This week was a slow return to normalcy for me. I’d forgotten just how much worse jet lag is coming back West than it is going East. It’s only since yesterday that I finally feel like I’m back in the land of the living.
We ate wildly local at the beginning of the week, enjoying chicken and pork from our freezer. Thursday brought one of my first failures in a while. The pasta sauce and fresh noodles were local and should have been delicious. Unfortunately I was way too heavy handed with the spices I brought back from Italy and the end result was so spicy and garlicky that it was almost inedible. And I love garlic!
Hopefully my skills have returned as I get ready to make dinner tonight. My photos from Italy are slowly uploading to Flickr now, so hopefully later tonight I’ll be able to start sharing them with everyone…
Now to see what everyone else has been up to… I’ve rotated the regions so that we’re starting with the Middle this week. Sorry this is a day late…
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The Middle:
Anne (Green Leanings) cooked local porkchops with onions and apples braised in cider. She served them with fried potatoes and broccoli. It all sounds delicious! Saturday’s dinner included local pasta with marinara sauce and garlic bread.
With a “sweet, tart and mysterious” curried butternut squash soup, Chessa (Maybe Local), started off her local week with a bang. She followed it up with way-too-sweet maple baked beans, a fabulous chickpea noodle soup and a so-so gingerbread apple pie. She’s looking forward to homemade bread this week.
Fresh, local perch took the place of more exotic fish as FarmMom (Children in the Corn) searches for a source she’s comfortable with. She paired her fried fish with baked potatoes, steamed carrots and a fresh garden salad. Mmmm, perch is a fondly remembered taste from my childhood.
Penny (Penelopedia) enjoyed local eggs and toast for dinner one night. But her “official” meal was a beef and potato curry made with grass-fed beef, potatoes, onions and frozen peas. With pita bread on the side, the meal made the house smell wonderful and filled her with warmth.
As winter descends on the Windy City, Daniela (Culinary Student) craved a thick hearty soup and a slice of homemade bread. So she made just that. Her thai spiced acorn squash soup with focaccia bread and a spinach salad sound like just the thing to take the chill out.
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The East:
Kim (Yankee Food) featured a spicy Italian sausage and bean soup this week. Using the slow cooker to do the work while she was gone, the soup sounds divine. She even managed to work some squash into it. Finishing it off with warm bread and a local apple pie, she’s making me hungry right now!
Oven fried chicken, sauteed swiss chard and steamed broccoli made up the local meal for Christy (Farm Dreams). She like the chard, but husband Mark wasn’t so sure.
Ed’s (The Slow Cook) meal this week just about made me start drooling as I sit here. His braised short ribs, served after a butternut squash and apple soup, and with a sweet potato and swiss chard mash and curry roasted cauliflower. For dessert there was creme brulee. All this with local wines hand chosen by brother-in-law Tim. Wow, that’s the spirit! Also check out his recipes for Apple Brown Betty and Cheesy Cauliflower Casserole.
Wendy (Happily Home) had two local meals this week and has signed up for another challenge, the Maine November Eat Local Challenge. Her meals, which both sound wonderful, were rutabaga apple scallop with boiled eggs and pumpkin bread, and Cincinnati chili - one of my favorites.
With four almost zero miles meals to share, and beautiful photos as well, Danielle (Touch the Earth Farm) is on a role. Her menus included butternut squash soup, herb focaccia bread, salad, stuffed chicken, roasted acorn squash, taco salad, chicken soup and cheese sandwiches. Wow!
Meatloaf, cabbage gremolata and cranberry glazed sweet potatoes - a meal after my own heart. Nicole (Farm to Philly) made a meal fit for winter. She share’s recipes and more in her post. And the sweet potatoes fill double duty as they were also her recipe for Farm to Philly’s Turkey Day Challenge.
In a week of leftovers, Jasmine (Knitting 40 shades of Green) welcomed the opportunity for something new. Her ham and cheese crepes look delicious, and the accompanying roasted sweet potato and onion and apple feta salad sound great as well. It was all topped off with a local Chardonnay.
The Purloined Letter made a sausage strata for the challenge and took it to a local-foods dinner organized by friends. The recipe includes peppers, chard, tomatoe and sausage – and sounds like something I’ll have to try.
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The West:
The week was full of local meals over at Anita’s house (Married with Dinner), but the star of the show was Sunday lunch for friends. Leek & Potato Soup, braised lamb, bean-and-rice salad and spice cake – these are the foods that we all hope to be served when we show up for dinner. Other menus included beef stroganoff, pasta fazool, chile verde enchiladas and ricotta raviolini.
Donna (Chocolate Crayons & More) managed to make four meals from one fabulous local chicken. First she roasted it, then she used some for chicken curry, then she made tuna cheddar chowder (but with chicken of course), and she still has enough meat and broth left over for one more meal. Way to go Donna! And yes, a good fresh happy chicken is a little sweet.
Roasted delicata squash has earned a special place in Laura’s (Hello, Sunshine) heart. A new discovery for her, she’s decided that she likes them best plain. Good luck with midterms!
Black bean pumpkin soup, boy does that sound/look good! Ellen (Daily Grind) is pulling out all the stops for stews and soups this winter. She deems it one of the most terrific soups she’s ever had, and with more pumpkins to go, she’s planning to make it again.
Melinda (Elements in Time) harvested 85 lbs of produce this week. 85 lbs!!!! At the same time they managed to eat locally six days this week. There’s too much for me to begin to cover – so please go check out her menus and the photos. Oh my, the photos…
As her quest to save the planet one small change at a time takes over her home, Katrina (Kale for Sale) is pretty sure that the rocoto peppers she added to her pumpkin seeds can keep her warm from the inside out all winter. They made her salad so hot that dinner was accompanied by wheezing and yelping.
Saara (Skagit Foodshed) once again featured a vegetable throughout her menus this week. Her yellow Red Kuri squash found it’s way into waffles, soup, curried soup and muffins. She and Keith also enjoyed emmer with local honey for breakfast and root vegetable gratin. Finally her squash found it’s way into a modified cuban black bean soup. And Saara? Thanks for the sunchokes. Now I just have to figure out what to do with them – suggestions?
Chicken pot pie became dinner and lunch for Jennye (Wool Fairy) and her family. Jennye also has a great discussion about how and why people no longer really cook at home. Turns out that using pre-packaged foods doesn’t really save time, just thought.
Marcia sent in her recap for chili and cornbread. The chili included home-grown chopped onion and green chilies, home cured bacon, local hamburger, home-grown /canned tomatoes, pinto beans traded for eggs from a friend who’s family farms 100 miles north, home-grown, smoked & dried chipotle pepper and a bit of local honey. She let it simmer all day on the wood stove and the wonderful aroma filled the house! The cornbread included home-grown, home-ground cornmeal, home-ground wheat flour from Wheat Montana, home grown frozen corn, and green chilies and home grown eggs. She topped it off with homemade honey butter made with local honey.
The wind up chickens at the top are terrific as are your updates. I’m excited every time there is something new to make with squash and then excited again when there’s a meal without squash although my favorite meal this week was the local eggs and toast. Thank you.