Abundance

We've got a lot of leftovers this week for the first time in awhile. It took me almost all of last week to figure out how to cook for seven people instead of the usual two. The combination of my overpurchasing and having to set aside some things the kids wouldn't eat has left us with a mish mash of random, yet edible items. Since I'm going to be out of town for three days, starting tomorrow, Sal has assured me that he'll be in charge of finding some way to create, and eat, meals from our refrigerator patchwork. We made a good start of it tonight by making these delicious roasted vegetable sandwiches, using up some leftover squash, zucchini, eggplant, onion, garlic, peppers and mozzarella. Considered adding some of Anna's leftover macaroni, but thought better of it.

Roasted Vegetable Sandwiches

Ingredients:
1/4 to 1/2 loaf of french bread
Whatever vegetables you've got, sliced thin
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbs. olive oil (optional)
1 Tomato, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
Mozzarella (homemade or Nature's Way) thinly sliced

Set your oven to broil. Place the thinly sliced vegetables on a baking tray and drizzle with the olive oil (it helps to put some foil down on the tray first, if you have it.) Sprinkle the minced garlic, salt and pepper over the veggies and place in the oven. Broil for a few minutes until the vegetables start to brown slightly. Take them out and flip to brown the other side for an equal amount of time. Meanwhile, cut the french bread to your desired sandwich size and slice open. When the vegetables look done, take them out and bunch them up on one side of the open bread. Top with tomato slices and mozzarella. Leaving the sandwich open, place it back on the baking tray and put it under the broiler to melt the mozzarella. Remove and let cool slightly before eating.

Article: Home Cookin'

Here's an excerpt from an article titled Home Cookin' by Kate Sheppard. It was on the MSN homepage today and illustrates the benefits of local eating:

According to the sustainability think tank Worldwatch Institute, the food on the average American plate was trucked in from more than 1,500 miles away. It spent anywhere from seven to 14 days in transit, crossing state and even national borders in the process.

"Food miles" is a term coined by Tim Lang — a professor of food policy at London's City University that describes the distance our groceries have to travel to reach us, and the energy it takes them to get there, from trucking to refrigeration and packaging. The concept is one way to quantify how much our diets are contributing to greenhouse-gas emissions and global warming.

Agriculture is directly responsible for roughly 20 percent of human-generated greenhouse-gas emissions, according to estimates by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. So how can we cut out a large chunk of that energy usage? The answer lies in our own backyard — literally.
...
By buying locally, consumers make a decision to decrease the number of miles their food travels and the amount of fossil fuels needed to bring it to their plates. And buying from small, local farms also significantly reduces the amount of machinery, fertilizers and chemicals used in the process — all components of the industrial agriculture system that drastically increase the amount of fossil fuels used to grow our food.

"The typical American meal bought locally is going to use a quarter of the energy in transportation as the same meal bought from long-distance sources," says Brian Halweil, a researcher at Worldwatch Institute and author of “Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket.” "So you eat local and you basically eliminate about three-quarters of the oil use. And that's no small thing nowadays."

Well said.

My friend Susie H.

Inevitably, when someone asks me about my weekend activities - and I mention canning, making jam, bread, or freezing corn - I get this reaction: "Well aren't you Susie Homemaker!" There are some variances once in awhile- substitute Martha Stewart say, or Betty Crocker. Also from my sister: "What are you, like 85 years old?"

Maybe that doesn't bother you, and to be honest, it really doesn't offend me. Truly these are well meaning people - many of them actually love me - or are at least related to me in some way. The sheer predictability of it though, has had me thinking about how far we've come in our society from being self sufficient.

There was a time when putting up tomatoes and corn in the summer wasn't considered just a quirky little way to spend the day. Preserving food for the winter was necessity, and if you decided to go hang out at the beach instead of cooping yourself up in the kitchen with a water canner...well, you were the fool. Or you had a staff of people that could do that for you. Either way, there was the inevitability that the life giving season of summer would end, and the more of it you could stuff into little jars, the happier you would be in the winter.

I guess that's why folks think what I'm doing is so quaint. These days, if you're making or growing your own food, it's viewed as a hobby, rather than a necessary way of life. I also think that women have worked so hard to get out of the kitchen, it's a little confusing that I choose to put myself back in. As a feminist and Women's Studies graduate, I've spent a lot of time thinking about this conflict. I think it's definitely different for me, and other women, to undertake this lifestyle than it may be for a man. I'm pretty sure a man wouldn't get the same "Susie Homemaker" reaction - I may be wrong, let me know. Anyway, this is just to say, this is hard work, so if there ever in history was an actual Susie Homemaker, I hope I'm at least making her proud.

Kids meals

Karma has given me a swift kick in the rear this week. This is to say, that when I was a child, I was what you might call a "picky eater." One of my favorite meals was spaghetti with butter. No sauce, no herbs, nada. My poor mom actually had me make a list of all the foods I would eat. There were probably about 4 other things on it, all falling under the basic food group bland.

I spent quite a few nights sitting at the kitchen table while everyone else was excused because my dad told me I couldn't leave the table until I finished my meal. As I sat there, falling asleep in my untouched brussel sprouts or whatever, I swore that I would NEVER make my children eat something they don't want.

Fast forward to this week. As of Sunday, my sister-in-law, her husband and their three children have been visiting - we love them all to death and have been so thrilled to have them here. But man, those kids are some picky eaters! Anna's favorite food is - you guessed it- noodles with butter and cheese. But not our kind of noodles or cheese. We managed to make some kid-friendly pizza last night with homemade dough and mozzarella, but had to refer to tonight's eggplant parmesan as "candy plant" to get our 8 year old nephew to eat it. Anna stuck with noodles - at least she's consistent. There were no complaints against the homemade pasta though, because they both helped to make it. I think we're on to something there. Tomorrow we're going to see how Tilapia fish sticks and corn-on-the-cob go over.

We've tried hard to stick to our local eating this week while considering the appetites of our visitors. We've stretched, they've stretched, and I think we'll all come away with something new.

PHOTO: J.J. finally gives his seal of approval to ribs from Tarheel Beef, smothered in Sal's homemade sauce. The proof is all over his face.

Candid canning

This past weekend I embarked on my first ever tomato sauce and pickling adventure. Saturday morning I picked up 20 lbs. of tomatoes from Black River at the Farmers' Market downtown, and 8 lbs of pickling cucumbers from Gilberts' Farm. I decided to start with the pickles first, because they were considerably easier, and I was expecting my copy of the final Harry Potter to arrive any minute. If it came down to canning or Quidditch - well, you can tell by the fact that I just used Quidditch in a sentence to figure out that the pickles had no chance. As luck had it, Harry didn't arrive until 5:00 PM, so I managed to get 8 pints done: 4 dill chips, 3 dill spears and one spicy experimental jar for Sal.

I started the tomato sauce on Sunday after finishing Deathly Hallows at 11:30 am. I could only fit about 17 lbs. of the tomatoes into my stockpot, but I went with it. The simmering tomatoes made the kitchen smelled heavenly - a far cry better than the vinegar infused steam bath of pickling the day before.

When all was said and done, I ended up with only 4 pints of Basil Garlic Tomato Sauce. Hmmm. I didn't expect to get a ton of sauce from 17 lbs of tomatoes, but I was a little disappointed with the outcome. Considering the cost of the tomatoes (actually a tremendous bargain at $1.50/lb) and the jars, each of my pints are a $7.00 investment. I can't think of a better alternative though, unless I come across someone who produces and sells their own sauce around here for less. We're already planning our garden expansion for next year to make room for additional tomatoes, so hopefully that cost will be cut down in the future. Plus, I have to consider the fact that we're currently spending about twice the amount that we'll (hopefully) have to spend in the winter due to all the prep work we're doing. So all of our expenses really are an investment-we'll just see how it pays off.

Dairy delivery

You probably don't hear anyone say this often, but...I love Mondays. No, I'm not masochistic, it's just that Mondays are when we get our home delivery from Jackson Dairy. Today our order consisted of 2 half gallons each of 2% milk, 2 half gallons of skim, a half gallon of chocolate milk (as a special treat for Sal), heavy cream, and coffee creamer. I'm going to use about half of our order for making cheese and yogurt.

I found out about Jackson Dairy while searching for a local source of milk. Although I've been a soy milk kinda girl for about the last four years, I figured that I'd be more likely to find a local dairy source than a soy milk producer. I was familiar with Jackson Dairy already, because they supply the ice cream mix for the folks at Lewis Farms, which is in walking distance of our home, and whose ice cream is to die for. At the time, I had no idea that they had a home delivery service in Raleigh. When we started our local lifestyle, I called Jackson to see if they sold retail products, and found out that they sell a variety of dairy items, including 12 flavors of ice cream. Speaking of ice cream, they also provide ice cream mix to several other Wilmington businesses, including Boombalattis, Cubbies, Kohl's at Carolina Beach and College Station. Just finding out that I could get local ice cream once Lewis closed was enough to sell me.

When I called Jackson Dairy, I spoke to Cris Jackson, the owner and delivery man extraordinaire. He explained the home delivery deal to me: $4.00 delivery fee and they deliver once a week on Monday. Their milk is produced without the use of pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers on grazing crops, no genetically modified crops are planted, and no hormones or antibiotics are given to the pasture-raised cows.

As far as taste goes, nothing can compare. The milk that I received today at 11:00 was produced and bottled this morning. I don't know if a milk expert equivalent of a somellier exists, but if so, I bet they would say that the Jackson Dairy milk has hints of grass and wheat on the nose, a full bodied flavor and is sweet on the finish. But that's just me.

I finally got to meet Cris today, and he allowed me to snap this handsome photo. To read more about this delightful great-grandad to-be (who would believe it?!), check out this article in the Raleigh News and Observer href="http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/558257.html">, or visit their link under my Local Producers sidebar.

Hi ho, hi ho

I've finally finished off this week's food TO DO list and I'm gearing up to get ready for more work this weekend. I will have to say that this lifestyle is definitely more time consuming, what with making bread, cheese, jam, sour cream, and the like. Not to mention the freezing, drying and canning. But believe me, I'm not complaining. The labor intensive aspect of eating is what I'm looking for - actually thinking about what we eat and feeling connected to it from birth to delicious meal.

Tuesday I finished freezing some leftover Swiss Chard and also had to redo some jam that didn't set right the first time. I love the colors of the Swiss Chard, and blanching it made them even brighter. The inside of our freezer is like a chronological account of the local growing seasons. In the back are carrots, spinach, peas, cauliflower, broccoli...stuffed on top of those are strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, eggplant, zucchini, squash, corn, chicken broth and pesto. The chard has now been added in all of its rainbow glory, soon to be followed by containers of my first ever tomato sauce.

Saturday is d-day for tomato canning. Lacking a pressure canner, I've got to be careful about the recipes that I use to make tomato sauce, except for those that I freeze. If the pH is off, the sauce could spawn Botulism - obviously not my goal. I'm thinking of just canning some basic sauces for pizza and freezing some fancier ones destined for pasta. I'm putting up some plain old canned tomatoes too, for use in pretty much anything.

I've never tackled pickles, but I'm gonna give them a go as well. They actually seem pretty easy-I'll report back and let you know.

Homemade Pasta w/ Pesto Sauce

Pasta
Ingredients:
2 cups Semolina wheat (can substitute whole wheat)
2 cups All purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
6 eggs

Make yourself a clean work area by wiping down a large space on a table or countertop. Pour both kinds of flour in a mountain shaped pile on the workspace and make a dent in the middle, like a volcano. Shake the salt over it and pour the eggs into the dent. Mix the flour into the eggs by pulling it over into the middle a little at a time, mixing in the olive oil a little at a time as well. Knead the dough about 8 minutes or so, then divide it into two hot dog shaped rolls. Run the dough through a pasta maker on the largest setting a few times, folding it over between runs. Run it through a thin setting, then the cutter to make your noodles. You can also make any fancy little shape you want. Dry the noodles flat (or hang them over your kitchen chair like we did - this option requires seclusion of the cats, who find drying pasta very tempting.)

Boil a pot of water with a little salt added, and add the pasta. Cook for about 8 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente.

Pesto Sauce
Ingredients:
2 cups of fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 garlic cloves (or one giant one if using elephant garlic)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil

Put all of the ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor and blend to a choppy paste. While the processor is running, pour the oil slowly through the opening. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To make a creamy pesto, heat the pesto in a pot over medium heat and slowly add 1/2 cup cream, mixing continuously. Be careful not to overheat, or the sauce will clump and separate. Believe me, it will make you angry if that happens.

Lazy Wednesday

I took the day off of work today, which invariably always leads to sleeping in. Waaay in. So in, in fact, that it was 11:00 before I rolled out of bed and decided to get my sorry behind to the Farmers' Market so we can actually eat for the rest of the week.

Luckily we didn't have a long list, but three of our essentials: eggs, Ezekiel bread and Parmesan were sold out by the time we got there. There's a saying about an early bird, but I won't mention it here. So we headed over to Great Harvest to get our Ezekiel and ended up buying some Semolina wheat as well to make our pasta tonight. We've run out of our stashed pasta supply, except for some macaroni, which doesn't go so well with pesto, so we're on to making our own.

We had to borrow two more local eggs from our neighbor, but finally ended up with some delicious homemade fettucine with pesto made with our basil, stashed pine nuts (may they never end!), garlic from Black River and the aforementioned cheating-Tidal Creek-purchased Parmesan. I think I made my Italian husband proud. Hope you enjoy the recipe as well.

Teeny tiny town

Wilmington becomes a smaller and smaller town for me everyday. I mean in the sense that I continually find connections with people that interweave and crisscross with others, so that even when I meet someone new, I'm already linked to that person by less than six degrees. That didn't happen so often in the San Francisco Bay area where I lived before this. I grew up in a much smaller town - technically a "village," really, so I shouldn't be surprised when it happens, but regardless, I'm unfailingly delighted every time I make one more connection.

It's happened twice this week: First, on Saturday we hosted a going away party for our neighbor who had invited her own guests. Turns out we knew three of them as well, one of whom was John, the owner of Great Harvest. I'm in love with Great Harvest's breads and am quite possibly addicted to their Ezekiel, which could be a meal on it's own (which was technically it's first purpose.) So it was fun to have John and Suzanne in our home to get know them better and glean some much needed breadmaking tips.

The second six degrees moment happened today, unsurprisingly, at Tidal Creek. Which also brings me to a confession. I was in Tidal Creek looking for Parmesan - which is not local, not even close. Let's say Italy. Anyway, I was hoping that by some miracle they would have some of Nature's Way's Parmesan on hand, because Tina at N.W. hasn't had any for a couple of weeks. It takes hard cheese about 60 days to age, so when it's out, it may be awhile before the next batch is ready. I had really been craving the Pesto Pasta that I had on the menu tonight, but I didn't want to dip into my already frozen batch of pesto, because I'm really going to need that come winter. So I thought Tidal Creek may have had some sort of secret Parmesan stash that I could use to make my pesto.

I found some unmarked Parmesan and went in search of the woman who I knew would be able to tell me about it's birthplace. I had only spoken to Danielle on the phone when I had asked about the availability of some local brie, but I knew she was the resident cheese expert. Turns out she's also the Danielle of Black River Organic Farm. Small world, this Wilmington.

After much debate over using my frozen pesto vs. buying the parmesan chunk, I went with the cheese. I've learned my lesson though, and will be putting in a bulk order from Nature's Way. I'm also starting a running column on the sidebar to list all the non-local things we buy, just for good measure.

Breadmaker French Bread

Ingredients:
1 cup plus 3 Tbsp water (at 80 - 90 degrees)
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tbs. butter
2 tsp. active dry yeast

Add liquid ingredients to pan. Add dry ingredients, except yeast to pan. Tap pan to settle dry ingredients, then level ingredients, pushing some of the mixture into the corners. Place butter into corners of pan. Make a well in center of dry ingredients; add yeast. Lock pan into bread maker. Program for Basic with Light or Medium crust.

Me pasas los tortillas

Sal's mission today was to find a local source for tortillas, and he pulled through like a champ. He picked up a pound of corn tortillas (about 18-20) for $1.25 from the little Tortilleria in the shopping center by Elizabeth's Pizza on Market. I'm going to call tomorrow and see where they get their corn, but I'm just happy at this point that they make their own.

We made some great spicy chicken burritos tonight using those tortillas and some of the leftover chicken from our roasted chicken on Sunday. I'm going to post the recipe tomorrow once I've perfected it a little. We took some shortcuts with it tonight since we were in a hurry to get to the Cape Fear Green Builders Association meeting, so I can't in good faith put it out to the world until I've tasted it as it was meant to be. I will however, post this recipe for French Bread for my mother-in-law. It was the first bread we made in our $7.00 yard sale purchased breadmaker, and it was perfect - slightly crisp on the outside and chewy inside. Enjoy!

Squash casserole

Ingredients:
2 lbs. yellow squash, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 cup chopped onion
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tbs. butter (Jackson Dairy)
2 slices bread, crumbed (Great Harvest or homemade)
1/2 cup milk (Jackson Dairy)
1 cup shredded cheese, cheddar, gouda, whatever (Nature's Way)

Heat the oven to 350. Put the squash, onion, salt, and pepper in a saucepan. Add a little bit of water. Cover and cook until the squash is tender, stirring occasionally and adding more water if needed. Drain the squash and onion; return to the pan and stir in the butter. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding more salt and pepper to taste.

Butter a 1.5 qt. baking dish. Stir some of the bread crumbs into the squash mixture and put it in the baking dish. Pour the milk over the squash and sprinkle with the cheese and the remaining crumbs. Bake uncovered for 20 min. until the milk is absorbed and the casserole is bubbly.

Roasted chicken with vegetables

Ingredients:
A 4 pound or so chicken (Grassy Ridge Farms)
1 tbs olive oil
A couple sprigs each fresh rosemary, thyme and sage, plus some that is chopped(we grow our own)
Salt and pepper
1 med. sized or a couple small onions, cut in chunks (Pridgens)
A couple cloves of garlic, cut in quarters (Black River)
A variety of chopped vegetables that you like (right now we use mini peppers and fairytale eggplants from Gilbert Farms, eggplant, zucchini and squash)

Prep:
The chickens from Grassy Ridge are frozen, so I buy one on Saturday and put it in the fridge, and it's perfect for Sunday. You have to cut the neck off once it's defrosted. You can save the neck for making stock if you want.

Heat the oven to 450. Mix the olive oil, a little salt and pepper, and the chopped up herbs in a small container. Grind a little salt and pepper in a separate container and set aside. Rinse the chicken inside and out and pat it dry. Put it in a 13x9 baking pan and tuck its wings beneath it. Take your hand and separate the skin from the breast, starting at the cavity side and running your fingers toward the neck area. Once it's separated, take most of the oil/herb mixture and rub it under the skin. Rub the rest over the outside of the chicken. Sprinkle the salt/pepper in the cavity, and place a few of the garlic and onion pieces inside, as well as the remaining whole sprigs of herbs. Place the vegetables around the chicken, drizzle with a little oil, and sprinkle some salt and pepper over everything.

Roast for 20 minutes. Add 1 cup water to the pan and roast about 40 min. more until the chicken is goldeny brown and cooked through. The thigh should register 180 on a meat thermometer.

Let it cool about 10 min. before carving. Remove any uneaten meat that you can save for sandwiches or future meals. We always make chicken broth with the carcass as well. (Recipe to follow.)

Menu for this week July 15-21

One of the reasons I started this site was to share some of my favorite recipes using local ingredients, so I shall. I make my menus a week at a time, based on what's currently at the market. Here's what I've got going on right now:

Sun. 15th: Roasted chicken w/vegetables and squash casserole
Mon. 16th: Tomato sandwiches
Tues.17th: Spicy chicken burritos
Wed. 18th: Pesto pasta
Thur.19th: Tomato tart
Fri. 20th: Chicken soup w/rice
Sat. 21st: Stuffed zucchini

I'll post the recipes each day, plus some additional desserts and whatnot, just to mix things up a little bit.

I got lettuce.

You know, I really haven't found the local diet to really be all that difficult, food craving-wise. At the beginning, I thought that giving up bananas, avocados and mangoes may just might be the death of me. I made my last mango salsa before the diet with the grave seriousness one might give to the preparation of a last meal. That being said, I haven't really missed them as much as I thought. We picked enough berries from Lewis Farms to replace the bananas, and got some peaches from friends who stopped on their way from Charlotte (there haven't been any here due to the crap weather that froze them all), which have taken the place of mangoes in salsa. The one thing that I have been craving lately though, is lettuce.

Pretty much all variety of lettuce went out of season here by the end of May, so I really haven't had a good salad since then. Swiss chard is still available from Hanchey's right now, but it doesn't really give me the salady deliciousness I'm craving. I should admit, at this point, to twice having a salad outside of lettuce season. I've accompanied colleagues to lunch several times and have taken advantage of the opportunity to get my green fix.

Today I actually came into a lot of lettuce by taking advantage of the leftovers at a luncheon I attended for work. The lunch fare consisted of salad, roast turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables, rolls and cake. At the end of the event there was a ton of food left over. I'm talking full pans. So my colleagues and I asked if there were any bags or take out boxes so we could take the leftovers home...and we were told no. Apparently health code rules prevent this establishment from allowing any heated food to leave their premises. Their solution to the mass amounts of leftovers? Throw them out. Ridiculous. We begged, cajoled and bargained, but they wouldn't budge, though finally they agreed that salad was not a heated item, and that we could take as much as we wanted. So we did, and when they weren't looking, stuffed our boxes with turkey as well. So there. I'm really hoping that they don't actually throw the stuff away, and that all the staff secretly takes it home afterward, but I doubt it. It made me physically ill just thinking about it.

Anyway, we're eating salad and turkey, two non-local luxuries, for lunch for the next few days, and if anyone wants to go dumpster diving, you might hit the jackpot behind the Madeline Suite at UNCW.

The Nitty Gritty

On my way to becoming a local eater, I've been inspired by a number of sources, including Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon, who started the 100 mile diet and Barbara Kingsolver, author of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - A Year of Food Life. The details for us are a bit of an amalgamation of those sources plus my own ideas. Here are the current guidelines:

1. Food in our diet is mainly from the growers and producers at our local farmers markets, the local fish market (caught within 50 miles offshore), our local dairy source, or is grown in our own backyard.
2. Exceptions include staples such as olive oil, salt, and wheat (none of which are produced anywhere near us). We do only buy Southern Biscuit flour, which is milled in NC, or flour from Great Harvest,which is milled in their store in town. We'll also eat anything we had on hand before we started this, no reason to waste it all.
3. We're not fanatics to the point of losing friends. If we're invited to lunch or someones house for dinner, we're in - we have a policy against proselytizing. We will, however share our ideas if you ask us.
4. Every effort is taken to buy only local items that are humanely raised, and pesticide, herbicide, and antibiotic free.
5. Our goal for eating is no waste. We take our bags shopping and reuse them every week. Any packaging we do buy is to be recyclable, every edible bit of the product used, scraps are going to be composted.

Part of my hope for starting this website is not only share information and ideas, but to be held accountable (if only by my own keyboard) for the food choices we make. So if you feel the need to question me or call me out on anything, by all means, have at it.

A seed is planted...

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog. If you've happen to come across this site on your own, then you'll need to know that this is a work in process right now. This site is intended for people who live in Wilmington, NC and the surrounding areas, and are interested in making ecologically sound choices as consumers.
Check back later for recipes that use locally grown fruits and vegetables, a spotlight on local growers, links to resources for local products and more!