Are the leaves unusually spectacular this year or is it just me? Every time I turn a corner, the view is more spectacular than the last. It makes me want to drive around and around, maybe even get out of my car, which is good since this is the season to stock up on farm products while you still can.
I did manage to put together an all-local lunch yesterday in the spirit of the Eat Local Challenge: eggs over-easy atop garlicky kale, pan-fried breakfast sausages from Chestnut Farms, and buttery whole-grain sourdough toast with husk cherry-apple butter. I already had most of it in the house.
It was, admittedly, a little heavy on the protein. In the end, I only ate half the sausage so you don’t have to notify the Cancer Police. Some of the reading I’ve been doing lately is leading me to believe that the only meal that won’t kill me is one that has every last drop of everything I enjoy (meat, dairy, sugar, fat of every kind) sucked out of it. But then, I ask you, what kind of a life is that?
Local Sources:
Sausage: Chestnut Farms, Hardwick, MA
Eggs: Drumlin Farm, Lincoln, MA
Kale, garlic: Waltham Fields, Waltham, MA
Bread: Nashoba Brook Bakery, Concord, MA
Butter: Mendon Creamery, Mendon, MA
Husk cherry-apple butter: Local sources here
Apple cider: Carlson Orchards, Harvard, MA
Ah, what I wouldn't give to see some pretty leaves like that! Minnesota doesn't play fair. She cuts our summer short, and skips over fall...right into winter. It's already snowed a few times and all the leaves are just left for Paul to rake up. Bleh.
Posted by: Amy | October 16, 2009 at 08:16 AM
Protein is important. And you have kale. Kale is very healthy!
Posted by: adele | October 16, 2009 at 09:02 AM
darn it that looks delicious! i may have to make kale and eggs for lunch today..mmmmmmmmmm
Posted by: sarah | October 16, 2009 at 09:10 AM
Yeah, I've read about the 80% raw, no sugar, dairy, meat (don't forget no alcohol diets), too. I was going to tell you about them, but I didn't have the nerve!
Posted by: andrea | October 16, 2009 at 09:21 AM
You can stop reading that stuff. I was a long-term vegetarian, natural foods eater, non-smoker, who exercised daily and was a healthy weight. I still got cancer. That was something that really irked me - I did everything "right," everything I was supposed to do, and I still got cancer. Not fair. At all. My view now is that you might as well eat what you like, and eat what makes you feel good physically, in moderation and in variety.
Your breakfast (lunch) looks tasty, and healthy too. Certainly the leaves around here are beautiful this year. Glad you're starting to feel better and grow your hair back. Take care.
Posted by: Sobaka | October 16, 2009 at 01:57 PM
So glad to see Sobaka's comment!
And that you're enjoying eating and cooking again is wonderful thing!
Posted by: Julia | October 16, 2009 at 03:58 PM
I'm with Sobaka - moderation in all things. Although I did a diet makeover after cancer (a life makeover, really), I definitely still indulge in supposedly unhealthy stuff regularly. Just small amts. I never thought of kale under the egg before, only spinach - you've inspired me . . . and now I want sausage.
Posted by: Sarah I. | October 17, 2009 at 07:05 AM
Everything in moderation... including moderation.
Posted by: NurseJen | October 17, 2009 at 04:04 PM
have you seen yet the book called Healing With Whole FOods? by Paul Pitchford? I actually really love this book, and it's totally over the top author. something about no hole's barred radicalism is endearing to me. annoying, but endearing.
anyway, he has a lot of recipes in the back. my favorite is for sprout salad (he's WAY into sprouts) it goes something like this:
arrange a ring of radish sprouts around the outer edge of a plate, then arrange another ring of lentil sprouts inside the outer ring. place a pile of onion sprouts in the middle!
that's it. the end.
Posted by: Calamity Jane | October 20, 2009 at 10:37 PM
Calamity Jane: I'll have to check out that book. I do love me some sprouts. Thanks for the tip!
NurseJen: I love that! Words to live by.
Sarah I: Yeah, I might be tempted to make radical changes, but I know they won't stick. Maybe some little, sustainable changes. I'll definitely exercise more. I'm committed to that. But I'll never give up cheese willingly. Never.
Julia: Things almost feel normal around here again. Yay!
Sobaka: That's a very good perspective to have. I like it. And, yeah, Cancer's an idiot.
andrea: I wouldn't have had the nerve, either. I gave that book a piece of my mind!
sarah: I'm a sucker for runny egg yolk saucing up my greens.
adele: Yes, yes. We'll focus on the kale part.
Amy: I feel like all you guys over there deserve a nice fall before the hideous winters you get. A little something to ease you into it. Ah, well. Life, as we know, isn't fair.
Posted by: Tammy | October 21, 2009 at 09:48 AM