West Coast / Mountain Regions

Last week of the Challenge - Harvest Edition

Thanks, Kathy & Family and Dave for all your good West Coast Eats!

Washington

Kathy Pelham & Family, Sammamish

This week I ordered flour from a biodynamic farm in Winthrop, WA. They grow wheat, rye, and emmer farro and when you order flour, they grind it and ship it the same day.  I decided to make tortillas to go with the soup/stew thing that was coming together on the stove. Yum. The tortillas were really good. I could have eaten 12. I think I’ve spoiled myself and will never be able to go back to the yucky store bought kind.

Here’s our dinner:

Tomatillo, corn, and pork soup:
Tomatillos, corn, peppers, onion, spinach, and cilantro from Jubilee Farm Carnation, WA 5 miles away
Pork from Skagit River Ranch Sedro Woolley, WA 84 miles away
Cheese from Golden Glen Creamery Bow, WA 88 miles away
 
Tortillas:
Flour from Bluebird Grain Farm Winthrop, WA 212 miles away
 
Beer:
Pale Ale made by my husband in our outbuilding about 15 feet from our house. We aren’t sure where the grain was grown but the hops he used came from Yakima, WA 131 miles away.
 
I fully intended to take a picture of us eating or rolling out tortillas or something, but somehow it didn’t happen. I’ll attach a picture of my daughter and I at a farm this summer.

Week 3 - Harvest Edition

Washington

Dave Winkler, Seattle

This weekend, it was local breakfast for me. I took a walk down to the neighborhood farmer's market to see what I could assemble for a breakfast - what I came up with was a big bowl of granola and fruit, all local. A hazelnut granola mixture from one stand, fresh blueberries and raspberries from another and juicy peaches from a third made for a great combination. I added to that, some freshly made bread from a fourth booth and a glass of (non-local) orange juice to go with it. Short and simple again this week, great for summertime breakfast.

Kathy Pelham & Family, Sammamish

This week I decided to make a local breakfast—kind of hoping I could take pictures outside but unfortunately, it was pouring rain so yet another weird indoor lighting picture this week! My husband makes waffles most Saturday mornings with 100+ year old cast iron waffle makers. They work so much better than the electric one we had (which died after about 3 years of occasional use) and it’s sort of interesting to think about their history—and the fact that they’re nearly as old as my great grandmother! 

The ingredients of the waffles are local, but our maple syrup comes from Ontario so that was off of the menu this week. I’ve read that the big leaf maple trees that grow out here can be tapped to make maple syrup, but few people actually do so…yet. I replaced syrup with a pear, honey, and hazelnut concoction using hazelnuts my kids and I found falling out of the trees in a park the other day. (we collected 3 pounds of nuts from two trees!) I made a smoothie to replace our usual orange juice.

Here are the ingredients of breakfast:
 

• Flour Fairhaven flour mill, Bellingham, WA 102 miles
• Bob’s red mill Milwaukie, OR 191 miles
• Eggs Stiebrs Farm Yelm, WA 73 miles
• Buttermilk Smith Brothers Farm Kent, WA 25 miles
• Butter Golden Glen Creamery Bow, WA 85 miles
• Pears Mt.View pears Twisp, WA 222 miles
• Hazelnuts From a tree in Issaquah, WA 5 miles
• Honey Silverbow Honey in Moses Lake, WA 167 miles
• Yogurt Greek Gods Mountlake Terrace, WA 31 miles
• Nectarine I can picture their sign, but can’t think of their name! somewhere in eastern washington
• Raspberry Jam
• Raspberries from Blue Dog Farm Carnation, WA 10 miles
• Honey from Silverbow Moses Lake, WA

Week 2 - Harvest Edition

The "West coast/Mountain Region" should reall just be called SEATTLE...

Washington

Dave Winkler, Seattle

Today was my day to whip up something tasty and local so I headed out to the farmer's market just up the street from my place to see what I could find. Turns out, there were the makings of some good gazpacho soup.

Being a big fan of cold gazpacho, I've got a few different recipes on hand. This one was made from tomatoes, cucumber, sherry wine vinegar, cayanne, paprika, tarragon, parsley, red onion, fennel, yellow pepper and zucchini.

To go with the soup, just some very simple sides of what I had around (all local too) - half a cantaloupe and some toast. Not much to it.

Cheers,

 

Kathy Pelham and Family, Sammamish

This weekend we went to the Seattle Tilth Harvest Festival. It was an excellent event full of local food and eco friendly ideas. One group even had a map of all of the farms within 250 miles of Seattle. I found a farm that had a recently discovered Northwest heirloom variety of potato called the Makah Ozette http://slowfoodseattle.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/brochure-final.pdf  so I had to buy a few. We even saw Farmer Erick from our beloved CSA, Jubilee Farm, and he gave us come corn.
 
I’d hoped my tomatoes would be ripe by this weekend so I could include them in my local dinner. Unfortunately, the deer had other ideas for how they should be consumed. Though venison stuffed with heirloom tomato sounded like a fine local meal when I discovered that all of my nearly ready tomatoes had been eaten overnight, cooking food out of spite never makes for a very tasty meal…so I changed my menu.
 
I tried to do a few things I’ve never done before. First, I bought a chicken from the person who raised it rather than a grocery store and second, I grilled it whole over charcoal with a few hickory chunks. And third, I have never been one to rave about chicken, but this was amazingly good. I raved. 
 
So here’s what we had:

 
 

• Chicken from River Farm in Ellensburg, WA (95 miles away) stuffed with sage from my yard.
• Potatoes from Boistfort Valley Farm in Curtis, WA (108 miles away) with herbs from my yard.
• Corn from Jubilee Farm in Carnation, WA (5 miles away)
• Salad consisting of lettuce, tomato, sweet peppers (which I pickled), and beets from Jubilee Farm.
• For dessert we ate nectarines from Rama Farm in Bridgeport, WA (203 miles away)

 

Week 1 - Harvest Edition

Only one challenger made it for Week 1 from the West Coast - hopefully the rest will ramp it up for Week 2!  On to the eats...

Washington

Kathy Pelham & Family, Sammamish

I’ve been reading Plenty by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon who live in Vancouver, BC, and decided to eat locally—within a 100 mile radius—for a year. Their radius overlaps with mine, so I thought it might inspire me. Their story is making eating all local food once a week seem pretty darn easy—especially with the farmer’s market overflowing with yummy things!

Last night we had corn salad (for lack of a better name!) and chard pie. My husband held back a groan at the idea of chard pie, but actually went back for seconds. My son…well, he put ketchup on it.

Corn salad:

• Corn from Oak Hill Farm…I forget where the guy is from… in Eastern WA somewhere around 100-150 miles away.
• Cherry tomatoes from my back yard about 15 feet away
• Basil from Jubilee Farm, Carnation, WA about 5 miles away
• Bread: some came from the French Bakery in Bellevue, WA about 10 miles away and some I made with flour from Fairhaven Flour Mill, Bellingham, WA about 100 miles away.

Chard pie:

• Flour from Fairhaven Flour mill, Bellingham, WA about 100 miles away
• Swiss Chard (and beet greens) from Jubilee Farm, Carnation, WA about 5 miles away
• Shallots from Changing Seasons Farm, Carnation, WA about 5 miles away
• Eggs from chickens in Enumclaw, WA 32 miles away
• Cheese from Beechers Cheese, Downtown Seattle about 20 miles away
• Milk from Smith Brother Dairy, Kent, WA

Until next week…

**************************************************************************

Week 5 - Final week of the challenge

Washington

Dave Winkler, Seattle

I made week #5's local meal for lunch yesterday while I was working from home. The day before, Sunday, I made a run to the local farmer's market just up the street from my house and picked up a few things. What an awesome summer/fall resource to have!

Deciding this week would focus again on asparagus, I picked up a big bunch while at the market.  Originally, I'd planned to make a risotto but that didn't quite go as planned so I whipped up an asparagus & wild rice salad. I added to the mix some local spinach and mixed greens from the local co-op and a local pepper as well, pretty simple. Chopping, cooking, mixing and tossing the whole thing up with an oil & vinegar dressing I called it good with a side of fresh cantaloupe. Overall, the idea of this dish sounded better than it actually delivered but it was mostly local and with a few revisions I think will be worth trying again.

It was fun seeing everyone's entries again this time. Be well, all. Till next challenge...

-Dave

 

Kathy Pelham, Sammamish

I spent the day in the beautiful sunshine pulling out (and being stabbed by) blackberries and holly and other ugly weeds in my yard while checking on the grill every hour to see how my soon-to-be-pulled-pork hunk of meat was progressing. I guess I’ve always left grilling to the men folk in the family, other than the occasional salmon filet or grilled vegetables so this was the first big meaty thing I’ve attempted. We don’t eat much meat anyway, so it was kind of scary putting $25 worth on the grill for 6 hours, but it was kind of fun playing with fire and charcoal. My husband thought it was truly unfair that I was poking at the fire while he was sawing through asphalt and tearing out hunks of unnecessary driveway in the process of building a giant planter box for my tomato plants. Our house is surrounded by very tall sun blocking trees, ravenous deer, and zucchini seedling eating bunnies so gardening is a bit of a challenge, but hopefully by the next local eating challenge I’ll be eating stuff I’ve grown!
 
Here is today’s menu:
 
Pulled pork  - Pork from Pure Country Pork in Ephrata, WA
I made the bread with flour from Fairhaven flour mill in Bellingham, WA
 
Salad with coleslaw-ish dressing
Mizuna and kohlrabi from Jubilee Farm in Carnation, WA

Spinach, mustard greens, and radishes from Full Circle Farm in Carnation, WA
Dressing included buttermilk from Smith Brothers Farms in Kent, WA
 
We were going to make local ice cream, but ran out of time. Maybe tomorrow!

Happy eating everyone!!
Kathy

Colorado

Liz Mendez, Edgewater

I did it! I didn't think it was going to happen this week, but I thought about what you said about cooking some beets and calling it a meal if that is all you can find -- so I went simple. 

I still had all of my ingredients left over from last week so I basically did a repeat of sorts. I feel a little like I cheated, but I also finally (5 weeks later) understand that the point is to eat local but not necessarily elaborate.
 
I whipped up some scrambled eggs from Longmont, CO (30 mi), with diced tomatoes from Loveland, CO (55 miles), and made some skillet potatoes from the San Luis Valley,  Colorado (~200 miles). I seasoned the eggs with parsely from my garden and the potatoes with sage from my garden (22 steps :)  ).
 
I think I spent more time on the photo than either cooking or eating the meal! 

Mira and me in my garden,which was inspired by the local eating challenge and hopefully a future source for bountiful local eating!
 
Thanks again. The Local Eating Challenge was fun if not always easy. I am day dreaming of becoming an urban farmer. We have an unruly yard with crab grass and weeds in our lawn and it seems like such a waste to pay for new grass and expend valuable water (here in the desert) to keep it green. So, I think I should turn it in to crops! Then I could can the produce and we'd be set for the long hard winter. Ha! I don't think that will really happen anytime soon, but everyone needs a dream.  
 
I discovered at least one new local meat/dairy market under a mile from my house and was inspired to do more vegetable and herb gardening. I will definitely continue to think about local sources for foods even if I don't always make a whole local meal.
 
Cheers!
 
Liz

California

Georgene Smith Goodin, Los Angeles

I'm lame this week.  Things have been super busy and, while I bought a whole bunch of local stuff at the farmer's market, and I did eat it all, I never put together an entire local meal.  Or if I did, I didn't think to photograph it.

So here's as close as I managed to get:

 

Grilled Bison Burger, Lindner Bison, somewhere in Northern California
Roll, The Bread Man, baked within 5 miles of my apartment, but god knows where the flour is from
Lettuce, Trader Joe's, yikes!
Onion, Fresno, 216 miles
Tomato, Vista, 98 miles
Beans -- This is the one thing I excelled at.  The beans are from my own backyard.  I included a picture of them hanging on the vine shortly before they were cooked.

Overall, I liked doing the challenge.  I normally buy most of my groceries at the Farmer's Market, but the challenge made me push a little harder and find out just how local those farmers are!

 

Kristen Tieche, San Francisco

I don't have a full meal here, but two side dishes I made with all local/seasonal/organic.

First of all, I made a very yummy vegetable dish:

Asparagus and Snap Peas with Mint and Meyer Lemon Zest

I chopped up about 12 or so stalks of asapargus from L&J Farms (Gonzales, CA) with an abundant handful of snap peas from Hungry Hollow Ranch (Esparto, CA). I chopped up one spring onion from
Riverdog Farm (Guinda, CA) and a few springs of mint from Jacobs Farms (Santa Cruz, CA).  Then I zested a Meyer lemon from my neighbor's parents' tree.

First I sauteed the onions until they were soft and then added the asparagus and peas. When they were nice and green I added the chopped mint and lemon zest. I added a couple pinches of sea salt and cayenne pepper to taste. Yum.

For dessert, I served a fruit salad of sliced kumquats from Beck Farm (Lodi, CA) and these amazing strawberries from Rodriguez Ranch (Monterey, CA) and some toasted lemon zest. A perfect blend of sweet and tart.

Week 4

Washington

Dave Winkler, Seattle

As anyone who's eaten brunch with me knows, I'm the tofu scramble's #1 fan. It's true, there's no denying it. This week, I decided to make a hearty scramble for breakfast on Memorial Day. There's a farmer's market in my neighborhood that's open mid-May to October or so, this made shopping for local ingredients really easy and a 10 minute walk from my place.

From the farmer's market, I picked up potatoes, an onion, a red pepper and a bunch of fresh kale. Since this is Seattle, there was also a place that makes their own tofu so I picked up a slab of that too. Scrambles are pretty simple to make, chop/smash everything up and then cook in order of how long each thing should be, um, cooked. Along the way, just add spices/salt/pepper to taste. I added to my meal a cantaloupe (not local) and a big mug of French Roast (organic, obv not local.)

That's about it, simple and tasty. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else made.

Till next week all,
Dave  

 

Kathy Pelham, Sammamish

We found the first strawberries at the farmer’s market this week. They were ridiculously expensive and eaten long before my local dinner was ready, but they were yummy! Summer must be coming!
This week we ate:

Salad:
Lettuce, radishes, and eggs from Jubilee Farm, Carnation, WA
Pea Vines from CNL Produce, Duvall, WA
Tomato from Kittitas Valley Greenhouse, Ellensburg, WA
Croutons made from the leftover bread I made last weekend

 
Grilled chicken
Draper Valley Farms, Mt. Vernon, WA
 

Potato salad with Swiss chard with caramelized leeks, shallots, and green garlic
Potatoes, shallots, and leeks from Jubilee Farm, Carnation, WA
Swiss Chard from CNL Farm, Duvall, WA
Green garlic from Magana Farm, Sunnyside, WA

California

Georgene Smith Goodin

This week I made an asparagus, mushroom, tomato stir fry from a recipe in my trusty Betty Crocker cook book.  I made it as a side dish for some salmon that was decidedly NOT local, so the next day I used the leftover stir fry to make a local omelet.

Eggs:   Lilly's Farm in Santa Barbara, 88 miles
Heirloom Tomatoes:  Vista, 98 miles
Asparagus:  Riverside, 64 miles
Mushrooms:  Mountain Meadow Mushrooms, in Escondido, 118 miles
Scallions: Tutti Frutti Farm, Buelleton, 134 miles
Ginger: Fresno, 216 miles

P.S. I'm with Kathy -- I have a new found respect for food photographers, too.  Every time I look at one of my pictures, I think, But that looked so much better in person!  I just don't have the energy, though, to "stage" the photography.  By the time I'm done cooking, I just want to get the fork into my mouth!

Kristen Tieche, San Francisco

Cauliflower Lasagne:

I got this inspiration at the farmer's market at USF, right across the street from my house. I went to the Tomatero Farms (Watsonville) stand, where I found some "baby cauliflower." The woman next to me said that I should try making a pasta dish with them, using the cauliflower as the sauce instead of a tomato sauce.

So I bought a big batch of spring onions, a batch of basil as well and went to work!

I separated the white cauliflower heads from their green leaves (which I saved for later and sauteed with some onions and garlic for another meal). I sliced the cauliflower thinly and cut into small chunks. Then I chopped up about 8 or 10 of the spring onions. I stir fried the cauliflower with the onions and some garlic in some olive oil.

I chopped up the basil and some oregano from Jacobs Farms (Santa Cruz) and mixed the herbs with the ricotta. Then I layered the cauliflower mixture, the strips of lasagne, the ricotta cheese/herb mixture, sliced fresh mozzarella, and sliced tomato, then another layer of cauliflower, etc. in a casserole, covered it and put it in the oven at about 375 degrees for about 45 minutes.

The dish turned out to be incredibly juicy and aromatic! I sprinkled some shaved parmesan and chopped oregano on top. My friends and I loved it!

Colorado

Liz Mendez, Edgewater

This week I checked out a local meat market about 1/2 mile from my house and discovered that they sell local eggs, and local milk in glass bottles, and all kinds of local meat including dog food! (not that we have a dog, but I thought it was interesting :) )
 
So we made an egg based dish. An omelet with eggs from Longmont, CO (30 mi), Haystack Mountain goat cheese from Niwot, Co (29 miles), tomatoes from Loveland, CO (55 miles), and sprouts from Denver. We also made some skillet potatoes from the San Luis Valley,  Colorado (~200 miles).
 
It was a pretty meal but we made it too late at night and were all (including our 2 year old) getting hangry (hungry+angry) by the time it was ready . . . . so I forgot to take a picture!! Oooops.
 
Looking forward to week 5!
 
cheers,
 
Liz

 

Week 3

California

Kristen Tieche, San Francisco

I made an asparagus and green garlic galette.  I bought everything at the farmers market on Saturday at the Ferry Terminal in SF.  The galette was quite delicious. 

Here's how:

Filling:

Chop up about half a bunch of asparagus, 2 sprigs of green garlic, 2 cloves of regular garlic, and 1 quartered and finely sliced heirloom potato (you can use any kind of potato you wish).  I sauteed this mixture in the olive oil and lemon juic mixutre from a jar of preserved meyer lemons from my dad's tree (I made the preserved lemons this winter and keep them in a couple jars in my refrigerator).  I added a little extra olive oil so the veggies and potato wouldn't stick.  I left the veggies a little crispy because I knew that I was going to bake them inside the galette.  Reseve some crumbled goat cheese to top the mixture once you fill your galette.

Dough:

• 1/3 cup flour (I get mine in bulk fromRainbow Grocery)
• 1/2 lb cream cheese (I used Nancy's)
• 1/4 lb butter (Strauss Family Farms is the best)
• 1/4 cup flax seed meal (you can also use cornmeal, but I like the taste and color of flax seed
• 1Tbsp sea salt (or your desired amt)

combine all ingredients in a bowl with your hands.  Roll into a ball and cut in half.  I usually make two balls of dough to make 2 galettes.  Roll out 1 ball on a floured surface with rolling pin.  I leave the ends of the dough rustic because I like the way it looks.  Add the filling, crumble some goa cheese on top and fold the ends over to make the galette.  Bake in a preheated oven 375 degrees for about 15 min.  or until it's brown.  Delicious!

Georgene Smith Goodin, Los Angeles

I'm getting better.  This week I actually asked the farmers where they were located while I was shopping.  My food is a lot more lcoal than I thought last week.

The roast chicken is from Kendor Farms, a whopping 17 miles from my apartment.  I didn't believe it until I read this article about them in the LA Times.  This couple basically has a chicken farm in their backyard.

• The potatoes are from Tehachapi -- 112 miles
• The green beans hail from Vista -- 98 miles

It was all seasoned with rosemary from my herb garden and lemon from Redlands -- 68 miles

I bought bread from a bakery located in Ranch Cucamonga -- 48 miles.  When I asked the guys working the stand if they sourced their supplies locally, they said yes, but I had the feeling they didn't know what I was talking about.  I'd love to find local flour, but so far the only brand I"ve found comes in 50lb bags -- a tad much for this family of two.  If anyone knows where to find some local California wheat, I'd be thrilled to know!

 

Colorado

Liz Mendez, Edgwater

This week I made oven roasted Red Bird Farms Chicken drumsticks (from Colorado somewhere), Red Chili made from ground red chile paste (from Chimayo, New Mexcio 423 miles), Pinto Beans (from Dove Creek, CO 430 miles), a tortilla from a local tortillaria (5 miles) and goat cheese from Pueblo, CO (118 miles)

 

Washington

Kathy Pelham, Sammamish

This week I was hoping to find a few new goodies at the farmer's market, but I found a plethora of asparagus again so we ate asparagus (I could eat it every day, but I think my family grows tired of it after a few weeks!)  I did however find the heirloom tomato people.  They grow their tomatoes in a greenhouse, so they're not quite like the ones you get in August, but good enough...and local!  I found a nice crazily wrinkled tomato in their "seconds" basket.

ps. I have a newfound respect for food photographers!

 

Here's our menu:

Creamy Asparagus Soup

• Asparagus: Krueger Family Produce and Peppers in Wapato, WA
• Walla Walla onion: Krueger Family Produce
• Green Garlic: CNL Produce in Duvall, WA
• Half and Half: Smith Brothers Dairy in Kent, WA
• Thyme from my garden
• Pacific Chicken Broth: Tualatin OR

Emmer Farro salad

• Baby Kale: Jubilee Farm in Carnation, WA
• Emmer Farro: Bluebird Grain Farm in Winthrop, WA
• Heirloom tomato: Kittitas Valley Greenhouse in Ellensburg, WA
• Parsley from my garden
• Raishes: Jubilee Farm in Carnation, WA

Bread

• Flour: Fairhaven Flour Mill in Bellingham, WA
• Yeast from my sourdough starter in my fridge
• Water from the filtering machine in my local grocery store

Sparkling Water

• Water from my fridge
• CO2 from my husband's beer brewing supplies

Week 2

Washington

Dave Winkler, Seattle

I made this meal almost a week ago now and wanted to be sure I wrote it up for week #2 so it doesn't appear I only sit around and drink bloody marys instead of cooking local.  Maybe I'll start a rival Facebook group called "You Can Cook Local, I'm Going to Sip Bloody Marys Instead."

So last Tuesday, I made my first local meal of the May challenge.  Inspired by a recipe I saw linked in a blog I read (that is normally in no way related to food or recipes) I set out to make asparagus soup along with a salad.  Spring colors all around as you can see from the photos.  For those interested in trying it, here's where I found the recipe: http://dishingupdelights.blogspot.com/2009/04/lemony-asparagus-soup.html

On Sunday afternoon following brunch, naturally, my friend and I headed down to Pike Place market to do some shopping.  If you've never been, it's this amazing farmer's market in downtown Seattle that's also the oldest farmers market in the US and it operates year-round.

I don't remember the names of all the vendors, but I picked up a bunch of asparagus from someone who was only selling asparagus so I figured it had to be good.  Then, from another booth, I got the remaining pieces for the soup and a handful of things I thought would go good in a salad together: onions (soup), arugula and cantaloupe.  With a fully local soup, I thought I'd cheat a little and add an avocado and some pomegranate seeds I had at home to the salad to help fill out the flavors a bit

 

I'm pretty happy with how the whole thing turned out and think I've goe a new combination to keep around and make again.  Cheers to all the rest of you local cookers, till next week.

Kathy Pelham, Sammamish

This week my CSA box was full of yummy stuff.  I decided to use the asparagus and baby shiitake mushrooms in my box to make a variation on a recipe for Asparagus and Morel Mushroom Bread Pudding in Deborah Madison's Local Flavors. 

• Garlic scallions, parsley, asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, eggs: Jubilee Farm - Carnation, WA (5 miles)
• Bread: Essential Baking Company, Seattle WA (20 miles)
• Cheese: Mt. Townsend Creamery, Port Townsend, WA (72 miles + a quick ferry ride away)
• Milk: Smith brothers Farm, Kent WA (27 miles away)

While dinner was in the oven, we had a taste of cheese I used in the bread pudding and had a glass of Cabernet Merlot from Barnard Griffen,  Richland, WA (212 miles away)

 

For dessert, I made a strawberry rhubarb crisp.  The rhubarb was from Jubilee Farm and the strawberries from Remlinger Farm,  Carnation, WA ( miles)

 

YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!

California

Georgene Smith Goodin, Los Angeles

Living in California, and being a devoted shopper at my farmers market, I thought that it'd be easy to find local EVERYTHING.  Since starting the challenge, I'm beginning to rethink that.  I've realized I don't know where half the farmers at my market come from (although by law, it has to be within the state of California)  But that means that food could be traveling up to 725 miles and, while that's still less than half of the 1500 miles the average American meal travels, it's still not exactly local.  I'm going to have to start paying more attention tomy farmers' addresses.

Here's this week's meal: Bison and root vegetable stew.  This bison is from Lindner Bison and, while thier Northern California ranch definitely exceeds the limits of local, it's free-rnage and humanely slaughtered, both of which are important to me.  The carrots, potatoes, rutabaga and onions are all from a vendor whose name I don't know, let alone his location.  Oops! Need to pay more attention to that next week.

 

The rosemary and thyme are from the garden I grow in my kitchen window, so I know they're local.  Rosemary and thyme grow really well in pots, need hardly any water and go great with lots of foods.  Plus they're perennials, so if you want to grow your own food, but don't have a few spare acres, I'd encourage you to try growing these two herbs.  If you think about all the plastic that goes into packaging herbs, whether local or not, even a tiny herb garden can have a significan impact.

 

 

Colorado

Liz Mendez, Edgewater

For week 2 we had a Euro-stlye no-cook meal. Bread from Whole foods (4.0 miles), goat cheese from Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy Farm (29 miles),  Hummos from a Boulder company (24 miles), and another spread from an Aurora company (21 miles).

 
Cheers!
 
Liz

 

Week 1

Colorado

Liz Bond Mendez, Edgewater

Being new to the local eating challenge I decided I should find out what my local grocery store had to offer rather than using the gas to drive across town to the Whole Foods.  My store has just enough organic products for us to eat a significant percentage of organic food, but I discovered that none of it is local - most of it seems to come from California.  It would be an interesting debate over the benefits to the world of eating organic non-local vs. non-organic local.  Anyway, here is what I came up with (definitely not a well rounded meal):

 

• Italian sausage: Boulder Sausage Company (16.7 miles from my house)
• grocery store roll that said "baked fresh daily" so I figured that was local

• and a Fat Tire beer: New Belgium Brewery, Fort Collins, CO (64 miles)

Saturday morning, I was afraid I might not have time for my local meal so I also went to the local independent coffee shop (5 blks away) and ordered a coffee made of beans roasted at Novo Coffee Co. (6 miles from my house) and a muffin from Blue Point Bakery (8.4 miles)

 

I did my best for this short week but do question whether either of these count since I have no idea where the pork was raised or the wheat and the coffee grown (certainly not in Colorado!)  I'm already planning out next week!  Cheers! Liz.

Arizona

Rebecca Blume Rothman, Scottsdale

ok - no pics, BUT I have a couple of meals to report from our household:

• honey and peach sandwich on honey wheat bread (all ingredients purchased at the farmers market)

• heirloom tomatoes with scrambled eggs and honey wheat bread

That's it for this week - I'll take photos next time!

Washington

Dave Winkler, Seattle

(Early evening)

Hey, I just bought a bunch of stuff at Pikes Place Market (giant, year-round farmers market) for my first local meal tonight. Gonna be asparagus/lemon soup and salad of fresh "lots of stuff." I believe those are the technical terms for it.  Now, it's sunny and warm and more importantly bloody mary o'clock here in Seattle. Yum!

 
Later that evening...

By the time I got home today after being out in the sun all afternoon and having some drinks outside down the street, the only thing I wanted to do was lay on the couch and not cook dinner (ed: emphasis added).   New plan - cook all of the  yummy sounding food above tomorrow night instead.  I guess that means my first dish will just have to be included in the second week.

 

Kathy Kramps Pelham, Sammamish

  Started week 1 making breakfast and realized without even trying I'd managed to make an all-local meal.  I'd figured eating all local in the spring would mean lots of greens, but I had nothing green on my plate except for a little chive garnish.  So here is my all local breakfast:

 

• Scrambled eggs from Jubilee Farm in Carnation, WA (we even met the chickens yesterday!)
• On top of the eggs was cheese from Beecher's Cheese in Seattle, WA
• On top of the cheese were chives from my yard
• Next to the eggs was toast.  I made the bread with flour from Fairhaven Flour Mill in Bellingham, WA
• On the toast was strawberry jam I made last summer with strawberries from Skagit Valley, WA

• My latte was made with milk from Smith Brothers Dairy in Kent, WA and Starbucks roasted the coffee in Kent, WA...though it's kind of a stretch calling coffee local b/c it grown in places far, far away...breakfast without coffee would be a bad, bad thing - so I'm calling it local!

 

    California

Georgene Smith, Los Angeles

I feel like a total cheater because there isn't much "challenge" when you live in Southern California and just a mile from one of the greatest farmers' markets ever.

Brazilian Black Bean Stew was made from dried beans from Suncoast Farms in Lompoc and Italian sausage from Rocky Canyon Ranch in Atascadaro.  Both are regular vendors at the Hollywood Famers Market, but Rocky Canyon Ranch is a little more than 200 miles away.  I got the red bell pepper, onion, garlic and jalapeno from the Hollywood market, the cilantro is from the herb garden I grow year round on my balcony.  When I took this picture, I put the bowl in the herb garden so I could photograph it in natural light.

 

I can't wait until my garden is fully up and running.  Then I'll be able to make this with peppers and garlic from my own backyard!      

Comments

[Erin Loughlin]

Fat tire in a can!!

[Erin Loughlin]

haha..."hangry" thanks Liz (week 4)

[Shelly Cobb]

You can get wheat berries and wheat flour grown locally in SLO County! See:
http://www.huasnavalleyfarm.com/Home.html