; it's relaxing. And I like understanding how something works in a dish."

Some of his recipes highlight simple ideas done well, such as soft pretzels spiked with roasted garlic and a pasta with roasted tomatoes and fresh asparagus. Others feature head-turning local ingredients, such as hop shoots from YellowTree Farm. "Part of our family lifestyle is to make responsible choices for our food, as our budget allows; to eat locally produced food, and to know where our food comes from," Veety said.

To assure a steady supply of local foods, the Veetys bought a half-share from YellowTree's CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture). "We'll use our CSA allotment for early spring and summer items," he said. This summer, the Veetys will harvest food from the large garden in their backyard. "We planted heirloom lima beans, dragon tongue beans, rare cucumbers from Baker Creek heirloom seeds," he said.

"We'll have six or seven varieties of tomatoes, zucchini and hard-neck garlic. I've got high-sugar tiger melons from seeds I saved last year from one at Kirkwood Farmers Market." Last year, he planted a small fruit orchard. This year, he added a strawberry patch.

Even though his cooking is often old-fashioned and from scratch, Veety's familiarity with technology and new media brings ideas to his kitchen at warp-speed. He follows Justin Lesczc of YellowTree Farm on Twitter and watches the farm's Facebook feed to find what's coming in the CSA and to the Maplewood Farmers Market.

"It's like he issues a personal challenge," Vetty said. —"'Here's what I've got. What can you do with it?'" Veety relishes the task.