Beet Harvest

We harvested our first beets from our tiny urban garden! Andy eagerly plucked them from the earth by their ruby-red stems. Ranging from grape-sized to apple-sized, the harvest seemed plentiful to us, since we'd never had this many beets at one time. What to do with them?! I tried making my first batch of Beet Kvass, which is still fermenting. I wanted to pickle some, but unfortunately I kept them in the oven too long. They came out resembling dried prunes, so I scooped out any flesh that was still pink, and we ate it in a green salad. The beet leaves we sauteed in garlic and olive oil with a sprinkling of balsamic vinegar and dried herbs. They were delightful. Even though he gladly participated in the harvest, Andy would have none of the feast.

When we cook for ourselves at home, Mike and I continue to eat locally. We haven't avoided going out to eat, though. And we've had the occasional lapse into that other food group: Ben and Jerry's. Ice cream and I have a long history together in times of turmoil! New York Super Fudge Chunk was especially needed as I considered quitting a part-time job I took at the library, in favor of a full-time position at a cyber charter school. I decided to take it, which means even more changes for Andy and myself in the year ahead.

 

 

 

Local Challenge, Day 1

Mike and I are participating in our Food Co-op's challenge to eat locally for one month, from July 15 until August 15th. We might occasionally bore you by writing here about the foods we eat: both to keep us honest for the challenge, and also to spread the word about a simple movement with the potential to do a lot of good for our health and for the environment.

Barbara Kingsolver wrote about her year of eating locally in an inspiring book called Animal, Vegetable, Mineral. This book had a profound influence on me and many others. At about the same time I read this, I was also introduced to the Weston A Price Foundation, an organization which advocates for local sources of pastured meats, grass fed and hormone free cows milk, and natural, traditionally prepared foods. After meeting Pittsburgh area farmers who raise chicken and beef in a humane and sustainable way, I gave up the vegetarian life style that was so integral to my identity for sixteen years! But how close have Mike and I come to emulating what Barbara Kingsolver and her family managed for a whole year? After one day of trying out the local diet, we have far to go!

Our biggest challenge is snacking. We both took hard boiled eggs and blueberries to snack on at work, but that didn't quite satisfy our hunger. I have to confess to opening up a Larabar on the drive home. Oh, and I couldn't start the day without my coffee--fairly traded and organic--but from Ethiopia.

Our CSA share came today, loaded with veggies. I feel a sense of mild panic each time I unpack the crate: how will I possibly come up with creative ways to cook all of this zucchini? And fennel? I felt so overwhelmed tonight, in fact, that I had a desperate urge to run to the store for some not so local chocolate, washed down with a glass of nonlocal wine. The wine we did have, already opened--it would be a shame to waste it-- so that was my second compromise of the day. Glass in hand, I was emboldened to do what must be done: cook a meal comprised of all local ingredients. (Kingsolver made exceptions for olive oil and balsamic vinegar, so we will too). At 6:30 we sat down for Eberly's pastured chicken, kale sauteed with garlic and scallions, and bread with Amish butter. The bread was from Ohio, which is regional, if not exactly local. We can do better: there is a bakery just down the street!

All in all, Mike and I managed a diet today that was about 80% local. And Andy? He did his part by eating a few local blueberries, and the bread. Since I can count on one hand the foods which he likes to eat, he won't be giving up his peanut butter and Mac and Cheese anytime soon. We would like to expand his food choices, not restrict them. Still, we are always hopeful that we can sneak something new into his diet. Something local perhaps?