Reflections on Week 1

Never start your Eat Local Challenge on a long weekend full of delicious barbecues.  It’s just not fair.  So, yes, there was cheating this past weekend.  But, only when we were off the premises.  Which was often, admittedly, but did you really think I was going to turn down a steaming bun filled with homemade pulled pork complete with North Carolina-style barbecue sauce, not to mention coleslaw, my favorite potato salad, and a huge hunk of chocolate cake with ice cream?  I think not. 

Luckily, we don’t have many friends, so this shouldn’t be a huge problem going forward.

So far, we have not been starving, but the sheer amount of work required to get even the simplest meal on the table seems exponentially greater.  There’s a mental component of this that I wasn’t prepared for.  Some level of planning is always required, even if you’re crazily busy with other things or hungry or just plain don’t feel like cooking.  On the upside, the maple ice cream was delicious.  On the downside, it’s gone and now I have to make more. 

At the risk of boring everybody to tears, I’m posting abbreviated lists of what we eat each day.  This is more for me than for you.  Sooner or later, I’m going to run out of ideas and I’ll need to start from the beginning.  Plus, it’s my blog and I can do whatever I want.  If I want to serve cheese sandwiches for lunch every day, I can. 

But, what the menus fail to capture (besides any real creativity now that I see them on paper) is my family’s reaction to what ends up on their plates.  What do they really think?  Do the kids eat anything?   Is Husband ready to serve me with papers?  How many tears have been shed and were they my own? 

Some highlights:

• The Preschooler declared my homemade whole wheat bread to be too crunchy.  I couldn’t immediately tell if he meant too crispy or too much like something a hippie would make.  Either way, he didn’t like it.  After some quality time spent in the refrigerator, though (the bread, not the boy), the crust soggified to his liking.  He’s been fine with it ever since.  The Toddler, believe it or not, loves it.

• Speaking of the Toddler, he eats approximately the same amount of food now as he has always eaten since his introduction to solid food, which is to say not much.  Therefore, he’s had the smoothest transition of anybody.  One recent improvement is that he will now eat apples enthusiastically, right through the core until there’s nothing left at all.

• Husband really is not a big fan of polenta.  This is not good news.

• The sausage and crabapple hash I made for Labor Day brunch was really good. 

• Smoked bluefish from Nantucket Wild Gourmet in Chatham is GREAT stuff.  And way cheaper than smoked salmon.  I’m getting more.

• I’m getting sick of eating whole wheat bread all the time.  I want a baguette. 

• Today, the Preschooler said: “Mommy, we haven’t had oranges in a long time.” 

True.  It’s been all of five days.  Onward.

Comments

[Janet]

Thanks for posting your food sources. I don't know why I never heard about Russo's, but I forsee regular visits there. Their site says about 75% of their produce is local in the fall.

[sunny12]

well the challenge certainly makes you think of food differently. I never would have thought of steaming barley as a side dish, instead of rice. How was it? I might try that myself.

[sunny12]

oh, and we want recipes! Like sausage and crabapple hash.

[Jim]

Amazingly, I didn't even know you could eat crabapples. I just knew you could pelt your older brothers with them (hey, worked for me).

[Janet]

Cranberry hash recipe, heck. I want maple ice cream!

[Husband]

I think the daily menu listings are cool, but they must be a real pain to organize and post for a whole month. I like the idea of highlights from the week and recipes.

Maybe a "Eat Local Roundup" on Fridays with best recipe(s)? It seems more manageable and would be a good substitute for the Cookbook Friday.

[Tammy]

Husband: A recipe roundup on Fridays is a good idea. But, I'm still going to bore myself with the daily menus, if only to prevent me from lying to myself after the fact about how hard this challenge really was.

Janet: You got it. How's Friday? And, yes, Russo's is great! They started out as just a local produce stand, so they really have their sources well scoped out. Here's some local stuff I got there recently: honey, jam, dried beans, local cheese, DePasquale sausages, local cider and applesauce, Maine sea salt, some local smoked fish, maple syrup, butter, milk, eggs. And, you know, produce. They rock.

Jim: I think it depends on the crabapple tree. As for your brothers, I'm sure they had it coming.

Sunny12: The barley was bland the first day (I just boiled it in salted water). But, after a night in the fridge mingling with the leftover kebabs and their juices, it was just right. It would be really good with anything that has some kind of a light sauce or broth. I have something in mind for next week. And I'll post the hash recipe tomorrow, too.