chitown2beantown

Just making it up as I go along

I'm trying to not be in denial that it's already the middle of July. So much to do before I got back to school in late August. Especially now that we have to move out of our apartment completely for two weeks because our unit is being renovated! We spent the last couple weeks immersed in serious dilemma over whether to find a new apartment in another part of the Boston area, even though apartment prices are even higher in other areas of metro Boston, or whether to put up a fight so that our unit's renovation could be moved up to mid-August instead of right as I'm starting my semester.

If we'd gotten this news before we got puppy girl, we probably would have left. That dog park has become indispensable though. The night we decided to stay here and won our renovation schedule battle, a bunch of us dog park people took a big field trip out to Stoddard's. Despite the incredible hassle, it's worth staying for the little community that we have here. It's not the right time to start over. And, could there be a lovelier place to take your dog to burn off some energy? Hard to leave that behind.

Still, we have to move all of our stuff out, and live somewhere else for two weeks, then move everything back in. Slight inconvenience. We're trying to look at it as the opportunity for the ultimate spring cleaning. We've become selling things on Craig's list, yet we feel we've just begun. The free time I planned to have this summer that isn't being spent on the puppy, will now be spent going through all of my worldy possessions, deciding what's worth keeping. And also, getting around to those pesky little to-do items I've been putting off for no good reason.

One of those tasks was sending an artist trading card back to Kristina Contes. A few months ago she send me this:

It's a little bit of scrapbooking prettiness adhered to an old playing card. She designed the scrapbook paper herself and I think you can buy her stuff at SIStv.

Three months later, I'm finally reciprocating. I don't know why I've put this off so long. Silly really, as it took all of 20 minutes and I enjoyed throwing something together. Here is my first artist trading card, ready to go in the mail tomorrow morning. I did not design that scrapbook paper myself. That would have been impressive.

And since it's Sunday, here is my One Local Summer meal for the week. Pizza again? Yes, pizza is a staple around here. This Friday I sent Matt to the farmer's market. He picked up some really good Italian sausage from Stillman's booth. He also stopped by Schoolhouse Pizza to get some handmade mozzarella. The owner sells his own mozzarella for $2 a ball. Love that man, even though I've never met him. The dough came from Portland, Maine, a bit outside of the 100 mile radius, but not bad.

I pulled the last of the pesto I froze last summer. Part of our mission to empty the freezer asap. Then, I had some green beans still hanging in the fridge from Ward's Berry Farm, so I thought what the heck. Pesto pizza with Italian sausage and green beans was created. Maybe I'm the only person to ever create such a thing. 

Sounds weird. Heck, it is weird. But the pizza was tasty, and I'd make it again.

Part of moving will also mean letting some things go this summer. I never did make it back to pick strawberries. But, with what we're headed for, I don't think a freezer full of strawberry jam and local strawberries would have worked out anyway. Luckily, we'll be back in our apartment in time for blueberry season. Last fall, I went through the frozen blueberries so fast that it'll be a blessing to have an empty freezer ready just in time!

One Local Summer: Week Four

I keep aiming for something more snazzy with my One Local Summer meals, but this week ended up being a simple salad of veggies and fruit from the farmer's market.

I never would have put this salad together on my own, so with the condition of only including items that are grown locally, I had a chance to try some new flavor combinations. The salad was dressed with a locally made cranberry dressing and included lettuce, broccoli, fresh peas, and redcurrants. I can't seem to eat a meal without some protein and carbs, so I added on a slice of sourdough I bought at the market. Yeah, I know...not locally flour but it was locally made bread. The 100% locally grown meal is still escaping me, mostly because proteins and starches have been harder to come by, at least until the potatoes come in.

I did snag some Stillman's ground beef this week at the Quincy Farmer's Market. It was frozen solid at lunchtime so I'm saving it for another meal - maybe for a Fourth of July cook-out. I wasn't expecting there to be meat at the market. The woman who accommodated me and my handful of one dollar bills and quarters said they did pretty well in Quincy today, so meat will likely be making a come-back. That's good news for me. Next time I will bring more cash!

To my lunch, I added glass of milk from Thatcher Farm for a little protein, which I was able to pick up at a local small specialty grocer, The Fruit Center Market. The store does a good job of carrying some locally produced items, like ice cream and soda, although I've become disappointed lately that the fish mongers inside can't tell me which fish was caught locally. The store does not do a great job of carrying locally grown produce. The week they had strawberries and that's it. Like Whole Foods, they label where the produce was grown, but almost all of it is from California and Central or South America. Probably most people prefer their food to come from somewhere afar. It's more exotic maybe? I generally find that it rots quickly, whereas my farmer's market produce lasts over a week and sometimes two.

While the 100% locally grown meal still eludes me, I've had some fun this week whipping up some other meals with locally grown ingredients, including some red currant muffins for today's breakfast and some yummy kale with garlic and dried cranberries for dinner. I've never had kale, and with this easy recipe, I'll eat a lot more. Even Matt ate it. For serious, it was good and you should try it.

In the fridge I also have some beets to try out, maybe roasted and blended into this dip. I have some turnips too. Gotta find a recipe for those. Fresh red currants, kale, beets, and turnips are all new to my palate, so it's been an exciting week experimenting with early summer produce!

Ahead this week - strawberry picking and jam making! And maybe a trip to another poultry farm.

One Local Summer: Week Three

I just got back this afternoon from an amazing trip of a lifetime with one of my favorite people. Our travels took us from Wilmington, NC, to Myrtle Beach, SC, to Athens, GA and finally to Atlanta. We had an amazing time, and we made use of every second to experience our shared loves, like music, food, sightseeing, and hanging out together.

I'm a bit tired to share every amazing detail, but it's Sunday which means a post about one locally produced meal I ate this week. But before I get to my One Local Summer post for the week, I feel the need to publish a retraction and an apology for saying in my last post that REM started to suck after 1991. My friend Stephanie and I saw them last night in Atlanta as the finale to our 4-day 30th birthdays road trip. REM you blew us away. I started to feel like one of those Beatles girls, particularly during the encore when they played Pretty Persuasion. I about lost my cool.

Oh, to feel 13 again. Except for the part where I realized 75% of the audience was over 30, and that I've become one of those approaching middle-aged people who buys overpriced concert tickets to see their favorite band from middle school. Now I understand that phenomenon. So if Paul McCartney made you weak in the knees when you were a teenager, I recommend blowing your budget and flying to Liverpool the next time he's playing there. You won't regret it.

During the concert and after, I felt guilty and a bit disappointed in myself as a fan for having totally written them off for the last, um, 17 years. They were my first musical love and I guess like most first loves, it's hard to see them change. To make up for lost time, I am going to give some of the newer songs a listen now. For sure I'm downloading the entire Atlanta set list and the new album. Michael Stipe, with your microphone gyrations, your megaphone, your moaning vocals and your urgent political speeches, you still got it. Even though I didn't know your new songs very well, I enjoyed your performance very much, so I apologize. I'm glad you guys didn't break up the band.

Since REM was the band that first gave a voice to my budding environmentalism, it is appropriate to talk about the local eating we did before the concert -- definitely the culinary highlight of our trip. We had an outstanding local dining experience at Watershed Restaurant in Decatur, Georgia. It is partially owned by one of the ladies who stole my heart away from Michael, Mike, Peter, and Bill.

The Indigo Girls also hail from Georgia, so I was happy we were able to add an Indigo Girls related stop to our pilgrimage.

The restaurant specializes in regional, Southern cuisine and supports local organic farmers. We started out with some yummy cocktails. I was excited to realize that citrus is relatively local to Georgia, compared to New England. My drink featured raspberries, mint, gin, and citrus. Here's my adorable travel partner posing with our citrusy cocktails.

Next we ordered a starter, and luckily Stephanie knew that pimento cheese is a Georgia specialty. Perfect with the celery, which was too green, fresh, and tasty to not be locally grown. The cheese was heavenly. We wanted to lick the bowl clean.

Before we ordered our entrees, I asked our waiter which selection had the most locally grown produce. He said to go for the vegetable plate, and said that they buy produce that is local and organic. The vegetable plate changes daily depending on what produce is available. I had a yummy plate of Southern style vegetables: stewed tomatoes, black eyed peas, okra fried in white corn meal, greens, green beans, and a cornbread muffin. Loved it all, especially the black eyed peas and the delightfully salty fried okra.

With food this tasty, we couldn't leave without dessert. We choose to split the Georgia Pecan Tart with Shortbread Crust.

Short of walking into the kitchen and grilling the chefs or buyers about where each ingredient came from, I can't imagine a dining experience that would cater more to a locavore. The only thing I would have changed is adding some information to the menu about the local farmers whose produce the restaurant regularly uses. Overall, a truly lovely restaurant housed in a renovated gas station - another nod to sustainability.

There was also a restaurant in Athens, called Farm 225, that featured local and sustainable foods. We wished we could have eaten there, but they weren't open for breakfast Saturday morning when we were in town and looking for some grub. Next time I'm in Athens, eating there will be at the top of my list of things to do. As always, there is never enough time on a good trip. We wanted to visit a farmer's market and the Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, but had to cut them from the schedule when our time in Athens was running out too soon.

Georgia, motherland of some of my early musical influences, we loved you so much!!! I will be back. More on our wonderful time in Athens later this week!

One Local Summer: Week Two

Well, I did make it to the farmer's market this past week which felt great.

I was surprised by how much produce was being sold already. I picked up some lettuce, a huge bag of arugula, green onions, and broccoli. I also bought a jar of ancho mole, which the Food Project's youth made, and some more Boston honey. This year they also have a bakery stand, so I went home with a baguette and some pound cake. I kind of kicked myself for not picking up some spinach and kale to try making a green smoothie. Sounds a little intimidating, but I want try it once or twice and keep an open mind. Plus I still have fruit in the freezer to get rid of ASAP, since strawberry season has arrived.

So, again this week, I was challenged by the one local summer challenge. We went down the Cape Friday night to go camping with the pooch and to visit Provincetown (sorry, forgot the camera battery so we had a camera vacation which was nice), and on the way back home we stopped by Bongi's Turkey Roost in Kingston to pick up some turkey sausage. I was very excited to get my hand's on my first locally produced poultry, since Matt has crossed beef and most pork off his "will eat" list.

Disappointingly, turkey sausage was not meant to be. I was told they no longer make the sausage, as it wasn't worth their while. Instead I picked a turkey pie out of the freezer since we'd made the trip. It was a decent consolation prize. Later, I kicked myself again, this time for not buying a pound of sliced turkey to take home. I was distracted by the fresh or frozen whole turkey signs, knowing without a second thought I am in no shape to wrangle a whole turkey this week. Plus, there's no room in the freezer and I need some more counter and cupboard space before I can go crazy, buy a meat grinder, and try sausage production. Maybe some other day. Don't put it past me.

So without any turkey sausage, I needed to move to plan B for my one local summer meal of the week. In the process, I made myself finally own up to the fact that the one local summer challenge requires keeping it simple and to not counting on any specific ingredients. After the turkey disappointment, we made a quick swing into Whole Foods, and since I hadn't blown my budget on turkey sausage, I sprung for a quart of organic locally grown strawberries. They became the focus of my one local lunch today.

I enjoyed a lettuce and arugula salad, with strawberries and locally made cranberry dressing. I followed it up with some more strawberries on that farmer's market pound cake, with some hand-whipped crème fraîche that I bought last week. It was all delicious.

I'm trying not to get frustrated with what I can't find locally. It's been harder than anticipated, and it's easy to get caught up on how so little locally grown food is available outside of farmer's markets, and how it is challenging, at least for someone like me who is not a farmer, to put together a whole meal that is 100% locally grown. In the process of trying though, I'm learning a lot and become even more aware of how much I'd have to live without if our industrialized farming and transportation system ever collapsed. Flour, ketchup, sugar, olive oil, not to mention the obvious beer, soda and bananas. I'm sure it'd be close to impossible to sustain our population in Massachusetts if no food was available from outside sources.

It wasn't always this way. According to UMass, Massachusetts loses an average of 42 dairy farms a year. That probably explains why it's so hard for me to find milk and cheese that is produced within a 100 mile radius. I can find milk that is processed locally, but the milk production happens in Vermont or New Hampshire. I can easily find locally made ice cream, but I have no idea where the ingredients come from.

The lack of farms, distribution channels, and good labeling (i.e. product of the USA) also explains why I'm feeling a little like I could make a part time job out of chasing down the spectrum of meat, dairy, vegetables, fruits, and grains that would produce a typical meal for me, especially since I live inconveniently outside of the Cambridge/Jamaica Plain/Somerville trifecta where there is a higher concentration of farmer's markets and CSA drop off points.

Yet, it makes me feel hopeful that good people, like the folks at the Food Project who bring together suburban and urban youth to farm together, are trying to buck the trend so that in June I can enjoy some fresh foods grown outside of California, Mexico, Florida, New Zealand, and South America. And I'm excited that I've been including many more locally grown and regional items in many of my meals, and running across unexpected finds on the grocery store shelf, like canned apple sauce from a local apple farm. So despite the occasional disappointments, the challenge is still very worth the while. I'm not perfect at this, but I'm learning and eating well.

One Local Summer: Week One

A few weeks back I decided to participate in One Local Summer, a challenge to eat one completely locally grown meal a week. Everything in the meal (except spices and oil) is supposed to be produced within 100 miles of where you live, or at least locally by your own definition of local. After signing up, I've been thinking about it a lot and wondering if it was really possible for me to do this. I've been doing a lot of internet research and have found that I can get a lot more food than I thought locally, like milk, eggs, and meat, as well as surprisingly items, like johnnycake corn meal mix from Rhode Island. But I've also realized that there are key items I can't get locally grown. Like flour. And sugar. And baking powder.

This was opening week of my favorite farmer's market at the Food Project, but my work schedule took a left turn and I was no where near the farmer's market when it was open. This happens to me frequently. So I've been researching other options and trying to memorize which farmer's markets are available on which days in which parts of the metro Boston area, so if I happen to be in the area, I can swing by. One of the reasons to adopt a locally produced diet is to reduce carbon emissions from food traveling long distances. I realized if I'm driving all over Boston to get local foods, it kind of defeats the purpose. So Friday early evening, after getting stuck in traffic, I missed yet another farmer's market that was relatively close to where I was. That's when I decided to swing into a Whole Foods that was right on my route for a local foods challenge.

What could I buy at the beginning of growing season at a Whole Foods? Not much I figured. But I was surprised actually. Thanks to their signage, which identifies locally grown and produced items, I snagged quite a few items.

• 1 lb of freshly caught cod from Gloucester, MA
• 6 organic cage free eggs from the Country Hen, Hubbardston, MA
• 1/2 gallon of milk from High Lawn Farm, Lee, MA
• Boston lettuce from Absolona Greenhouse in Chepachet, RI
• 2 hydroponic tomatoes from Waterfresh Harvest in Hopkinton, MA
• bag of parsnips from Manheim Farm in Whately, MA
• bag of yukon gold potatoes packaged in Chelsea, MA, grown in Maine (>100 miles?)
• goat cheese from Westfield Farm in Hubbardston, MA
• tub of creme fraiche from Vermont Butter and Cheese Company (>100 miles?)

Even after picking up these items, I was a little worried about constructing a full meal. I have some regionally produced items in the fridge already, like Cabot's butter and Vermont yogurt. And some local produce in the freezer. I thought maybe I'd just show you a strawberry-peach smoothie I'd made in an attempt to clean out my freezer of last year's produce. Yes, a smoothie is a full meal in my book.

But I decided to get a little more creative. I realized that maybe I need to take the Sandra Lee Semi-Local approach to this challenge. I'm a beginner and there's a steep learning curve to sourcing local products. And, let's face it, I'm not an ultra-strict person and 100% adherence to the rules seems to be missing the point to me. There are different philosophies buzzing around in this localvore movement, and I'm okay with a little flexibility. So I settled on a meal that was more than 90% local. Good enough for a first try.

I've never eaten parsnips, so I decided to try a recipe for parsnip fritters. It required 1/4 c. of flour and a tsp. of baking powder. I decided to go for it, since trying a new food seems like an important outcome of this challenge for me.

Here they are: carrot-like and ready to be peeled.

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And then grated and looking like a heaping bowl of cheese.

And here the fritters are frying up in little pats of butter. Mmmm butter.

The final meal consisted of herb and goat cheese scrambled eggs with tomato, parsnip fritters drizzled with Boston Honey, and a glass of local milk.

I'm not going to lie, I wasn't sold on the parsnip fritters, and neither was Matt, so if anyone else has ideas for how to cook up delicious parsnips, I'd gladly give them another try. But the eggs with goat cheese and herbs, I'll definitely be cooking those up again. Yum.