It's still quite a long way off, but never too early to start planning. Maybe this year I'll revive the Locavore Lenten practice...
Important dates to remember:
Fat Tuesday - March 8, 2011
Ash Wednesday - March 9, 2011
The Last Day of Lent - April 23, 2011
Easter Sunday - April 24, 2011
18 August 2010
29 November 2009
Looking Ahead to Lent 2010
Today is only the first day of Advent, but already I am beginning to look ahead to Lent. I am starting to think about how best to stock my pantry, and the more time I have to forage for local foods, the better.
Important Dates...
Fat Tuesday - February 16, 2010
Ash Wednesday - February 17, 2010
The Last Day of Lent - April 3, 2010
Easter Sunday - April 4, 2010
Important Dates...
Fat Tuesday - February 16, 2010
Ash Wednesday - February 17, 2010
The Last Day of Lent - April 3, 2010
Easter Sunday - April 4, 2010
Lenten Locavore in the news!
Last spring, during Lent, the Boston Globe published an article by Beth Daley on environmentally conscious Lenten practices. The Lenten Locavore even got a two-paragraph mention. (Thanks, Beth!) You can read the article here.
03 March 2008
Welcome to the Lenten Locavore
I created this blog last year during Lent to keep a record of my attempts to eat as locally as possible in mid-winter, in New England, without any advance preparation.
It was a project doomed to failure, as I noted at the time, and I was not much more successful than I thought I would be. However, I did learn a lot, and you are more than welcome to peruse the site to read about my various accomplishments and failures.
Due to happy current personal life circumstances that require me to eat a plethora of varied fruits and vegetables and to avoid some of my favorite local wines and soft and blue cheeses, I decided to suspend my Lenten Locavore experiment this year. I hope to get back to it next year.
In the meantime, I'm still making good on my New Year's resolution: to avoid eating conventionally raised beef, pork, and chicken. You can read more about the reasoning behind that decision at my other blog: The Reverent Eater. But for the purposes of this blog, let's just call that my year-long Lenten practice for 2008.
Thanks for dropping by!
It was a project doomed to failure, as I noted at the time, and I was not much more successful than I thought I would be. However, I did learn a lot, and you are more than welcome to peruse the site to read about my various accomplishments and failures.
Due to happy current personal life circumstances that require me to eat a plethora of varied fruits and vegetables and to avoid some of my favorite local wines and soft and blue cheeses, I decided to suspend my Lenten Locavore experiment this year. I hope to get back to it next year.
In the meantime, I'm still making good on my New Year's resolution: to avoid eating conventionally raised beef, pork, and chicken. You can read more about the reasoning behind that decision at my other blog: The Reverent Eater. But for the purposes of this blog, let's just call that my year-long Lenten practice for 2008.
Thanks for dropping by!
01 January 2008
Countdown to Lent 2008
Happy New Year!The Countdown to Lent has official begun. As of January 1, there are...only 36 days until Lent...
Time to start hunting and gathering for the 2nd annual Lenten Locavore Project!
Important Lenten Locavore dates in 2008:
Tuesday, February 5 - Fat Tuesday
Wednesday, February 6 - Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent
Saturday, March 22 - the last day of Lent
Sunday, March 23 - Easter
20 March 2007
Forgive us our culinary sins...
So, here's the story...
A little over a week ago, the Lenten Locavore went on a vacation to a sub-tropical island far, far away. Of course, I tried to eat as many local foods as possible while there - lots of fish and tropical fruits, hot peppers, sweet potatoes, fried plantains, conch chowder...rum. Certainly a lot of foods are shipped into the Caribbean, but I did my best to try to eat foodstuffs from the region. What a hardship. You know.
I must say, my body was very, very happy with the fruits in particular. Locally available New England fruits in winter pretty much means apples - applesauce, apple cider - when you haven't prepared way in advance and either canned or frozen your own more varied fruits and berries. And let's face it, I'm a big banana eater who was missing my bananas.
Anyway, that's all well and good. The problem came when I returned home 2 days ago STILL craving tropical fruits. In fact, I'm now dreaming of one day opening a little Caribbean grill up here in New England. If I can get my Beloved to move closer to the tropics, this will not be the locavorian dilemma that it is today. But here we are. Today is today. Yesterday I went to a regular old grocery store and bought all sorts of anti-local foods...coconut milk, shaved coconut, mango, kiwi, banana, plantain (green and chips), pineapple (fresh, canned, juice), orange juice, peppers (red, green, and hot), and pigeon peas.
Last night I made us some pigeon peas and rice to accompany our most delicious coconut pork chops (really, really yummy) and our rum punch. Right at this minute I'm baking 2 loaves of banana daquiri bread from a Caribbean cookbook that I bought while down in the Virgin Islands. This is a terribly sinful situation. Clearly, I've fallen off the wagon. And so, to at least partially redeem myself, I also baked a loaf of (almost) completely Local New England Whole Wheat Quick Bread. I first made this the week before my trip and it was absolutely delicious...even my Baking Chef thought so when I offered her a slice...and now she wants the recipe from me. Imagine that!
Here it is...adapted from Mark Bittman's (Boston Globe) "Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread":
Butter for greasing the pan (or oil)
1 2/3 cup buttermilk (or plain yogurt)
2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of cornmeal
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup of maple syrup (Bittman suggests molasses, but that would be more Caribbean than New England, wouldn't it.)
1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8x4 or 9x5 loaf pan.
2. Mix together the flour, cornmeal, salt and baking soda. Mix the syrup with the buttermilk.
3. Stir liquid ingredients into dry ingredients just enough to combine. Pour into prepared pan.
4. Bake until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean....45 minutes to an hour.
5. Cool on rack for 15 minutes before removing from the pan. Cool completely.
Very simple to make. Very nutritious. Very delicious. And now that I've found local sources for the whole wheat flour and the cornmeal, (almost) completely local (except for the salt and the soda, of course.)
I'll eat up these breads this week, keep putting tropical fruits on my locally grown and rolled oats, maybe even try some soldier beans and oat groat "peas and rice," and we'll just see how long this Caribbean Cooking Fad will last...how many days 'til Easter?
A little over a week ago, the Lenten Locavore went on a vacation to a sub-tropical island far, far away. Of course, I tried to eat as many local foods as possible while there - lots of fish and tropical fruits, hot peppers, sweet potatoes, fried plantains, conch chowder...rum. Certainly a lot of foods are shipped into the Caribbean, but I did my best to try to eat foodstuffs from the region. What a hardship. You know.
I must say, my body was very, very happy with the fruits in particular. Locally available New England fruits in winter pretty much means apples - applesauce, apple cider - when you haven't prepared way in advance and either canned or frozen your own more varied fruits and berries. And let's face it, I'm a big banana eater who was missing my bananas.
Anyway, that's all well and good. The problem came when I returned home 2 days ago STILL craving tropical fruits. In fact, I'm now dreaming of one day opening a little Caribbean grill up here in New England. If I can get my Beloved to move closer to the tropics, this will not be the locavorian dilemma that it is today. But here we are. Today is today. Yesterday I went to a regular old grocery store and bought all sorts of anti-local foods...coconut milk, shaved coconut, mango, kiwi, banana, plantain (green and chips), pineapple (fresh, canned, juice), orange juice, peppers (red, green, and hot), and pigeon peas.
Last night I made us some pigeon peas and rice to accompany our most delicious coconut pork chops (really, really yummy) and our rum punch. Right at this minute I'm baking 2 loaves of banana daquiri bread from a Caribbean cookbook that I bought while down in the Virgin Islands. This is a terribly sinful situation. Clearly, I've fallen off the wagon. And so, to at least partially redeem myself, I also baked a loaf of (almost) completely Local New England Whole Wheat Quick Bread. I first made this the week before my trip and it was absolutely delicious...even my Baking Chef thought so when I offered her a slice...and now she wants the recipe from me. Imagine that!
Here it is...adapted from Mark Bittman's (Boston Globe) "Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread":
Butter for greasing the pan (or oil)
1 2/3 cup buttermilk (or plain yogurt)
2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of cornmeal
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup of maple syrup (Bittman suggests molasses, but that would be more Caribbean than New England, wouldn't it.)
1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8x4 or 9x5 loaf pan.
2. Mix together the flour, cornmeal, salt and baking soda. Mix the syrup with the buttermilk.
3. Stir liquid ingredients into dry ingredients just enough to combine. Pour into prepared pan.
4. Bake until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean....45 minutes to an hour.
5. Cool on rack for 15 minutes before removing from the pan. Cool completely.
Very simple to make. Very nutritious. Very delicious. And now that I've found local sources for the whole wheat flour and the cornmeal, (almost) completely local (except for the salt and the soda, of course.)
I'll eat up these breads this week, keep putting tropical fruits on my locally grown and rolled oats, maybe even try some soldier beans and oat groat "peas and rice," and we'll just see how long this Caribbean Cooking Fad will last...how many days 'til Easter?
06 March 2007
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!
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!
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