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.