This week’s Dark Days Eat Local Challenge meal was The Northeast Locavore Feast!! Several of us from the northeast joined forces for a pot luck gathering at my home. The premise was simple: we all bring local dishes, we all eat, we all blog about it! (The original gang of seven was reduced to the gang of five due to some football game and the demands of work. But we forged (foraged?) on.) In attendance:

• Alicia, the Natural Princess and Renato
• Maureen of Your Simple Feast
• Kaela of Local Kitchen and Tai
• Zoe of Nutmeg Kitchen
• And me, Sophie from Late Bloomers Farm and Cecelia

What a delightful group of people—I think it took us all of 10 seconds to bond! Perhaps our affinity is due to our sharing the same foodshed, eating food that grew in the same soil, and discovering that my farmers are really our farmers. There’s nothing quite like conversation among people who experience similar challenges and celebrate similar victories. Whatever our reason(s) for eating locally: taste, nutrition, food miles, food safety, food security, local pride, or some combination thereof, we found kindred food spirits.

We talked food—recipes, ingredients, vendors, and techniques. We ate. We shared stories of our adventures in finding and obtaining food ingredients. We ate. We discussed the disparities in food laws and lore between NY and CT.  Did I mention we ate?

Lisa Agee of Goatboy Soap found the idea so exciting, she donated party favors: cute little goat-faced soaps.

Our Fabulous Northeast Feast Local Menu

As you’ll see, the dishes ran the gamut. My ingredient sources are listed below. Visit the other sites to see their sources and take on the day.

Appetizers

• Baked potato chips and onion dip
  
• Whole Grain Scottish rolls
  
• Savory Quinoa Cakes
  
• Pickled icebox carrots
• Sankow’s Beaver Brook Pleasant Cow cheese
• Two butters: salted from Wildowsky Dairy (Thank you Kim of Ladies of Levita Road for hooking me up!) and unsalted made from Stone Wall Dairy raw milk

Soup and Salad

• Mixed green salad with squash and apples and an exceptional dressing
  
• Potato leek soup

Main Course

• Roasted root vegetables
  
• Thai winter squash curry
  
• Ricotta gnocchi with pesto
  
• Chicken Scarpariello
  
• Kugel Gratin of greens and potatoes
  

Dessert

• Glazed Berry Tart with sweet ricotta
  
• Chocolate Espresso ice cream from Ferris Acres Creamery

Beverages

• Local beers: Arch Amber from the Hartford Beer Company and Sea Hag IPA from the New England Brewing Company
• Local wines: Cabernet Franc and St. Croix from Sharpe Hill Vineyard, Vista Riposa from McLaughlin Vineyards, and Rochambeau from Heritage Trail Winery
• Yaucono coffee (from Puerto Rico—local when I got it!)

Foodie Bloggers taking pictures of food:

Sophie’s Ingredient Sources:

Chicken Scarpariella

• chicken from Stuarts Family Farm
• chicken stock made with Kandew chicken carcasses
• Seyval Blanc white wine from Miranda Vineyard
• garlic from Holbrook Farm
• hot cherry peppers from Maple Bank Farm
• whole wheat flour from Lightning Tree/Wild Hive Farm
• canola oil from away

Potato Leek Soup

• Cranberry potatoes from Riverbank Farm
• leeks from Newgate Farm
• butter made from Stone Wall Dairy raw milk

I used the cranberry potatoes, thinking the soup would have a sort of Valentine’s look to it. Well, it didn’t. It came out to be an olive drab kind of color. Still tasty, but not pretty.

Well, that was fun. Plans are in the making for a summer feast!