It's All HER Fault!

When we decided we were going to document our summer of local eating by keeping a blog, we had a few things in mind. First we thought it would be the perfect way to stay accountable to ourselves and to each other . We aren't the kind of people who take things so seriously that we would feel the need to lie to each other if we cheated (we are more the type that would poke fun at each other if we did) but coming clean and putting it "out there" would certainly shame ourselves in to stepping back in line. Doing it is one thing...seeing it in writing is another. I don't know about Shannon D, but keeping our blog has certainly helped in that department for me.

Secondly, my brain is like swiss cheese and I can't count on memory for anything. Recoding our project would make life so much easier for next summer. With just a few clicks we'd be able to find the awesome recipe for Kohlrabi we made last year at the end of July, or where we found that great cheese on a road trip.

Thirdly we planned to post meal plans, shopping lists and share recipes on here too. We live about 5 minutes apart, but life is busy, telephone time isn't easy with little kids around and our husbands at work, so if we finally had time to sit down at midnight or 6 am, then we could do so without waking the other. I was thinking about that today and realized we really haven't done this. There's been a few things here and there, but not much. This must make this a bit dull for the readers we do have.  I got to wondering how that happened and had a "Aha! Moment". There really just hasn't been any of it to post, because that's not how it works when you are Eating Local!

Eating Local means Mother Nature decides for you. You can't sit down on Sunday night and decide your menu for the week, chose your recipes and then go out shopping for those ingredients. I find out on Monday what is likely to be in my CSA box on Wednesday night, I can order some meat, flour, honey, etc and then that's about as far as my planning gets. I may know ahead of time I'm getting tomatoes, but I don't know if it's enough to make spaghetti sauce, BLT's or just enough to add to a salad. Shannon D. is even more at Mother Nature's mercy because she has to wait and see what's at the Farmer's Market or the road side stand. We never know what ELS will have either. You may plan on having T-bones, but it doesn't mean you'll get them. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It makes perfect sense to eat what's available. It opens you up to trying new vegetables or cuts of meat, you might not have bothered with...and after all, a cow is made of more than T-bones anyways!

The other thing I'm noticing is that I have done very little cooking from recipes this summer, so there hasn't been many to share.  It also turns out that I don't like kohlrabi, so that's why you won't find one of those. When food is this fresh and this good, each deserves to be appreciated all on it's own. There just hasn't been a need to mix our goodies together, making stir-frys, casseroles, stews, or soups and spicing them up with exotic flavours. Dalew pork is so good, masking it with BBQ sauce would be a crime! Same goes with veggies...a little steam and some butter....I'm drooling! I'll save the recipes for the winter when we have to make due with frozen veggies past their prime and need some help to be palatable.

So unfortunately, our readers will have to settle for our food porn and the after the fact descriptions of our meals. Sorry...but I can't mess with Mother Nature!!

Shannon A.

Stabbed in the Back with a Cheese Knife

     I sent the husband out to get some milk yesterday- we were three days away from Friday and completely out, thus a trip to the grocery store was required. I was very grateful because he took the kids and that allowed me to putter about in the kitchen without interference, a rare and exquisite luxury. When he returned he came in with a bag of oranges- which he announced were from South Africa, a block of brand name cheese, bananas and a bag of milk. Seriously.


   Part of Terry's wind down from work routine includes picking up a few things at the grocer's on the way home. He loves to find deals in the reduced to clear bread and produce racks. It thrills him to get a bag of avocados, a loaf of onion sour dough or Naan for rock bottom prices. This summer he has had that part of his routine taken from him. Since, I still haven't found my way to baking my own bread- I appreciate that he gets the bread and feel alright about it since he's saving it from being thrown out.


  I could even partially understand the bananas and oranges- no such thing as a local banana or orange and he shopped with the kids, who love both. To his credit he did pay attention to where they came from, it just didn't stop him from buying.


  It's the cheese that completely vexed me because we have two kinds of cheese in the fridge and they sell Thornloe where he went.  But, the brand name cheese was on sale, and that proved too much temptation for the old man. 


   Words were had. If I understood him right, Terry felt that the sale price justified the purchase. He also seemed to think we were out of cheese or that we didn't have enough cheese. I, on the other hand, felt very differently. Cheese is one of the simplest ways to eat local- very little effort required. Thornloe is sold at all of our regular grocers, it is delicious but never goes on sale.  To buy the sale cheese, in my opinion was careless. We can afford the cheese, and we need to support local sources of food in order to ensure they aren't swallowed whole by sale priced cheese sellers.

   The grocery store is very bewitching with all the red tags and reduced prices and amazing availability. I understand the urge to scoop up a good deal, or how the curved lines of yellow bananas can seduce you. Oh, I get it. I feel the same about coffee, chocolate, hot dogs, english muffins and chips. Here's my bent- if a local choice is available, then we should make every effort to buy it local.  


   But I am not ready to give up on some non local items- yeast, olive oil, or sugar. Which causes me to worry- is my desire to have what I want shaping my politics? Is what I am doing, really making a difference? I am sincerely concerned about the impact industrial food has on the environment and people- I want to make socially responsible choices. I am not about to give up on the progress made, but I am going to have to do some more thinking about bananas and oranges.


Shannon D.

Summer On A Plate

Corn on the cob in the CSA box. Need I say more? :-)

We got home from pickup tonight and pounced on our box. I scrubbed potatoes, and put water on to boil. Keith fired up the BBQ and shucked the corn while the kids hit the garden to pick green beans. Within an hour we were at the table eating what Sydney called "The Best Meal EVER!". She's easy to please, and I've heard it several times before, but even I thought this meals was definitely in my Top 10. We finally tried the Cheddar Smokies that Shannon D. has been raving about and were not disappointed. They were incredible! Alongside the corn on the cob, BBQ'd potatoes and onions, and "squeaky" green and  yellow beans, this meal was summer at it's finest. Summer on a plate. 

As Shannon D. mentioned on her post today, the mid-point of our project has arrived and it's a good time to reflect on where we are and where we will take it from here.  Like her, we've been incorporating local eating in to all of our meals now, and likely this will be a permanent change for us. I know it won't be possible or practical to eat this way all year (yet...someday maybe!) but I feel that incorporating as much local fare as we can, and buying more from our small local producers and vendors, rather than hitting the grocery store all the time, will continue to make a big difference. I know some of the purists would disagree with me...it isn't really considered local if the ingredients aren't local...but I'm at peace and still think I'm making a difference by ordering a pizza from the little pizza joint behind my house or a lasagna from one of the Italian stores, rather than buying something McCain's or Stouffers froze and put on a shelf at the YIG.

And more importantly, just as Shannon D. also pointed out (she's such a smart, smart lady!) it's the example that we are setting for our kids that in the end is going to make the biggest difference. When Sydney threw her arms up in the air and cheered "it's local!!" last night, when an employee at The Cold Stone Creamery told her they use cream from the Parmalat down the road to make their ice cream on site, my heart swelled with pride. 

The seed has been planted!

Shannon A.

Halfway through Summer- Some Reflections

       I cannot believe that it is August already- we've been working on this project for approximately six weeks. Long enough for it to no longer feel like a project, what was once "how am I going to do this?", is now "this is how we do this." Real and significant change has taken hold in this house and I am really very proud of all that we have accomplished- and feel ready to push even harder in the coming months.  
       
      My focus has shifted away from dinner to include all meals in my house. Which is not to say everything is local, but rather that all meals have locally produced foods, after all that's what is in the fridge. So I think I'll add more recipes from other meals- lunch and breakfast and snacks too. I find I am always in the kitchen, snacks for the kids, breakfast, lunch and dinner etc.


     My thinking is- if I can get it local, I will. Truly, its not that hard, the remarkable people who work and volunteer at the Eat Local Sudbury shop are so helpful and informative. Replacing dairy and meat is effortless- and I see no reason not to continue this way through winter. 


     Veggies and fruit present their own problems. As I had planned I am blanching and freezing veggies for the winter months ahead. Whatever vegetable we have for dinner- say green beans, I'll make one for us to eat and some to freeze.  On cool days I'll blanch and freeze just to build up my stock. I have no illusions that I have enough, so I need to seek out a local source of canned and frozen veggies for the winter. I had frozen some strawberries but all the blueberries I had made it into the jam. Need to get picking again. I haven't had much luck canning in the past, I never feel sure that the seal is tight, I prefer to freeze.


   Looking ahead- this year, I am planning to keep a tally of the vegetables we eat in order to plan my garden more effectively. It is my tentative goal to grow significantly more of my own food, and I am considering chickens..... You'll help, right Shannon?


   As for right now, I have consistently failed where breads are concerned. I need to figure out the most responsible way to buy bread or make my own. And pasta, I need pasta help too. Shannon A. assures me that I will enjoy making it but... well, we'll see.


   In all, I feel like this way of buying food fits my family and has brought us closer to our food and each other. The discussions we have about food have rekindled a desire to farm in both my husband and I. The kids are part of the adventure- going to the market, playing in the garden, picking berries and watering- they are champion waterers. I am so proud to see them tend a plant or jump up and down when they've discovered a tomato baby! It's fairly easy to impress a 3 and 5 year old, but I hope that they'll grow up knowing that food comes from earth, not just the grocer. 


Shannon D.

A VERY Local Dinner

Our meal at my FILs (Father in Laws) was a great success last night. Not only did we feed 5 adults, 4 kids and a baby (with A LOT of leftovers) with local fare, but it was all done without a kitchen!! My FIL is currently renovating his and at the moment, it is completely gutted...the fridge (working), stove (not working) and the kitchen table are set up in the living room and all the other kitchen contents are in a spare bedroom. What a sight! Thankfully the light showers that came early in the afternoon continued on their merry way, and we were able to stay outside the rest of the day. FIL slow cooked a lamb roast from Dalew's and two small chickens....that had been walking around in the neighbour's yard just the day before! I brought a potato salad, and a blueberry salad and we feasted outside on a couple of picnic tables, using paper plates (it isn't easy washing dishes in the bathtub!). Both the lamb and the chickens were moist and tender and so flavour and the salads were a big hit with the grown ups. It was all we could do to get the kids to sit and eat. They were so busy running around, exploring and playing with all the animals next door that stop to eat was cutting in to their available time!


Shortly after dinner, I headed over to see what the kids were up to. My FIL's neighbours, (I'll just call them J & E) are I imagine, around the same age as Keith and I (early 30s) and have a beautiful 6 year old girl, H. They have turned their property into a small farm where they raise chickens, turkeys, ducks, goats and rabbits with a good sized veggie plot in the middle of it all. E also raises and races sled dogs. MY KIDS LOVE THIS PLACE! When I came along they were helping H catch the chickens to put them back in their coop for the night. Cameron took me over to the turkey house to have a peak inside the window, where we were then visited by the goats. J was painting the girls' faces so I watched the mischievous trio and their antics as as we chatted. The goats I imagine would be about the equivalent of having toddler aged triplet boys on the loose! J said they get in to everything, climb on anything they can and she can't leave the car door open to run groceries in to the house without them getting in! She has a bumper sticker that says "baaa" so who could blame them for thinking it was their car? LOL


At dark, after checking out the sled dogs, we went back to join the rest of the party around the campfire. Keith's Uncle and Aunt who also raise chickens on their property, had arrived while we were gone. We sat and chatted for quite some time about the veggies, the animals, the local abattoirs, our project and a host of other topics. FIL and his siblings grew up on a farm (he actually lost his right index finger as a result of a chicken/ax accident as a teenager), so no topic was deemed unsavoury for the company. It was quite an enlightening evening and it made my desire to buy a rural property where we can raise our own animals, all the more pressing. 


For now I guess, I will have to work with Shannon D. to convince her to do it, so I can help out and learn how it's done!!


Shannon A.

Met a Garden Mentor and Found a Local Hot Dog

            This past weekend, the family and I traveled to my friend's cottage. I stuck by my regular routine, picking up my weekly groceries at the ELS before heading out of town. I stocked the cooler full of lunch meats from Dalew and Burt farms, Thornloe cheeses, and milk. I picked up lettuce, green beans, and garlic at Beaulieu's Farm down the road and off we went.  I did make a stop at the grocery store for Cheezies, marshmallows and Kaisers. 
           
          On our way up to the cottage, I sheepishly shared my plan with Terry to keep a much larger garden- where I could grow our veggies for the year and maybe have some chickens.  I sincerely want to try to keep a bigger garden and I suspect I could handle chickens, however I am intimidated by the amount of work required, and also seriously afraid of roosters, But ever since I met the farmer who keeps the veggie stand 3 km from my house, I can't shake the feeling that I could be growing so much more myself.  On my usual bike route I pass four veggie stands. We have the property, the only thing holding me back is.... fear, I guess.  Will I have enough time, who will teach me how to do this, can I still go away for the weekends? 


         As luck would have it, the unexpected highlight of the trip was meeting my friend's uncle Mark, who keeps a 1 acre garden and manages to grow nearly all of his own vegetables- FOR THE YEAR. His wife helps him with cleaning and canning, but he tends to his garden by himself. For over an hour we chatted about his garden. When I invited myself over to his garden to check things out, he didn't seem to mind. I can't wait to see his garden and begin researching the possibility of keeping a bigger garden.  I told him about this project and he seemed genuinely interested in sharing his knowledge of gardening. He told me that for dinner that night he had potatoes, cucumbers, carrots and green beans from his garden and fish he'd caught on the lake himself. What I admired most was that none of this was political for him, he had no pretensions about him, no agenda- he was just living a way that made sense to him because he can. 
      
         Another highlight was a stop at Creative Meats- I asked the butcher if the meat was locally raised and he said that some was and other meats were from a federally inspected plant. He said the smokies, wieners and ground chuck was local. Yes that's right- tomorrow it's LOCAL hot dogs for supper. 

Treasures At The Market

It's early Sunday morning, so I thought I'd take a moment to blog. Keith's at work, the kids are still sleeping, and it is so quiet outside. The sky was very red this morning, which probably means the BBQ we will be going to tonight, will be a wet one. That's okay though. My garden needs a good watering! I'm dreading our next water bill. It rained so much last summer that I only had to water with the hose three times. I've had to do that every week this summer! 


The kids and I went in to the Farmer's Market yesterday morning for the first time this summer. We didn't go there looking for anything specific, other than the "Barbie Lady's booth" for Sydney. We always have the same routine when we go. We walk the row of the outdoor stands, then head over to buy a Barbie dress, then we walk inside to buy some baked treats. Yesterday we picked up another big head of broccoli for dinner tonight and a basket of pickling cukes. If I'd felt more devoted to cooking dinner last night, I also would have picked up the baby zucchinis to make the "Zucanoes" recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook. Next week perhaps.


Then of course we found The Barbie Lady...my daughter's dream seamstress. Kathy's table is set up with several carousels filled with intricately sewn gowns, capes, formal fitted dresses as well as skirts, pyjamas, tops and pants for Barbie as well as play and formal wear for Ken. For $6 a little girl can pick out her dress, and then Kathy will toss in a matching boa, beaded necklace, purse, crinoline and sometimes shoes! If you purchase a wedding dress, which I believe is $8, she will also add a bouquet of flowers and a garter! Sydney's Barbies have acquired a spectacular collection of Ms. Kathy's gowns over the past 3 or 4 years now. 


Inside we bought a loaf of CJ's whole wheat bread, and a book for Cameron to store the special edition quarters he's been collecting, before leaving to hit ELS for milk before finishing off our morning with a latte and some playtime at Chapters. I knocked off another batch of jam in the afternoon...Peach Melba. The peaches are Ontario grown and the raspberries are from my neighbours backyard (with permission of course!!).


As far as our meals are going....


Friday I decided to order in pizza since the kids and I had both eaten completely local meals earlier in the day (kids lunch, me breakfast). As far as I know the pizzeria we order from isn't a chain, and is locally owned. It's right behind my house, and they make really good pizza....and on a Friday, that's handy! Last night Keith and I finished off the Shepard's Pie and the kids ate PB & J sandwiches...CJ's bread, peanut butter from ELS and homemade strawberry jam.


Tonight's dinner should be fun, if we aren't rained out. Keith's Dad invited us over and is looking forward to doing it local. He's going to BBQ some Dalew lamb and we are going to iron out the rest of our menu later this morning. Full report tomorrow!


Shannon A.