The Local Food Network
Good food takes time ...
There’s a reason this isn’t called the localvore holiday.
It’s time to talk about time.
First, the good news: My family is happy that I am coming home every night to eat dinner instead of reheating what’s in the fridge at midnight or getting take-out to eat at my desk. And I’m happy to have an excuse to get out of the office for an hour in the evening.
Now the bad news: This experiment has about doubled the time and effort my wife puts into preparing food. Think about our menu through three days: Homemade bread, muffins and scones. Homemade ice cream, quiche, roast chicken. Borscht with stock made from the bones of the bird. Lots of cooking. Lots of extra dishes.
In addition to the time is the inconvenience. As many people do, I have many happy memories of my mother’s kitchen; she was a great cook, as was her mother, and we always had a big vegetable garden and picked fruit in season. It’s funny because while I remember helping can, freeze and pickle everything from spring peas to apple sauce, I had forgotten just how much heat an oven or a stove full of steaming pots of water adds to a 90-degree day.
Zoiks, Scoob. My wife bakes regularly, but in this weather, it would be a relief to drop by the bakery and pick up a couple of loaves of bread.
And when we started, we were planning on having Finn, our 8-month-old, eat all-local too. It would be totally do-able if we had more of the staple products around the house, and Finn is starting to get tastes of a lot of food from our table. But because he’s not ready for cow’s milk and he’s at an age when we have to be careful about allergens, feeding him nothing but local would mean an extra round of shopping to produce a cup of food a day. It’s just not worth the effort to go from mostly local to all-local. Frankly, if he could talk, he’d tell us he’d rather be spending that time playing with his mom and brother than in his car seat, anyway.
Speaking of shopping: A trip on Saturday, another one yesterday to replenish the supplies. I have gotten a lot of e-mails from readers eager to help by recommending a stop at, for example, the hydroponic farm on Whipple Hollow Road for tomatoes, or a trip to the Middlebury or Upper Valley co-ops for vinegar or ice cream. Somehow, driving 50 miles round trip to buy a pint of ice cream for a treat doesn’t seem like a more-sustainable alternative to the scoop shop on South Main Street.
That’s why it’s probably easier to eat localvore if you do it regularly. When you score something hard to find but with good shelf life, you can put away a supply. You can make a day out of a road trip and stocking up on … whatever. And having local fruit or vegetables in the freezer is almost — not quite, but almost — as easy as paying the Jolly Green Giant’s wages (and advertising budget).
At the halfway mark of the challenge, we are glad we doing this. Will we do it again? Maybably.
Challenge update
Breakfast: Homemade wheat and honey muffins, a fried egg, coffee and fresh strawberries. This would be easier if we had put up some preserves last year, because most days I have toast and jam with coffee for breakfast.
Lunch: I attended an office party with a big spread including strawberry shortcake made with California berries in those little sponge-cake cups with Reddi-Wip, but went no farther than snagging a peanut butter and habañero (not a typo) cookie to stick into the freezer until Monday.
Instead, I stuck to my leftover borscht, whole wheat bread and a maple scone. At home, the family also finished off the Monster Pie with sliced cheddar. This afternoon, in the middle of baking tomorrow’s bread, my wife Katya worked around a request by Callum, 3, for a PBJ with crunchy peanut butter, and she would like a scullery maid, please, for “the next time we do this.”
Dinner: Chili! Ground beef, veggies, beans from Butterworks Farms (for those of you keeping track, yes, Butterworks does grow some of just about everything), spices. Now, if I were wearing my food snob hat, I would turn my nose up at something called chili sans a variety of chilies, fresh and dried. But for the challenge, a half a shaker of chili powder, an extra quarter-teaspoon of cayenne for my bowl and maybe some local salsa and sour cream on top and I am good to go.
Last night, for those keeping score, was the borscht and bread and butter. We passed on a side of sautéed spring peas under the heading of “it’s too hot to eat.”
We made up for a light meal with homemade maple ice cream: one part maple syrup, two parts whole milk, four parts heavy cream. Thomas Dairy = job security for heart surgeons. Mmmm.
It’s time to talk about time.
First, the good news: My family is happy that I am coming home every night to eat dinner instead of reheating what’s in the fridge at midnight or getting take-out to eat at my desk. And I’m happy to have an excuse to get out of the office for an hour in the evening.
Now the bad news: This experiment has about doubled the time and effort my wife puts into preparing food. Think about our menu through three days: Homemade bread, muffins and scones. Homemade ice cream, quiche, roast chicken. Borscht with stock made from the bones of the bird. Lots of cooking. Lots of extra dishes.
In addition to the time is the inconvenience. As many people do, I have many happy memories of my mother’s kitchen; she was a great cook, as was her mother, and we always had a big vegetable garden and picked fruit in season. It’s funny because while I remember helping can, freeze and pickle everything from spring peas to apple sauce, I had forgotten just how much heat an oven or a stove full of steaming pots of water adds to a 90-degree day.
Zoiks, Scoob. My wife bakes regularly, but in this weather, it would be a relief to drop by the bakery and pick up a couple of loaves of bread.
And when we started, we were planning on having Finn, our 8-month-old, eat all-local too. It would be totally do-able if we had more of the staple products around the house, and Finn is starting to get tastes of a lot of food from our table. But because he’s not ready for cow’s milk and he’s at an age when we have to be careful about allergens, feeding him nothing but local would mean an extra round of shopping to produce a cup of food a day. It’s just not worth the effort to go from mostly local to all-local. Frankly, if he could talk, he’d tell us he’d rather be spending that time playing with his mom and brother than in his car seat, anyway.
Speaking of shopping: A trip on Saturday, another one yesterday to replenish the supplies. I have gotten a lot of e-mails from readers eager to help by recommending a stop at, for example, the hydroponic farm on Whipple Hollow Road for tomatoes, or a trip to the Middlebury or Upper Valley co-ops for vinegar or ice cream. Somehow, driving 50 miles round trip to buy a pint of ice cream for a treat doesn’t seem like a more-sustainable alternative to the scoop shop on South Main Street.
That’s why it’s probably easier to eat localvore if you do it regularly. When you score something hard to find but with good shelf life, you can put away a supply. You can make a day out of a road trip and stocking up on … whatever. And having local fruit or vegetables in the freezer is almost — not quite, but almost — as easy as paying the Jolly Green Giant’s wages (and advertising budget).
At the halfway mark of the challenge, we are glad we doing this. Will we do it again? Maybably.
Challenge update
Breakfast: Homemade wheat and honey muffins, a fried egg, coffee and fresh strawberries. This would be easier if we had put up some preserves last year, because most days I have toast and jam with coffee for breakfast.
Lunch: I attended an office party with a big spread including strawberry shortcake made with California berries in those little sponge-cake cups with Reddi-Wip, but went no farther than snagging a peanut butter and habañero (not a typo) cookie to stick into the freezer until Monday.
Instead, I stuck to my leftover borscht, whole wheat bread and a maple scone. At home, the family also finished off the Monster Pie with sliced cheddar. This afternoon, in the middle of baking tomorrow’s bread, my wife Katya worked around a request by Callum, 3, for a PBJ with crunchy peanut butter, and she would like a scullery maid, please, for “the next time we do this.”
Dinner: Chili! Ground beef, veggies, beans from Butterworks Farms (for those of you keeping track, yes, Butterworks does grow some of just about everything), spices. Now, if I were wearing my food snob hat, I would turn my nose up at something called chili sans a variety of chilies, fresh and dried. But for the challenge, a half a shaker of chili powder, an extra quarter-teaspoon of cayenne for my bowl and maybe some local salsa and sour cream on top and I am good to go.
Last night, for those keeping score, was the borscht and bread and butter. We passed on a side of sautéed spring peas under the heading of “it’s too hot to eat.”
We made up for a light meal with homemade maple ice cream: one part maple syrup, two parts whole milk, four parts heavy cream. Thomas Dairy = job security for heart surgeons. Mmmm.
Add a Comment
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Comment by Patricia McGovern on June 30, 2007 at 10:02am -
I've been enjoying your Localvore series in the Rutland Herald. You wrote that "it's probably easier to eat Localvore if you do it regularly". Easier . . . and cheaper too. When one does the Challenge for a week, there are many new things to buy . . . such as that liter of Butterworks sunflower oil! Over time, Localvores develop a repertoire of easy recipes . . and the frugal amongst us find inexpensive recipes to add to the repetoire. Here are two of my favorite that are easy to make, inexpensive, and tasty too!
Localvore Potato Pancakes (breakfast for 2)
******************************************
2 local potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 local egg
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 T. local whole wheat flour
2 slices local onion
salt & pepper to taste
local butter and/or oil
Put 1/2 of the potato and everything else in a food processor. Blend to a batter, slowly adding the rest of the potatoes. Drop by heaping
spoonfuls in heated frying pan or griddle (greased with oil/butter) Delicious served with homemade applesauce or pearsauce and Butterworks Maple yogurt.
* * *
Cornmeal Pancakes (Makes 10 4-inch pancakes)
******************
1 cup local cornmeal
1 tablespoon local maple syrup
1 tsp. salt
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup local whole wheat bread flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 local egg
1/2 cup local milk
2 Tablespoons melted local butter
1. Combine cornmeal, syrup and salt in bowl. Slowly stir in boiling water; cover, and let stand 10 minutes.
2. Mix flour with baking soda; set aside.
3. In small bowl, beat egg, milk and butter until smooth. Pour
into cornmeal batter, along with flour mixture, stirring quickly
only until combined.
4. Meanwhile, slowly heat griddle or skillet. To test temperature drop a little cold water on hot griddle; water should roll off in drops.
5. Use 1/4 cup batter for each pancake; cook until bubbles form on
surface and edges become dry. Flip, cook 2 minutes longer, or until nicely browned on underside.
6. Serve with room-temperature butter and warm maple syrup.
-
Comment by Patricia McGovern on June 30, 2007 at 10:00am
-
I've been enjoying your Localvore series in the Rutland Herald. You wrote that "it's probably easier to eat Localvore if you do it regularly". Easier . . . and cheaper too. When one does the Challenge for a week, there are many new things to buy . . . such as that liter of Butterworks sunflower oil! Over time, Localvores develop a repertoire of easy recipes . . and the frugal amongst us find inexpensive recipes to add to the repetoire. Here are two of my favorite that are easy to make, inexpensive, and tasty too!
Localvore Potato Pancakes (breakfast for 2)
******************************************
2 local potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 local egg
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 T. local whole wheat flour
2 slices local onion
salt & pepper to taste
local butter and/or oil
Put 1/2 of the potato and everything else in a food processor. Blend to a batter, slowly adding the rest of the potatoes. Drop by heaping
spoonfuls in heated frying pan or griddle (greased with oil/butter) Delicious served with homemade applesauce or pearsauce and Butterworks Maple yogurt.
* * *
Cornmeal Pancakes (Makes 10 4-inch pancakes)
******************
1 cup local cornmeal
1 tablespoon local maple syrup
1 tsp. salt
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup local whole wheat bread flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 local egg
1/2 cup local milk
2 Tablespoons melted local butter
1. Combine cornmeal, syrup and salt in bowl. Slowly stir in boiling water; cover, and let stand 10 minutes.
2. Mix flour with baking soda; set aside.
3. In small bowl, beat egg, milk and butter until smooth. Pour
into cornmeal batter, along with flour mixture, stirring quickly
only until combined.
4. Meanwhile, slowly heat griddle or skillet. To test temperature drop a little cold water on hot griddle; water should roll off in drops.
5. Use 1/4 cup batter for each pancake; cook until bubbles form on
surface and edges become dry. Flip, cook 2 minutes longer, or until nicely browned on underside.
6. Serve with room-temperature butter and warm maple syrup.
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