The Dark Days Local Challenge 08/09 began yesterday…
I went to a dinner party and brought an Apple Crisp (Better Homes & Gardens recipe). The butter, sugar, and cinnamon were from elsewhere. The apples were from Silverman’s Farm. The oats and the flour were from Wild Hive Farm and Micro Mill/Lightning Farm. I also brought vanilla ice cream from Rich Farm. Sorry, it was gone before I thought to take a picture!
Tonight’s dinner will be chicken from Sankow’s Beaver Brook, but won’t be ready in time for the challenge deadline.
UPDATE: Here’s tonight’s dinner, in case there’s still time to get it in under the wire:
- roasted chicken (from Sankow’s Beaver Brook) with garlic cloves (origin ambiguous due to co-mingling, but definitely local)
- baked purple potato (from Waldingfield Farm) with butter (from the Vermont Butter & Cheese Company)
- pan-sauteéd baby bok choy (Waldingfield Farm)
Thank you for the link to this challenge! I’ve signed up and will participate as well. I’m sure I can manage one 90% local meal each week even with it being winter and the end of market.
Your baked purple potato looks wonderful. We got a hold of some purple potatoes this summer and I was surprised at how creamy and flavorful they were. It was too bad they were only around one weekend!
Jennifer – Where are you located? We can still get purple potatoes here in CT. In fact, Waldingfield Farm is at the Wooster Square Market in New Haven every Saturday morning and they still have them.
I’m in Mid-Missouri. We had a really wet and far cooler than usual season this year, so some of things we normally enjoy down here were only available for a short window, if at all. I am hoping that next year will be a little better. I will also plan my garden and food preservation a little better. This is the first year we’ve been really trying to eat as locally as possible, and it seems that there is a learning curve. 🙂
We are getting purple potatoes (and other kinds) as well, I’ve gotten great ones from George Hall farm in the past couple weeks. (I’m also in CT) So tiny, I’ve been taking big handfuls almost like nuts and using them for meals. Delicious.
Jennifer, definitely a learning curve on eating local, but happily its a really fast one. Do you have local farmers/vendors? They are really a great resource since they know the land and the seasons for your area directly. Next spring/summer would be great to get to know them – most are incredibly friendly and happy to meet localvores.
Jennifer — You’re right, there is a huge learning curve. But the idea isn’t to do it all at once. It might sound pollyanna-ish, but the joy really is in the journey on this one.
Last year, I’d decided to become a locavore at the end of August. I wasn’t really thinking about the winter until October so I didn’t preserve much at all. I signed up for the challenges anyway and resolved to do the best I could. By this time last year, the farmers markets and my favorite farm stands were closing for the year. I really had to get out there and find food. I discovered that some of the natural foods markets carry (and label) local items. some even have raw milk! I found out that the New Haven market was open one week a month over the winter (it’s an outdoor market). As luck would have it, they announced the opening of a winter market in Fairfield. I was able to get meats, cheeses and other dairy items and wine. Vegetables were in short supply, although potatoes and squash were available for a bit longer. It turned out that one of the farmers had made a tomato basil pasta sauce and had it professionally jarred. I bought a case of those and had local organic tomatoes over the winter! (The following year–this one–I joined his CSA!)
Last winter, I was jonesing for greens and one of the vendors at the winter market was selling organic hydroponic lettuce. I don’t love lettuce and salad in the winter never resonated with me, but there it was. Greens. Fresh.
The experience gave me some of the stamina I needed to preserve food this August and September. I doubt that I’ve put by enough to make it through the entire winter, but the freezer is so full I had to put something heavy on top of it to keep the lid down!