2020 was so bad, even people who don’t believe in “lucky foods” made them this year. I’m not one of those people—I have a fair amount of Sicilian in me and so I respect the superstitions. Plus, I can’t resist an opportunity to do a local version of a holiday-appropriate meal. So this is my lucky local 2021 meal.
I made yellow-eyed peas (mostly) following this recipe from My Clean Kitchen.
The site says, “yellow eyed peas are thought to bring not just luck, but luck in the form of GOLD.” Additionally, pork is supposed to inspire progress in the new year.
The three foods are meant to be eaten together: black-eyed peas (or their heirloom yellow-eyed cousins) bring coins, greens (the kale) bring folding money (dollars), and the yellow-hued cornbread promises gold.
I made southern biscuits (following this recipe) with AP flour from Farmer Ground, NY, Arethusa butter, and Hawthorne Valley buttermilk. I also used Red Fife wheat from Anson Mills. They’re not local, but they’re deliberate about their grains and their growing practices and Red Fife wheat is delicious.
There are no promises of luck for eating the southern biscuits—I made them to use up the rest of the buttermilk! (They were delicious.)
So this is it 2021. You don’t have to be the bestest year evah. You just have to be better than 2020. That shouldn’t be too difficult.
I generally compile my Thanksgiving post the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Pie for Breakfast Day. I’m usually putting it together over pie and coffee while the turkey carcass simmers itself into a big pot of broth. I did begin this on Friday but got distracted with other things, and am here on Sunday, finishing it up. The turkey bone broth is done and the pie is long gone.
2020 was a strange and interesting year, agriculturally speaking. (Okay, it was strange and interesting in every aspect, not just agriculture, but this is my Thanksgiving post which is basically about agriculture and how it feeds the actual culture.) The COVID-19 pandemic changed farms and farmers markets. Like many other businesses, they had to figure out how to make and distribute their products while keeping themselves, their employees, and their customers safe. Every market adopted a set of guidelines designed to do that. Some markets required advance orders that you would then come to pick up. Other markets set up barriers between the consumers and the food products and you’d point at what you wanted. And some markets let consumers touch their stuff but not get anywhere near each other. It was interesting.
From the start, I was impressed at how the local food routes and distribution channels took up the slack when the large commercial channels broke down. Sure, [most of] the big guys got their bearings back in a hurry, but for those weeks, the local food system kept us fed. I was rather impressed with how they helped each other get their products to market when usual distribution locales were on hold. As you might imagine, many restaurants source from these farms. With restaurants having to reconfigure their business models, a lot less food was needed and some farm products couldn’t find a home. Farms who had farm stands or kiosks at farmers markets brought those products with them to find a home.
Our Thanksgiving was vastly different. Usually, I make an end-to-end local, from scratch meal and my family comes over. I generally have from 9-11 people. This year, I still made my end-to-end local, from scratch meal but it was a curbside pick-up event. My sister volunteered to be the family’s Uber-Cart and take the boxes of food to the others.
Take-out packing in disarrayCheese packing!
My menu was a bit reduced. I let go of a few items we normally have. For instance, I didn’t do any pickling this year. The few hot chili pepper ferments I did failed. It happens. Packing food turned out to be more challenging than I’d imagined! Instead of everyone getting a printed menu, I emailed their menus as PDF attachments and we Zoomed. Still, it worked out and I got to keep the end-to-end local from scratch tradition going, virus be damned.
Once again, I thank my farmers. This is *our* holiday–makers and eaters, together grateful for the bounty of the land.
Cheese Boards with:
Womanchego and Vivace from Cato Corner Farm; Mt Tom, Camembert, and Europa cheeses from Arethusa Farm Dairy; Mozzarella from Calabro; Feta pesto and Farmstead cheese from Sankow’s Beaver Brook Farm; Tomme from Rock Cobble Creamery, S. Kent, CT; Caciocavallo from CDC Farms, Gardiner, NY;
Sun-dried tomatoes from Fort Hill Farm; fig jam, Liberty Orchards, Highland, NYOlives, not local.
Black Bean dip with beans from Farmer Bob, Verona, NY via Stone Gardens Farm, garlic from Fort Hill, sour cream from Arethusa;
cilantro, cumin, and lime, not local
Crackers & Breads: Not local
Soup
Chicken Soup (recipe) from chickens from Stuart Family Farm. Carrots from Riverbank Farm. Celeriac, parsnip, garlic, onions, and parsley from Fort Hill Farm.
Celery, brown rice, small bowtie pasta, and Parmigiano Reggiano, not local.
Whole-Berry Cranberry Sauce: Cranberries from Killingworth, CT. Apple Cider from Averill Farm. Maple syrup from Woodbury Sugar Shed,
Cinnamon sticks not local
Because we know our farmer and we know our food so we could have Romaine!
Salad with Romaine Lettuce from Fort Hill (CT not CA, so safe!) and micro-greens from Gilberties and a homemade Italian vinaigrette with herbs from my garden.
About a month ago, this little gem arrived in my inbox from Farmer John at Camps Road Farm. This is too good not to share.
I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right
How’s that for a click-baity email subject line? I’m two cups of coffee in and I cannot help myself.
I know what you’re thinking, “It’s cold and rainy outside, I want to stay inside and be snuggly.” Well, if you’re not thinking it, I know I certainly am. But then picture this:
The temperature is dropping down to 5 degrees tonight after the 50 degree yesterday. There’s freezing temps, black ice, and frigid winds in the forecast. It’s ok though because this morning you went to the New Milford Farmers’ Market and you’re roasting a chicken from Camps Road Farm.
Your house is full of the comforting aroma of roasted goodness. The temperature in your house is that much more comfortable with having the stove on. As you sit and enjoy the glass of beer you got from Kent Falls Brewing Company you dream about eating the pickles you got from Mountain View Farm, and the potatoes and spinach you got from Fort Hill Farm.
You can’t wait for dinner so you take the edge off by dipping bread from Wave Hill into hummus from Riverbank Farm. Dinner hasn’t even happened yet and already you’re looking forward to the steak and eggs you’ll have for breakfast tomorrow from Happy Acres and Kimberly Farm.
What I am saying here is, food is joy. There are a collection of people who have made it their job to make sure you get that happy feeling in your belly. We would love to see you this morning.
New Milford Farmers’ Market
East Street School
50 East St. in New Milford (right on 202 near CVS)
From 9 – 12:30
While this is a shameless plug for the market, I hope you enjoyed the picture I painted here. I certainly enjoyed writing it. It’s time to go pack the van. I hope to see you soon.
Cheers,
Farmer John
Indeed John, your vivid imagery certainly motivated me to get out and brave the elements! While I have enough local food stores on hand to get through nearly the entire winter, I still like to get out there and see what the farmers have for us in the winter. But damn, it was cold! Thanks John for getting me out of my comfort zone to get some more fixins for comfort foods.
