We added our eggs
gave it a whirl
kneaded it a bit
let it rest and then rolled it
We had fun making shapes.
We roasted some vegies from our Local Roots trip last week, as well as some of our garlic and herbs.
Cracked open a bottle of sparkling hard cider we made a couple of months ago
and had a great dinner.
We had pasta sauce and meatballs we had made in advance. The only things that weren't local for this meal were the oil for the pasta and roasted vegies, and the salt. The kids liked the pasta even though spelt flour gave it a different taste. They didn't like the blue potatoes. We also did a road trip to a local cheese plant. More on that later.
What local food did you eat this past week?
6 comments:
Wow, can I come over for dinner?! Your food photos are beautiful, too. I'm surprised your kids weren't in to the blue potatoes -- my daughter seems to think weirdly colored veggies taste better than the normal ones.
Curious how you made the bubbly cider...
This week we ate garlic, onions, carrot, potatoes, apple wines from the garden, local goat cheeses, beer, beef, and flour [pancakes, breads]. The fronts we often fail on are dairy [milk, butter], and fruit.
You're lucky to be able to get any grain locally. Here in New Hampshire, we get some cornmeal and a few farmers are getting going with wheat. Dairy, on the other hand, is plentiful, as are veggies. Some oils are available locally now, like sunflower oil, and a good sea salt from Maine. It's fun finding new local ingredients, especially in the winter.
Eliza, the kids were excited by the color of the potatoes, they just didn't like the taste. They did like the fingerlings. When the weather's better we'll have to have a local food party and invite everyone.
Kevin, following the advice in the book Cider Sweet and Hard, I fermented to dryness (for my cider that put it at about 12% alcohol), filtered it a couple of times, then added some priming sugar and bottled it. It's just like making beer at that point. It didn't have quite as much sparkle as I'd hoped, but it was pretty good. We used a strong champagne yeast, but may have filtered out too much going for cystal clear.
Eleanor, I'd probably trade flour for salt and oil (and reasonable access to seafood...) We are working hard to reduce our grain dependence, but oil and salt have me stumped.
Hey Alan,
I've been visiting your blog fairly often. I have a zillion questions, but will restrain myself and edit to a little at a time.
As you know, I am living in quite a different circumstance from you. I am interested in sustainability, food culture and food history and the rest, but it works differently in urbanity. Some of my questions may seem as though I am being critical of your approach. I may throw some challenges your way, but am quite excited by what you are doing.
My question for this thread is simple: why not animal fats as your cooking oil? You are producing beautiful sustainable grass fed meat and there are so many indicators that such fats are a viable alternative to the oils most of us currently use. I don't know about salad dressing, but roasting, frying, sauteeing and baking could easily be accomplished using butter and rendered fats.
your cousin Paul
Paul,
Great to have you join the conversation. Bring on the questions (either in comments or email me - roberts.ecofarm at gmail dot com.) I think you are right about oil. Right now it is a matter of sourcing it locally and changing how we cook. Lard, good butter, and other animal oils are surprisingly hard to find here in the country.
Can't wait for your questions. Here are some links to some "urban farmer" blogs I like.
http://urbanharvester.blogspot.com/
http://www.urbanorganicgardener.com/
http://shibaguyz.com/ With this last one you have to sift through the crochet posts to find the garden stuff, but they are doing some really cool things.
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