The State of the Pantry

I don't know what happened. I must have gotten so carried away with cooking and eating and foraging local foods that I forgot to post! Who knew I'd be so busy?

In the last (nearly) week, I've been more than moderately successful in my Lenten locavorian experiment. Here are some of the highlights:

On Saturday, my Beloved and I drove up to Montpelier, Vermont, to visit a great aunt, and of course, we took advantage of the opportunity to forage for some more local foods to add to our larder.

First we had lunch at the Wayside. Great spot. And I had some venison chili, which was very good, having assumed that they weren't shipping their venison in from anywhere outside of New England...although I suppose there's always a chance.

Then, on to the Hunger Mountain Co-op where I hunted for Vermont-made cheeses and managed to limit myself to only four, which was no small feat. I brought home some mozzarella from Maplebrook Farm in Bennington, some Vermont Shepherd Cheese from Major Farm in Putney, some Constant Bliss from Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro, and a very lovely smelly cheese called "Big Bang" from the Lazy Lady Farm in Westfield.

While at the co-op, after having extricated myself from the dairy section, I also picked up some bulk Maine-grown Soldier Beans and some artisan bread - Pain au Levain - from the Red Hen Baking Company in Duxbury, Vermont. I didn't buy any produce, but one of the enviable things about the Hunger Mountain Co-op is that they label all of their produce items with the state (or province - Quebec is part of Vermont's foodshed) of origen, so at least I knew what was from where. Wouldn't it be great if every grocer did that? Then we could at least know what we're eating.

Before leaving Montpelier, we also stopped at Morse Sugar Farm to restock our maple syrup supply. We go through the stuff like...well, like hotcakes. I like the really dark maple-y grade - Grade B. I figure if you're gonna have maple syrup it should taste like maple syrup. My Beloved - more in tune with the rest of the world, than I - prefers the somewhat lighter Grade A Medium Amber, which is darker than the Fancy Grade (which is the most popular seller), but lighter than the Grade A Dark Amber (which is, in turn, lighter than the Grade B). So we comprised...we got half gallons of each. That's really the only way to go.

Back in Massachusetts, I went for another foraging trip closer to home on Monday. At Verrill Farm in Concord, I picked up some more milk and cider, along with a couple of bags of Verrill's own baby spinach and mesclun mix. I also picked up a free copy of the 3rd edition of Edible Boston, a new magazine focused on local food. Be still my heart! I've been meaning to subscribe, and if you're a Boston Locavore, I encourage you to check it out, too!

On my way home from Concord, I stopped in Lincoln at Codman Farm and bought a package of pork breakfast sausage from their self-serve barn store. I drive by Codman and Verrill all the time, but they haven't been a regular part of my food shopping. Now they will be. It's just crazy to buy sausage (or beef, lamb, chicken, or veal) of unknown (and very likely morally reprehensible)origen from a regular grocery store, when I could support a local farm community - and without going very far off of my normal routes.

Yesterday was really a stellar locavore sort of day, as not only did I have these two successful foraging trips under my belt, I also took delivery of my order from Wood Prairie Farm in northern Maine: 5 lbs. of whole wheat flour, 5 lbs. of rolled oats, 5 lbs. of whole oat groats, and 2 lbs. each of King of the Early beans and Jacobs Cattle beans. Now I've got enough roughage to last me until Easter - or a good long time - whichever comes along first.

And finally, because I simply can't resist telling you, here's what I ate yesterday...almost entirely local...

Breakfast: one egg, over medium; jonnycakes with maple syrup

Lunch: a bunch of Swiss Chard sauteed with garlic and onion, mashed with soldier beans and goat cheese; glass of apple cider

Dinner: hamburger with cheddar cheese (no bun); baby spinach salad; squash from our CSA farm

Not too shabby. When I started this whole deal, I was worried most about finding local sources of grains and greens in winter, but now that I've found both, things are really looking up!