Midwest Region

Last week of the Challenge - Harvest Edition

Thanks, Rebecca, Lara Sara & family, Jeremy & Danielle, Simona, Maural & Wyatt and Kaite for all your good eats!!

Michigan

Maura & Wyatt, Kalamazoo

After a crazy weekend, we reverted back to our traditional summer meal. Barbequed chicken (Otto's Chicken, Midland, MI), mashed potatoes (Visser Farms, Zeeland, MI http://visser-farms.com/history.html), and grilled vegetables: zucchini and summer squash fro Visser, eggplant and peppers from Kirkland Gardens, Kalamazoo, MI.
 
Thanks!
Maura and Wyatt Lane

Iowa

Katie Lang & Family, Webster City

Sorry its taken so long!  Here is the picture that of locally grown and raised food.  Corn is right off of a truck brought in by a local farmer, tomatoes-right out of my dad’s garden.  The hamburger is local and the brats are made at the grocery store.  Best of all, my dad looks like Wilfred Brimley!

Illinois

Erin Loughlin, Your hostess with the mostess, Evanston

I've had my eye on this recipe for the last couple weeks since the lovely and talanted Heidi Swanson released it on her blog.  I got all of the ingredients at the Farmers' Market! (including cheese and milk!)  The veggies are from Henry's farm, the Cheese from The Cheese People, and the milk from Blue Marble Dairy.  DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!! and pretty.

Roasted Corn Pudding and Baked Acron Squash

Rebecca Spivack, Chicago

Snack: cheese & bread. 6 year cheddar: Hooks Cheese, Mineral Point, WI (Purchased from Provenance) hookscheese.com
Baguette: Red Hen Bakery (Purchased from Provenance) redhenbread.com
provenancefoodandwine.com

  

Brunch: Butternut and Kabocha squash soup with cilantro pesto and radishes
Potato and Swiss chard strata with applewood smoked bacon
veggies from Angelic Organics, Caledonia, IL and Harvest Moon. Viroqua, WI
Bacon (again!) from Nueske, Wittenberg, WI

Sara, Ari & Charlie, Chicago

This week my mom, son and I went apple picking together at Homestead Orchard in Woodstock, Illinois. We came home with pounds of Gala and Jonathan apples, raspberries and honey. We've all been gorging ourselves on apples. Tonight, even though its about a week late, we ate apples and honey to welcome in the new year and wish that it be filled with sweetness. We liked the added symbolism of the honey and apples being local. It was a reminder that everything we need is already quite near by. Happy New Year to you and yours, locavores.

Lara Fickes, EVanston

Okay, here is my week four creation. Very uninspired and thrown together from left over's I still had around. I did not make it to the grocery store or farmer's market this week.  All I did was boil some potatoes and then saute them with some ground beef (both from the Evanston farmer's market). Plus a little salt and pepper. So just meat and potatoes for this week. And not a very exciting picture either. I would have had to play games with the self timer and I was just not quite feeling the creative spark I needed for that.

 

Week 3 - Harvest Edition

Illinois

Lara Fickes, Evanston

Here's my week three creation.  I have a mystery squash plant growing in my yard.  I received the baby seedling back in June from some family friends that had planted a variety of seeds, but hadn't labeled them well.  I had decided I had a zucchini plant and a supersized zucchini, but after I baked it, the shell stayed a little harder than I would have expected for a zucchini. The seeds were also much more pronounced than in a usual zucchini, but maybe that was because it was so big?  Anyway.........

I sliced my squash up and put it in a baking dish along with a mix of local ground beef and corn.  I also used up the rest of my fresh herbs (tarragon, parsley, savory) from last week's pot roast. Plus a little salt and pepper and some water at the bottom of the dish.  I baked it in the oven for about an hour. It came out pretty well.  And I think I am in love with fresh tarragon. That or the savory.

Sara (in Atlanta this time!)

This week's local challenge was tough but took us on some fun wrong turns. I was out in Atlanta, Georgia visiting friends. We set out to find some local goodies together and it really proved tougher than we thought. An erroneously named "Farmers' Market" was actually more of an international market. (Nothing local, but some delicious fresh lychee fruit from Israel was pretty cool.) We came home defeated but full of exotic, imported fruits. That night we lucked into a fantastic restaurant named Leon's in the Oakhurst neighborhood of Decatur, Georgia. On the wall, they had a list of all the local farms where their ingredients are found. When I mentioned to our waitress that they were about to fulfill my local eating challenge, she got so excited and brought back the owner/manager of the place who happily chatted with us about local eating and how great it is from a culinary AND a social endeavor. While the bulk of our meal, which included roast chicken, a huge salad and beer was almost entirely local within 50 miles, the ingredient list was so long and unruly and the dinner conversation so lively... I only made note of dessert details. Atlanta truffles with local cacao. Delicious.

  PS: If you're ever in Atlanta, check out Leon's. And tell our waitress Kate I say hi

 

Erin Loughlin (Your hostess!), Evanston

It's beginning to feel like fall around here.  Cool temps bring about the craving for roasted veggies.  As I was trying to figure out what to do with all the veggies I had leftover in my fridge from last week's market I decided to roast them all up and make soup!  I usually make soups a day before eating b/c I think the flavors need the time to develop and the soup tends to thicken up a bit more as well.  So this weekend I whipped up roasted vegetable and kale soup for lunch and it was good stuff.

•  Kale, tomatoes, onions, carrots, summer squash, garlic & bok choy: Henry's Farm, Caledonia, IL
• Butternut squash: Kalona Organics, Kalona, IA
• Vegetable broth: homemade from farmers market scraps and my freezer

Week 2 - Harvest Edition

Illinois

Jeremy & Danielle, Chicago

We went for a salad with cucumbers, carrots, red onions, and grilled red peppers & zuchinni. Everything came from the Evanston Farmers' Market -- minus the balsamic vinaigrette which I made from ingredients from Trader Joe's.

Rebecca Spivack, Chicago

Omelet:

 Eggs - Phil's Fresh Eggs. Forreston, IL (Whole Foods)
Heirloom tomato - Harvest Moon. Viroqua, WI (Uncommon Ground market)
Basil - Henry's Farm. (Evanston Farmers Market)

Kale & onions 

Harvest Moon Farms - Viroqua, WI (Uncommon Ground market)
Bacon - Nueske - Wittenberg, WI

Ice cream

 Eggs - Phil's Fresh Eggs. Forreston, IL (Whole Foods)
Mint - Harvest Moon. Viroqua, WI (Uncommon Ground market)
Cream - Blue Marble Family Farm Barneveld, WI (Evanston Farmers Market

 

Lara Fickes, Evanston

Week Two was my first attempt at pot roast. And it came out very well, if I may say so myself. I bought the beef cut from Heartland (?) Meats at the Farmer's Market.   Everything else came from the Farmer's Market too.  I added sweet pea's, carrots, potatoes, a whole bulb of garlic and fresh tarragon, parsley and savory. The only none local's were salt, pepper, a little grapeseed oil and a little cooking sherry.  The meat was delicious and very reasonably priced.  I will have to buy some more soon and stock up for the winter.

 

Erin Loughlin, your hostess, Evanston

Desssert! My second favorite meal of the day next to Breakfast.  Apparently, I'm doing my own little challenge (a local meal for each meal) in order of preference.  Lunch must be next...why do I like dinner so little? who knows.  BUT I love baking and when I realized I could make my new (and soon to be famous) blueberry/peach cake with nearly entirely local ingredients (save tapioca, vanilla and sugar) I was excited to make it, share it, eat it and post it.  So here it is in all it's loveliness:

 

• flour: Ackerman Organics, Chenoa, IL
• Peaches: Denny's Farm, Barrington, IL
• Blueberries: Jeffrey Farm, Algonquin IL
• Eggs: Tempel Farm, Wadsworth, IL

Michigan

Maura & Wyatt Lane, Kalamazoo

Week 2 was a success. We branched out a bit with the vendors at the Farmers' Market these past 2 visits. Unfortunately, I do not recall the names of all of the farms as I was racing to make it to Sean's soccer game.
 
We made a roasted pepper tortilla soup from Vegetable Heaven by Mollie Katzen. The corn, red/orange peppers, onion, green onions, and tomatoes are from Visser Farms, Zeeland, MI (http://visser-farms.com/history.html). The poblano pepper in the soup is from our backyard. Cilantro came from the store (not locally grown) that was used to help make the stock. The tortilla chips in the soup are locally made by a couple who sells chips and yummy homemade salsa at the market: Lupita's.
 
The grilled chicken is made from chicken purchased from Otto's Chicken, Middleville, MI. The fingerling sweet potatoes (shown grilled whole) were purchased from an organic farmer at the market.
 
Stuffed and baked anaheim peppers: the anaheim peppers were purchased locally (unkonwn farmer) at the Kalamazoo Farmers' Market. The stuffing included onion and corn from Visser Farms. The refried beans were organic, but are the store brand from Meijer's. However, Meijer's is a Michigan chain! The cheese, as well, was not local.
 
A very delicious and spicy meal!
 
Also, note that all dishes we use are made by Wyatt.

 

Week 1 Harvest Edition!

Lots of good food coming from the heartland this week!  Thanks all...

Illinois

Jeremy & Danielle, Chicago

For our first try at this, we kept it simple with roasted potatoes and eggs scrambled with red & purple peppers plus cheese. I got almost everything at the Evanston farmers' market.

Simona McKinney, Chicago

This week, I found a great thing: local, organic delivery! A company called Irv and Shelly's Fresh Picks delivered my meal to my home on Thursday. So perfect. I had lamb brats (lamb bratwursts with grilled onions, mustard, and pickles on a bun), a Greek salad (greens, tomatoes, feta cheese, olives, and cucumbers with a Greek vinaigrette), and some tap water. Everything was local except my own bread, mustard, pickles, and dressing. It was so easy to use this company, I will probably order from them each week.

Sara, Ari & Charlie, Chicago

Saturday morning we walked over to the Wicker Park Farmers Market where we found most of the ingredients for our dinner tonight: a wild mushroom and leek quiche with a golden vegetable crust. The crust was made with shredded zucchini, parsnip and yellow squash from Nichols Farm in Marengo, IL and carrot from Iron Creek Farm in La Porte, IN.

(Only other ingredients were a little white flour and melted butter.) The quiche was filled with Brunkow morrel mushroom and onion monterey jack cheese from Fayette, WI; leeks and garlic from Nichols Farm and beautiful chanterelle and baby bello mushrooms from River Valley Ranch in Burlington, WI. The quiche also called for milk and eggs. We used Oberweis milk found at our neighborhood Dominick's and eggs from TJ's Free Range Poultry from Piper City, IL and purchased at Green Grocer. Its still baking as I write this but it smells gooooooood. I plan to serve it with a baguette I picked up from the Red Hen Bakery, here in Chicago.

Lara Fickes, Evanston

here's my first attempt.  First official attempt attempt anyway.  I realized making my meal that I have definitely made similar and probably accidently all local meals before. So that's a good thing. 
 
Anyway, I went pretty simple and just made an omelet with some sautéed kale on the side.  The eggs were Phil's, I mixed fresh mozzarella cheese from the farmer's in with the eggs, and I grew the kale in my backyard.  I sautéed and cooked with Wisconsin butter.  That was it. 

 
So that was it.  It was tasty though. The fresh mozzerella was a nice addition.  I will attempt to be a little more adventurous for this coming week............

Erin Loughlin, (your hostess) Evanston

My goal this challenge is to make a local version of each of my daily meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert!)  One of my favorite standby breakfasts is a fried egg on toast - simple but good. 

In another effort to kick this challenge up a notch for myself I decided to make my own bread for the toast from local ingredients as well.  The recipe I was using called for ricotta cheese, but what I had was some local cottage cheese so swapping happened.  Cottage cheese is one of those things I decided as a child I didn't like (too lumpy) but I bought it accidentally recently, decided to use it and LIKED IT! it's always good to reverse weird childhood boycotts.

Anyhoo - here is the delicious meal:

• Eggs: Tempel Farms Organics (found at Logan Square Farmers Market)
• Milk: Fair Oaks Farms, Fair Oaks, IN (I stopped at this place on a road trip to Bloomington, Indiana and was charmed by their cow paintings...want)
• Butter: Organic Valley - somewhere in the region...
• Cottage Cheese- Kalona Organics, Kalona, IA
• Basil & Tomato: Henry's farm, central Illinois

Michigan

Maura & Wyatt Lane, Kalamazoo

We slacked on the May challenge, but we have done so much local eating this summer that this month should be easy.
 
This grilled meal is typical of what we have been cooking all summer. The chicken brat is from Otto's Chicken, Middleville, MI. The corn, peas, and peppers are from Visser Farms, Zeeland, MI.  The onion is from Blue Dog Greens Organic Farm, Bangor, MI. The zucchini is from our own backyard. All the loal produce were purchased at the best farmer's market I have ever frequented weekly, right here in Kalamazoo, MI. Happy eating!

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Week 5 - Final week of the challenge!

Minnesota

Eric & Kevin, Minneapolis

The final meal of the challenge was another salad, accompanied by sauteed asparagus and mushrooms - Minnesota is a bit slow with the spring produce so we didn't have a lot to work with!  Everything but the mushrooms was purchased at the Minneapolis Farmers Market.  The mushrooms were from Forest Mushrooms in Forest Lake MN (76 miles), purchased at Cub Foods.
 
The lettuce and green onions were from Little Canada MN (12 miles).  The red and white radishes are from Brooklyn Park MN (14 miles), and the asparagus is from Cold Spring MN (81 miles).  I also sprinkled some garlic chives on top that I bought from a local Hmong farmer - not sure exactly where the farm is at, but I think it's from a Twin Cities suburb.

 
We've had some hybrid meals with yummy local ingredients (Kevin made a delicious rhubarb/apple crisp with local rhubarb) - as the days go by more and more stuff is appearing at the market.  We're looking forward to a summer of great local eating!
 
Kevin's camera shy - here's an outtake of the "Eric and Eggplant" series from last summer's challenge :)

Illinois

Erin Loughlin (your hostess), Evanston

I finally had a chance to SHARE my local meal with some folks.  I typically am eating my local meals for days b/c I am just one girl...and I tend to buy a lot of fresh produce.  But this weekend I had some girlfriends over for brunch and I cooked up a tasty, tasty quiche with all local ingredients.  It was a wowzer meal and I don't mind sayin so myself.

 

Savory crust:

• Butter - Organic Valley
• Whole Wheat flour - Ted's Organic Grains
• Basil - my backporch!!
• ice cold water - Evanston tap, yo

Quiche:

• Eggs - Shoot! I didn't write this down :(.  They are from Berrien Spring, MI I believe
• Mushrooms - River Valley Kitchens
• Arugula & red scallions - Henry's Farm, Congerville, IL
• Bacon - Faith's Farm, Bonville, IL
• Cheese & heavy cream - Organic Valley
• Dijon mustard - Drier's! Three Oaks, MI

Also at this week's market were some enormous hydroponically grown tomatoes...(and me!)

 

til the next challege!

 

the Lenet-Rotenbergs, Chicago

This week I made a lovely veggie sandwich for lunch. Even though there are lots of great local breads, I was curious how my chestnut flour from Berrien Springs, Michigan would do in a bread of my own. I was warned by the woman who sold it to me that it would not rise like a traditional flour so I decided to try it as a flat bread. I added Red Star yeast from Milwaukee, WI; the same olive oil I've been using from Geneva, IL; water from the tap; Morton's salt and a little non-local sugar to feed the yeast. I won't say that the bread was an astounding success exactly, but it was good enough. I spread on the last of the black pepper cheese from Zingerman's in Ann Arbor, MI; pea shoots, tomato and radish from Growing Power in Chicago; and some basil from the backyard. All these amazing ingredients more than made up for the bread's mediocrity. There were also strawberries from Green Acres Farm in North Judson, IN.

Later that night, Charlie asked for popcorn and I remembered that we have "Konen's Gourmet Popcorn" (www.hpmfarm.com) that was grown in Kane County, Illinois. We put Taylor St. cheese sprinkle on it from the Spice House in good old Evanston.

As I write this up, Ari and I are cooking up a late morning breakfast of Phil's Farm Fresh Eggs in Forreston, IL with fresh sorrel from Henry's Farm in Congerville, IL and bread from Great Harvest in Evanston. My write up is already late though, so no pics...besides...the challenge is over and I have no start adjusting to a normal existence where people just eat their food without photographing it first. *Sigh*

Wynn Shawver, Chicago

this weekend i went to the evanston farmer's market with you (erin) and sara.  It was great! they have so much variety now!  i couldn't buy very much because i am traveling for work this week, but i decided to make a pie and picked up rhubarb and strawberries.  the pie had a few other ingredients for the crust and filling, but i was cooking as local as i could under the circumstances.  enjoy pics from the market and of the square deep dish pie!!

 

 

 

Week 4

Minnesota

Eric (another solo meal!), Minneapolis
 
Kevin and I have been eating local ingredients as part of most meals lately, but never got around to coordinating a full local meal this week.  My one qualifying 100% local meal came from the ingredients I bought the weekend before at the Minneapolis Farmers Market.  I made a salad with spinach, hard-boiled egg, sliced radish, asparagus spears, and a bit of wild rice gouda.

 
The radishes and spinach came from Little Canada MN (12 miles).  The egg was from Arlington MN (59 miles), and the asparagus was from Cold Spring MN (81 miles).  The salad was dressed with Jalapeño & Fruit Wine vinegar from Leatherwood Vinegary in Long Prairie MN (127 miles).  The cheese was from Eichten's Hidden Acres (43 miles).  The wild rice in the cheese is from Leech Lake, MN (197 miles).

 

Illinois

Amy & Dan, Chicago

We ended up going to the Green City Market this Saturday and bought some local fare. We made a delicious brunch with the food we bought - eggs, bacon and corn muffins.  I didn't take note of all of the exact locations of these producers, but I'm sure they're local since they were bought at the farmers market.

Corn meal - Three Sisters Garden
Eggs - Greenfields
Bacon - Liberty Family Farm

I've attached pictures of our container garden on our balcony. We can't wait to start see the plants grow enough so we can start making meals with these vegetables.

 

 

 

The Lenet -Rotenbergs, Chicago

This week was not too much of a departure from some of our meals in previous challenges, but its Ari's favorite and he earned it with all the back breaking yard work he did for me this weekend!

We had lamb burgers with lamb from Mint Creek Farms in Stelle, Illinois. (I like buying from them because their meats are 100% grass fed which is hard to find, even at the farmers' market.) The lamb was seasoned with rosemary from my back yard. (I got basil, rosemary and parsley plants from Nichols Farm in Marengo, IL. So far they are all transplanting nicely.) The lamb was also seasoned with some Morton coarse kosher salt from right here in Chicago. The lamb was served with spinach (origins unknown but very tasty,) mixed with a soft black pepper and garlic cheese from Zingerman's in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (I think Zingerman's might be pushing the 250 mile limit, but Ari argues that Ann Arbor is like home to him so it should still count as local...)

The tomatoes and basil were also from Nichols Farm and the backyard, respectively. They were drizzled with a little olive oil from The Olive Mill in Geneva, IL and more kosher salt. After dinner we had planned to walk over to Starfruit for a Lifeway frozen kefir but got too tired. Next week I think I'll try to make my own though!

 

Erin Loughlin (your hostess), Evanston

I sometimes obsess a bit over food blogs.  Perhaps this is why I decided to host a challenge where I required challengers to write about food and take photos of what they are eating.  I.just.love.food.  So one of the blogs I regularly read is Simple Recipes  Last week she posted this recipe and I was excited to realize with just a couple of adjustments I could make this locally...yee haw!

 

• London Broil - Heartland meats, Mendota, IL
• Asparagus - Denny's Farm, Barrington, IL
• Tomatoes & scallions - Growing Power, Chicago & Milwaukee

I have to admit that I'm not very good at cooking meat - so mine was a bit tough.  I understand it has a lot to do with the direction in which you cut the meat...so I'm guessing I was off.  However the taste was delish and I would certainly make it again!

Week 3

Illinois

Rebecca Spivack, Chicago

Asparagus Soup (Adapted from a recipe in the Good Eating section/Chicago Tribune)

 

• Asparagus: Nichols Farm(Marengo, IL)
• Chive/Chive blossoms from Green City Market
• Potatoes: Goodness Greenness (purchased at New Leaf, Rogers Park)
• Half & Half (swirled in soup): Heritage Prairie Market (see last week's post)

Snack:

Comments

[Erin Loughlin]

Wynn - I've never heard for Dynamo beer...where did you pick it up? Whole foods also?

[Wynn]

I think Dynamo is relatively new? Metropolitan brewery. Really nice beer, several people who've tried it agree. I was at the Hunwick's last night, and he pointed it out too. I found it at the southernmost Whole Foods on Chicago. Go in there on a Friday and ask for Jason. He's great at making recommendations. Actually -- go in on Fridays and stop at the cheese counter first. They do tastings and enjoy answering questions. Wine tastings are on Fridays too -- yesterday I stopped by wine, cheese and beer and Jason and all the staff were very helpful...I should really learn everyone's names.

[Kelly Dodson]

I have two hoagie buns from National Baking Co., Chicago, Illinois purchased May, 2008 in my refrigerator that are still soft and there is no sign of mold. They are obviously dangerously full of preservatives. We had forgotten these buns were in the downstairs kitchen refrigerator. I found them in late August, 2008 and was pretty alarmed that the buns showed no signs of being three months old. I have kept them in the refrigerator every since, as of today, they are still look like "fresh". It is alarming and very upsetting that our FDA is allowing these companies get by with these dangerous practices. They have "NO Trans Fats" on the package trying to communicate to their potential customers that their product is healthy. We purchased these for an afternoon party.

[Kelly Dodson]

Love the website, concept, and idea.

[Erin Loughlin]

Thanks, Kelly! I hope you can join us for the Fall challenge! Those buns are crazy - yes, be wary of any bread that never seems to age!!

[Hotjobs]

Happy New Year! The author write more I liked it.

[Hotjobs]

Hi Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

[Hotjobs]

With the new 2011. Year! Congratulations.