I guess I've really made it through a week of Lent. Impressive.
Today was a pretty good day. I started off with a half a cup of Water Buffalo yogurt from Vermont and some of our homemade anadama bread toasted with butter and 3-Rubies Massachusetts fruit spread.
I did get a coffee on my way home from a meeting, but only a small one - half decaf.
I had a very quick lunch - anadama bread, cheddar cheese and sauerkraut and a glass of apple cider - before hockey.
My cornmeal arrived from Rhode Island today!
Before heading off to my evening seminar, I packed a dinner to go - a delicious local sandwich, which definitely bears repeating.
First I made two slices of "bread" from the cornmeal. Actually they were "Jonny Cakes," and old New England staple, probably originally called "Journey Cakes" because they were good road food. About a half-cup of cornmeal mixed with a pinch of salt and enough milk to make a thin batter. Cooked 'em up on a hot griddle - just like a pancake - and then set them aside to cool.
Meanwhile, I washed up a half-bunch of local chard and sauteed it with some onion, salt, and pepper, mixing in some local goat cheese after removing it form the heat.
Finally, I assembled the sandwich by spreading the cheesy chard on top of one Jonny Cake, and topping that with some pieces of smoked mackerel from Maine before sealing the deal with the second Jonny Cake.
I took a fork just in case it fell apart, but it actually held together quite nicely and, as I mentioned, it was spectacularly delicious...and local. Huzzah!
28 February 2007
27 February 2007
Cheese and Cider
Day Seven, come and gone. Not a terribly notable day. Some local foods, including my leftovers from last night, others "from away." I had lunch out with some colleagues, so...well...you know the story. I finally sent off for my grains and beans and I did purchase two new local food items for my locavore pantry. The first was a bottle of West County Cider from Western Massachusetts. The second was a cheddar from the Grafton Village Cheese Company. I recommend them both!
26 February 2007
Sunday, Monday...
Sunday, well, Sunday was my birthday. I'm getting closer to 40 every year. No stoppin' this train.
Rules - even Lenten Locavore Rules - are for breakin' on birthdays. I started the day with coffee and donuts from Dunkin Donuts, which my Beloved went out to get for me so that I could eat, drink, and read the NY Times in bed.
For lunch I had a sandwich on my Pita bread - thin slices of smoked gouda (MA), my leftover sauteed chard (MA) with goat cheese (MA), and gingered carrots (MA/VT). It may sound like a strange combination, but when you're eating local foods during Lent, you become one of those "beggars" who can't be "choosers." And actually, it was a surprisingly delicious sandwich. I washed it down with apple cider (MA).
Dinner undid all the lunchtime goodness. We went to my in-laws for a blow-out bash where we celebrated all the late-December through late-March family birthdays. There were 16 of us. Between us we consumed 6 large pizzas from Bertucci's. Then we had our cake and ate it, too. Nothing local going on for dinner.
This morning, still full, I had only 1/2 of a small yogurt (VT) for breakfast. For lunch, I had a reprise of Sunday's sandwich, minus the chard, which was gone, and plus some fresh mesclun from the same farm.
Tonight we went out with friends to celebrate my birthday. If you've been following along this week, you already know what a challenge it can be to get local food while dining away from home. You have to be thoughtful and intentional in your planning and do a little research. I took a look at the website of The Chefs' Collaborative - an organization that supports sustainable, local, and artisanal food production and helps to build relationships between farmers and chefs. Listed on their site were some of their member restaurants. And so, voila!
Tonight we dined at The Fireplace Restaurant in Brookline. I started with a glass of sparkling wine from Westport, MA, and a salad of arugula and beets, which, along with the rest of my meal - all of our meals - I presumed to be local...or at least as local as possible. As my entree, I had some of the most delicious lamb chops I've ever eaten, with roasted fingerling potatoes and a home-made sauerkraut. All good. For dessert, a cheeseplate featuring a cheddar from Vermont, a Tome from...somewhere in New England, and a Trappist-style cheese, Bridgid's Abbey, from Colchester, CT.
It was not an inexpensive dinner, but it was incredibly tasty and worthwhile paying someone else not only to prepare my food, but to concern himself with procuring it locally. My compliments to the chef!
Rules - even Lenten Locavore Rules - are for breakin' on birthdays. I started the day with coffee and donuts from Dunkin Donuts, which my Beloved went out to get for me so that I could eat, drink, and read the NY Times in bed.
For lunch I had a sandwich on my Pita bread - thin slices of smoked gouda (MA), my leftover sauteed chard (MA) with goat cheese (MA), and gingered carrots (MA/VT). It may sound like a strange combination, but when you're eating local foods during Lent, you become one of those "beggars" who can't be "choosers." And actually, it was a surprisingly delicious sandwich. I washed it down with apple cider (MA).
Dinner undid all the lunchtime goodness. We went to my in-laws for a blow-out bash where we celebrated all the late-December through late-March family birthdays. There were 16 of us. Between us we consumed 6 large pizzas from Bertucci's. Then we had our cake and ate it, too. Nothing local going on for dinner.
This morning, still full, I had only 1/2 of a small yogurt (VT) for breakfast. For lunch, I had a reprise of Sunday's sandwich, minus the chard, which was gone, and plus some fresh mesclun from the same farm.
Tonight we went out with friends to celebrate my birthday. If you've been following along this week, you already know what a challenge it can be to get local food while dining away from home. You have to be thoughtful and intentional in your planning and do a little research. I took a look at the website of The Chefs' Collaborative - an organization that supports sustainable, local, and artisanal food production and helps to build relationships between farmers and chefs. Listed on their site were some of their member restaurants. And so, voila!
Tonight we dined at The Fireplace Restaurant in Brookline. I started with a glass of sparkling wine from Westport, MA, and a salad of arugula and beets, which, along with the rest of my meal - all of our meals - I presumed to be local...or at least as local as possible. As my entree, I had some of the most delicious lamb chops I've ever eaten, with roasted fingerling potatoes and a home-made sauerkraut. All good. For dessert, a cheeseplate featuring a cheddar from Vermont, a Tome from...somewhere in New England, and a Trappist-style cheese, Bridgid's Abbey, from Colchester, CT.
It was not an inexpensive dinner, but it was incredibly tasty and worthwhile paying someone else not only to prepare my food, but to concern himself with procuring it locally. My compliments to the chef!
24 February 2007
First Saturday of Lent
I can tell weekends are going to be hard in their own way. This morning we woke up and had to fight off the temptation to go out for breakfast. We fought hard though, and we won. And how could we not, with 2 1/2 dozen local eggs in our refrigerator pulling for us.
For breakfast at HOME I made French Toast using about 1/3 of a loaf of French Bread that one of my fellow students had made yesterday in class. I also made us some scrambled eggs and a side-dish of sauteed garlic, onions and chard. Washed it all down with a half bottle of sparkling cider. So, once again, breakfast was totally local except the bread, which was again "homemade," but with flour from away. (Okay, truth be told, I don't know the origin of either the garlic or the onion.)
The rest of the day I totally struck out. We went out for a late lunch/early supper to one of my favorite waterfront dives, The Barking Crab in South Boston. That was an indulgent treat for my Birthday, which is tomorrow. Oyster Stew, Fish and Chips, and a locally brewed Harpoon IPA. Once again, the thing about eating out is that I don't KNOW where my food is from. It COULD have been local...I mean, I didn't have Alaskan salmon or anything with tropical mango chutney or anything crazy like that.
And I'm about to have a little Dunkin Donuts coffee, my first of the Lenten Season. And that about does it for Day Four.
For breakfast at HOME I made French Toast using about 1/3 of a loaf of French Bread that one of my fellow students had made yesterday in class. I also made us some scrambled eggs and a side-dish of sauteed garlic, onions and chard. Washed it all down with a half bottle of sparkling cider. So, once again, breakfast was totally local except the bread, which was again "homemade," but with flour from away. (Okay, truth be told, I don't know the origin of either the garlic or the onion.)
The rest of the day I totally struck out. We went out for a late lunch/early supper to one of my favorite waterfront dives, The Barking Crab in South Boston. That was an indulgent treat for my Birthday, which is tomorrow. Oyster Stew, Fish and Chips, and a locally brewed Harpoon IPA. Once again, the thing about eating out is that I don't KNOW where my food is from. It COULD have been local...I mean, I didn't have Alaskan salmon or anything with tropical mango chutney or anything crazy like that.
And I'm about to have a little Dunkin Donuts coffee, my first of the Lenten Season. And that about does it for Day Four.
23 February 2007
Day Three
Not as good a day today. I ran out of time for breakfast, so I really only had my green tea, some homemade anadama bread with Kate's Butter from Maine, and the Mass Three Rubies fruit spread. Plus a hunk of Smith's Country Smoked Gouda.
Then I went to cooking school, where I stayed from 8:30am until 10:00pm. Once again I was "at their mercy," eating whatever was handed to me. Not much of it local at all. All of it far better than merely passable. Different kinds of lean dough breads all afternoon - plus some humus and some soup and some gnocchi that got sent down from one of the upstairs kitchens. This evening - around 9pm - I had a "supper," loosely speaking, of various and sundry sorts of sushi.
So, not a super local day...but then, not every day can be a winner.
Then I went to cooking school, where I stayed from 8:30am until 10:00pm. Once again I was "at their mercy," eating whatever was handed to me. Not much of it local at all. All of it far better than merely passable. Different kinds of lean dough breads all afternoon - plus some humus and some soup and some gnocchi that got sent down from one of the upstairs kitchens. This evening - around 9pm - I had a "supper," loosely speaking, of various and sundry sorts of sushi.
So, not a super local day...but then, not every day can be a winner.
22 February 2007
Day Two and The First Foraging Report
Hi Ho.
Day Two of Lent and a much more successful day for the Lenten Locavore!
For Breakfast I ate a completely local meal with the exception of my green tea. Well, okay, there were a couple of other exceptions, too. Here's the meal:
A glass of Sparkling Apple Cider from Harvard, MA
A wedge of smoked gouda from Winchendon, MA
A slice of homemade anadama bread*
Cabot butter from New England
Red Rubies - 3 fruit spread from MA
Stonyfield yogurt**, plain with maple syrup from NH
*who knows where the bread ingredients are from
**I just learned, sadly, that Stonyfield milk comes from both New England AND the Midwest
For mid-day eats, I was completely at the mercy of my cooking school and our recipes for the day.
For dinner, I had another completely local meal:
Organic mesclun mix from Natick, MA
Raw Fermented Ginger Carrots from RealPickles in Montague, MA (carrots from Westminister, VT)
Goat Cheese from Hubbardston, MA
Cabernet Sauvignon from Lincoln, MA
The Ginger Carrots and Goat Cheese were so flavorful that I didn't even need to use any additional dressing on my salad! I'm a pretty happy camper.
After I got home from cooking school, I was very tired, as is usual. But I stuck by my commitment to myself to go foraging for local produce. After a round trip of 36 miles, which involved two stores, and a total expenditure of $95.21, I arrived home with 4 bags of goods. Here it is...The First Foraging Report:
Fresh Produce
organic mesclun mix (MA)
organic chard (MA)
parsnips (MA)
rutabega (presumed local)
Boston lettuce, hydroponically grown (RI)
Processed or Preserved Produce
Apple Cider (MA)
Pear Halves, jarred (MA)
Pickled Beets (MA)*
Pickled Asparagus (MA)*
Dilled Green Beans (MA)*
Sauerkraut (MA)**
Dill Pickles (MA)**
Ginger Carrots (MA)**
Applesauce (MA)
*preserved with vinegar
**raw fermented, preserved in a salt brine
Dairy
Milk (MA)
Butter (ME)
Water Buffalo Yogurt (VT)
Goat Cheese (MA)
Other
Smoked Mackeral (ME)
Most of the sources for the above products have websites and when I have more time, I'll probably list them in the sidebar as a resource for other New England Locavores.
But now I've got to go clean the kitchen and get to bed!
Day Two of Lent and a much more successful day for the Lenten Locavore!
For Breakfast I ate a completely local meal with the exception of my green tea. Well, okay, there were a couple of other exceptions, too. Here's the meal:
A glass of Sparkling Apple Cider from Harvard, MA
A wedge of smoked gouda from Winchendon, MA
A slice of homemade anadama bread*
Cabot butter from New England
Red Rubies - 3 fruit spread from MA
Stonyfield yogurt**, plain with maple syrup from NH
*who knows where the bread ingredients are from
**I just learned, sadly, that Stonyfield milk comes from both New England AND the Midwest
For mid-day eats, I was completely at the mercy of my cooking school and our recipes for the day.
For dinner, I had another completely local meal:
Organic mesclun mix from Natick, MA
Raw Fermented Ginger Carrots from RealPickles in Montague, MA (carrots from Westminister, VT)
Goat Cheese from Hubbardston, MA
Cabernet Sauvignon from Lincoln, MA
The Ginger Carrots and Goat Cheese were so flavorful that I didn't even need to use any additional dressing on my salad! I'm a pretty happy camper.
After I got home from cooking school, I was very tired, as is usual. But I stuck by my commitment to myself to go foraging for local produce. After a round trip of 36 miles, which involved two stores, and a total expenditure of $95.21, I arrived home with 4 bags of goods. Here it is...The First Foraging Report:
Fresh Produce
organic mesclun mix (MA)
organic chard (MA)
parsnips (MA)
rutabega (presumed local)
Boston lettuce, hydroponically grown (RI)
Processed or Preserved Produce
Apple Cider (MA)
Pear Halves, jarred (MA)
Pickled Beets (MA)*
Pickled Asparagus (MA)*
Dilled Green Beans (MA)*
Sauerkraut (MA)**
Dill Pickles (MA)**
Ginger Carrots (MA)**
Applesauce (MA)
*preserved with vinegar
**raw fermented, preserved in a salt brine
Dairy
Milk (MA)
Butter (ME)
Water Buffalo Yogurt (VT)
Goat Cheese (MA)
Other
Smoked Mackeral (ME)
Most of the sources for the above products have websites and when I have more time, I'll probably list them in the sidebar as a resource for other New England Locavores.
But now I've got to go clean the kitchen and get to bed!
21 February 2007
Day One
Well, Day One of my Lenten Project has very nearly come to an end, and with not much to show for it in some ways, but a lot in others. I didn't do very well in terms of actually eating local foods on this first day of Lent, but I also didn't expect to, considering my aforementioned impulsivity in beginning this experiment without having prepared or planned ahead at all. I did, however, learn quite a bit - so, progress was most assuredly made.
Here's where I'm at...(yes, I know that's bad grammar, but that's what we say back home)...
Today's Eats
Organic Assam Tea - not from around here
Multigrain sourdough bread from Trader Joe's - baked locally, but who knows from whence the ingredients came...probably very far away (It's remarkable how little we know about the origins of the ingredients in most of the foods we eat! I mean, just THINK about it!)
A three-egg omelet - eggs from within 10 miles of my house, local butter, local cream
Stonyfield yogurt (local), with maple syrup (local) and a pear (most likely not)
For dinner I ate out on my way to my santitation exam. I had a grilled vegetable burrito with black beans and rice and salsa. All good and healthy and fresh, but not local. No way. Which just goes to show a couple things: first, that eating out and eating local (especially in the winter) are going to be fairly incompatible; and second, that planning ahead for trips out of the house is going to be essential.
Here's the good news...
Today I identified sources for cornmeal (Rhode Island), buckwheat flour (Maine), whole wheat flour (Maine), rolled oats and oat groats (Maine), and dried beans (Maine). I may have also found a source for barley (Vermont), which I'd like to try to roast and use as a coffee substitute. And I found a farm within 30 miles of my house that is open year round and grows fruits, vegetables and herbs in greenhouses and hoophouses. I may try to check it out tomorrow. I'll also mailorder my grains and beans. I should be able to eat much more locally within the next couple of weeks.
And the other good news? I'm ending my day with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon produced within my area code. Ahhhh. Life is good.
Here's where I'm at...(yes, I know that's bad grammar, but that's what we say back home)...
Today's Eats
Organic Assam Tea - not from around here
Multigrain sourdough bread from Trader Joe's - baked locally, but who knows from whence the ingredients came...probably very far away (It's remarkable how little we know about the origins of the ingredients in most of the foods we eat! I mean, just THINK about it!)
A three-egg omelet - eggs from within 10 miles of my house, local butter, local cream
Stonyfield yogurt (local), with maple syrup (local) and a pear (most likely not)
For dinner I ate out on my way to my santitation exam. I had a grilled vegetable burrito with black beans and rice and salsa. All good and healthy and fresh, but not local. No way. Which just goes to show a couple things: first, that eating out and eating local (especially in the winter) are going to be fairly incompatible; and second, that planning ahead for trips out of the house is going to be essential.
Here's the good news...
Today I identified sources for cornmeal (Rhode Island), buckwheat flour (Maine), whole wheat flour (Maine), rolled oats and oat groats (Maine), and dried beans (Maine). I may have also found a source for barley (Vermont), which I'd like to try to roast and use as a coffee substitute. And I found a farm within 30 miles of my house that is open year round and grows fruits, vegetables and herbs in greenhouses and hoophouses. I may try to check it out tomorrow. I'll also mailorder my grains and beans. I should be able to eat much more locally within the next couple of weeks.
And the other good news? I'm ending my day with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon produced within my area code. Ahhhh. Life is good.
The Launching of the Lenten Locavore
Welcome to the Diary of the Lenten Locavore - 2007. Today is 21 February, the first day of Lent. And I have made the impulsive decision to do my utmost to eat like a locavore - that is, to eat foods that are locally grown - from now until Easter.
This is a project doomed to failure. I mean, hey...I live in New England and it's the middle of winter. Actually those two things alone are not the biggest problems. It's the impulsivity with which I've taken on this project that will prove the root of its downfall. To be successful in this venture, I would have had to start planning and preparing in the summer and fall.
So, what's really going to happen in this contemplative season of Lent is that I'll be reflecting on my food and where it comes from very intentionally - moreso even than usual. And I'll also begin in earnest to track down local sources of foods that ARE available in this season. In so doing, I'll begin to learn the intricacies of my local "foodshed" and build up a local food network, which could support me if I choose to continue in my locavorianism.
Some ground rules - or guidelines...
For my purposes, I'm defining "local" very loosely as all of New England - Massachusetts, where I live; Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south; Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine to the North. This is kind of crazy - the furthest tip of Maine from my home is over 400 miles away. With a radius like that, I could be eating food from the Chesapeake Bay Foodshed, too. It's tempting, believe me. And there's lots of good stuff to be had in upstate New York, too. (I may even break down and include it if I get desperate.) Still, it's better than continuing to eat food shipped in from Florida, from California, and from the furthest international reaches of the global food economy, right? And, in time, as I learn more about local sources of food, I hope to shorten that distance considerably. At the moment though, the closest source that I can find of whole wheat flour is about 400 miles north.
All that having been said, I am going to do my best to eat as much as I can from as close as I can. If I can find a good source of eggs within 5 miles of my house, I'll choose that whenever possible over an equally good source of eggs 70 miles from my house. Maybe the distances will average out to something respectable.
Some exceptions...I'm going to follow a variation of the locavorian "Marco Polo" rules, which means that items that could have easily been attained through traditional trade routes are allowed. This includes coffee (although I'm going to try - again - to cut back on it), tea, and spices, for example. I'm also going to keep using lemons and I may not cut out fruit entirely. Same with vegetables. I mean, I gotta eat them. I'll rely as much as possible on regional foods, but like I said, it's mid-winter, and this year I may be mostly out of luck. Plus, because I'm now in culinary school, my diet is somewhat determined by what we cook and eat there, too. I will pay closer attention to the sources of the schools food as we continue along. I'll do what I can and adjust as I go. I'm not going to be brutal about this. It's a contemplative exercise, for goodness sake.
Yesterday, as I noted over in the EIK, was Pancake Day - the day during which housewives in England traditionally cleaned out their pantries of FAT before Lent. I thought a couple times yesterday about cleaning all the non-locally grown foods out of my larder, but the sad truth is that I would have had to haul out 99.8 percent of the food I currently have on hand. And my wife would have killed me. And we would have starved. I have cleared a small shelf, which I'm going to hold for Local Foods when I find them. One of my goals will be to have outgrown that shelf by April 8th.
This is a project doomed to failure. I mean, hey...I live in New England and it's the middle of winter. Actually those two things alone are not the biggest problems. It's the impulsivity with which I've taken on this project that will prove the root of its downfall. To be successful in this venture, I would have had to start planning and preparing in the summer and fall.
So, what's really going to happen in this contemplative season of Lent is that I'll be reflecting on my food and where it comes from very intentionally - moreso even than usual. And I'll also begin in earnest to track down local sources of foods that ARE available in this season. In so doing, I'll begin to learn the intricacies of my local "foodshed" and build up a local food network, which could support me if I choose to continue in my locavorianism.
Some ground rules - or guidelines...
For my purposes, I'm defining "local" very loosely as all of New England - Massachusetts, where I live; Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south; Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine to the North. This is kind of crazy - the furthest tip of Maine from my home is over 400 miles away. With a radius like that, I could be eating food from the Chesapeake Bay Foodshed, too. It's tempting, believe me. And there's lots of good stuff to be had in upstate New York, too. (I may even break down and include it if I get desperate.) Still, it's better than continuing to eat food shipped in from Florida, from California, and from the furthest international reaches of the global food economy, right? And, in time, as I learn more about local sources of food, I hope to shorten that distance considerably. At the moment though, the closest source that I can find of whole wheat flour is about 400 miles north.
All that having been said, I am going to do my best to eat as much as I can from as close as I can. If I can find a good source of eggs within 5 miles of my house, I'll choose that whenever possible over an equally good source of eggs 70 miles from my house. Maybe the distances will average out to something respectable.
Some exceptions...I'm going to follow a variation of the locavorian "Marco Polo" rules, which means that items that could have easily been attained through traditional trade routes are allowed. This includes coffee (although I'm going to try - again - to cut back on it), tea, and spices, for example. I'm also going to keep using lemons and I may not cut out fruit entirely. Same with vegetables. I mean, I gotta eat them. I'll rely as much as possible on regional foods, but like I said, it's mid-winter, and this year I may be mostly out of luck. Plus, because I'm now in culinary school, my diet is somewhat determined by what we cook and eat there, too. I will pay closer attention to the sources of the schools food as we continue along. I'll do what I can and adjust as I go. I'm not going to be brutal about this. It's a contemplative exercise, for goodness sake.
Yesterday, as I noted over in the EIK, was Pancake Day - the day during which housewives in England traditionally cleaned out their pantries of FAT before Lent. I thought a couple times yesterday about cleaning all the non-locally grown foods out of my larder, but the sad truth is that I would have had to haul out 99.8 percent of the food I currently have on hand. And my wife would have killed me. And we would have starved. I have cleared a small shelf, which I'm going to hold for Local Foods when I find them. One of my goals will be to have outgrown that shelf by April 8th.
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