What I've carried away

Now that I’ve participated in the local foods challenge, I’m looking back on the positives and negatives and determining what things I’ll carry with me from this point onward:
• I’ll continue to make Kentucky flour (Weisenberger) and local cornmeal a part of our regular kitchen provisions.
• I still have reservations about raw milk. I drank it, loved the taste and had no ill effects, but there’s such a division of information out there, from those who insist the benefits outweigh the risks and that anyone who says otherwise is part of a government conspiracy to those who imply that raw milk is synonymous with Russian roulette. If I buy any more, I’ll at least do a stove-top pasteurization.
• Simple is good. I like sauces and elaborate meals, and because of this adventure, I’ve revisited many of the meager cooking skills that I had let slip over the years, but sometimes, a stripped-down-to-the-barest-flavors meal is not a bad way to go. When I was a kid, there was one of those cartoons-between-cartoons that warned us, “Don’t drown your food (in mayonnaise or ketchup or goo; it’s no fun to eat what you can’t even see…).” I appreciate that now.
• Cheese. Why would I ever rely solely on individually wrapped processed cheese products again? Well, price could be a factor, but I at least plan to incorporate some local cheeses into our sandwiches, pasta dishes and casseroles.
• My quest is to find a local baker. The art of breadmaking is a humble, ancient act, and I’d like to retain a human connection there.
• I'd like to work some regular celebrations of local foods into my family’s routine, be that an all-local day each month or an annual July challenge. Fruits especially will be celebrated with minivan treks to find peaches, apples, strawberries and blueberries in season.

Week 4: The Menu

Breakfast Options:

Biscuits and Gravy

Yogurt and Blackberries

Cantaloupe

Poached farm fresh eggs and Buttermilk Wheat Bread with Blackberry Jam

Lunch Options:

Hot Ham and Cheese

Corn Salsa and tortilla chips

BLT baby!

Caprese Salad (Basil, Heirloom Tomatoes and Mozzarella)

Cucumber & Dill Salad

Dinner Options:

Ky Bison Ribeye and Sweet Potatoes baked with apples and Sorghum

Ky Farmed Prawns over fresh pasta

Cedar Smoked Zucchini, Squash and Pepper

Mozzarella, Ramano and Tomato Confit over fresh Pasta

Pork Chops and Apples

Dessert Options:

Black Berry Peach Cobbler

Cantaloupe

Baked Sorghum Apples

I don’t think I’m suffering at all! McDonald’s, you can have your French fries and Big Mac back!

Virgil's Cafe

If you find yourself in Northern KY and are looking for some wonderful local fare, check out Virgil's Cafe in Bellevue.  According to their website, they serve locally-sourced, in-season food as much as possible, and they work to be accomodating to any type of diet: vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free.  Welll....I figured I'd see if they could accomodate a locavore as well!  I asked my waiter, "What are the chances you can make an entire dinner out of completely local ingredients?"  He said, "Well...lemme talk with the chef, and I'll see what I can do!"

He came back to report that the chef was in the walk-in cooler that very minute, gathering ingredients to make me a strictly local meal.  Now, I wanna point this out:  How many times have you gone to a typical chain restaurant, and requested "extra cheese" or "no onions" and the waiter kinda half-nods...and when your sandwich arrives--there's extra onions, no cheese?  

Happens to me a LOT.

That's what's so different about these local fare restaurants--you don't get into serving local fare because you're a cut-throat business owner wanting yet another chain restaurant.   You do it because you want to support your neighbor down the street who grows carrots, and the cattle farmer who has the best beef in town, and you want to make the community you live in a better place to be.   The atmosphere in a local fare restaurant, co-op, or Farmers' Market is so very personal, and friendly, and welcoming....completely opposite of a typical chain restaurant trip or grocery store visit!

So anyway, enough about my sunny revelation--because you really just wanna hear about the food, don'tcha??

Well here it is, my friends.  We started with a Kenny's Cheese Tray:

And then the main event? Korean Short Ribs with TONS of veggies--all locally grown!  And though the dish normally comes with rice, the chef gave me potatoes since they were locally sourced:

Let me tell you, this was a feast!  I loved it so very much...I really used to take going to restaurants for granted.  I would go a couple times a week, just so I didn't have to cook--it was cheaper, easier, and just as good for me, right?

Wrong.  

I have such a huge a appreciation now for going to a restaurant--its a new, exciting, special event all over again--and I swear you can taste the difference in these local restaurants. I know you can definitely feel it in the atmosphere.

The staff at Virgil's was so easy going, and good natured--after seeing me taking pictures of my food, they asked, "So what's this for anyway?"  I told 'em all about our blog, and our project, and told 'em I'd definitely be back there again-even after my "30 days" are up.  I have learned about so many cool places, and met so many interesting people I never would have known about if it weren't for this eating local thing.

I feel like I've made friends there, and I really want to go back and visit them--and have them cook me awesome food.

After all, that's what friends are for, right? ;)

Oh, and another reason you should eat there?   Because Guy did:

Go check it out, and let me know what you think!  Tell 'em "that one girl with the blog" sent you. :)

~Mel

I went out of state! Did my radius move with me?

This weekend I was in Cincinnati...and I was pretty nervous about leaving my 100 mile radius for the weekend---do I pack all my food for three days and still eat only Williamsburg-local?  Or do I move my radius and become a Cincinnati Locavore for 3 days?

I decided to do a little of both.   I already know where to buy my food in Southeastern Kentucky. I wanted to see what it was like shopping in a town where I don't know my bean grower, or my milk producer, or my cattle farmer!  I packed my picnic basket full of potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes from Whitley County Farmers' Market, and Weisenberger muffin mix just in case I needed some emergency rations.  I must say, my mom and dad were good sports for the entire weekend.  Their favorite thing to do when I visit is to take me alllllll over Cincinnati, to every restaurant I've ever loved---my dad's favorite part is knowing he fed me a good meal that made me happy! :)  After half-jokingly asking if I could just put my challenge on hold for three days, they acknowledged that I've always been their "strong-willed" child and started coming up with places for us to buy local on a Saturday night.    After a few failed attempts, we wound up at Jungle Jim's--the end all, be all when it comes to international food...but do they really sell local, like their website suggested?

For the first half hour, I wasn't convinced.   Everywhere I looked, there were amazing displays of international cheeses, and seafood, and exotic fruit--but where was the local section?  I milled about aimlessly until I found an employee in the dairy section, who really and truly rescued my stomach for the weekend.   He informed me, "There's a little bit of local in each section, you just have to know where to look...here, lemme show ya!"   He escorted me about, and my cart started filling with local eggs, swiss cheese, milk, yogurt, cottage cheese (oh my gosh, I had forgotten how much I love cottage cheese!) and even some tomatoes from Dry Ridge, KY.   In the meat section, there was some ham from Cumberland Gap...and when I looked closer, it was produced right in Middlesboro--just a hop, skip and a jump from my Whitley Co home!  I decided that even though technically I was in Cincinnati and Middlesboro is more than 100 miles away...the ham totally counted in my local adventure. ;)

I will say, I was really disappointed in the produce section.  According to the Ohio Proud website, Jungle Jims was a huge seller of a variety of local products--but the only one I could find was a section of corn that merely said "Ohio Grown"....well, Ohio is mighty big, and I needed to know where in Ohio it was grown.   I spent a whole lot of time looking at labels and hoping to get lucky while in the grocery store--and it made me even more aware of where my food is coming from.  Our culture has gotten to where we pay more attention to the nutrition facts--I often see customers in the local grocery store turning the label around to see calories, or if the product has high fructose corn syrup--but we don't ever check to see where the product was made.

I was shocked at how many everyday products had traveled over 1,500 miles to get to the grocery store shelf-including apples, peaches, jelly and even the honey!  So I want to challenge you, my dear reader:  Next time you're grocery shopping, take a second to locate the state (or country) on the back of the label.  I think you might just be surprised at how far your food has traveled to reach your grocery cart!

~Mel

Bob and his Friends!

[ British accent ] And now is the time for Tomato Confit [ /British Accent ].....

HEIRLOOM TOMATOES....beautiful...irregular and presumably so full of flavor that after one bite you could boast about how good it was for the remainder of your life and try to make everyone feel like you know something that they don't know and how much richer your life is than theirs because you've had this amazing tomato experience and they haven't. -David Libovitz

When tomato season comes upon us, do you ever wonder "what should I do with all these tomatoes!" You've gotta try this recipe! Grab whatever tomatoes you can get your hands on....I prefer my homegrown-(literally- unlike other mkts ) heirloom tomatoes. Right now I have Stupice Heirlooms-basically like the "earlygirl" coming out my ears! Grab a cookie sheet, some fresh herbs and your tomatoes and taste the best tomato concoction known to man.

Confit of Tomatoes

Fresh Herbs:

3 twigs of Rosemary

4-5 Bay leaves

5-6 Twigs of Thyme

Then throw them on top of your cookie sheet and generously sprinkle with olive oil. Salt and pepper.

Halve tomatoes and put the cut-side down on top of the

herbs. Slice 3-4 garlic cloves and sprinkle on top of the tomatoes, garnish with your whole bays leaves scattered on top as well as a little more salt.

Throw into the oven for 45 min at 350 degrees. You

might want to put the pan on top of a bigger

one just incase the juices drip over.

Once the tomato tops have browned take out and

let cool for 10 min. Then use a tong to peel off the skin.

Now what?!

It's time to eat.....add this flavorful pulp to homemade pizza, pasta, on fish or chicken.....anywhere you wanna good concentrated flavor of tomatoes!

Happy Eating! - k

Day 16: Lot-sa Pasta

Taking this challenge has made me one busy girl!

The first week had it's definite difficulties. I had to adjust to make more time for food preparation, I must remember to take my food with me when I'm away from the kitchen and make time throughout the week to pick up local items I've been purchasing from now....new friends.

Top 5 things I've learned so far through this project:

1 Sugar is in everything! Eating locally really cuts down your sugar intake.

2 Sorghum and honey are great substitutes for almost anything.

3 I really miss cinnamon

4 I can't live without the house wine of the south....Sweet Tea.....though truly good with honey

5 Now that I eat food that's more nutritionally packed, I eat less food....which means I lose weight without even really trying!

Some food items are quite limited and scarce. I was getting tired of eating

eggs and potatoes, bread and honey. I knew for me to make it to the end I had to get more creative!

So I decided this weekend to make PASTA!

I already had the flour from Weisenberger Mill and my farm fresh eggs.....a very simple recipe for making AMAZING Pasta!

Each round is a portion that I cut into strips and let

dry for 3 days....or immediately eat fresh.....which I did both!

Life is so much better with PASTA!

Last night and today for lunch I had fresh pasta and my homemade bolognese sauce made from my very own tomatoes and fresh veggies bought from the farmers market. It was amazing!

You gotta try it!

_______________________________________________

Pasta Recipe:

2 ¾ Fresh Flour

5 med Eggs

Dash o’ Salt

½ C warm water

1 Tbl Olive Oil (optional)

Bolognese Sauce Ingredients:

15 Tomatoes (peeled and seeded if preferred), crushed

1 med onion, finely chopped

1 carrot , scraped and finely chopped

1 Tbsp butter or Olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, busted

5 med-sized basil leaves (fresh) chopped

Salt & pepper to taste

2 Tbsp Sorghum Molasses

1 lb of ground meat

Peeling Tomatoes:

With a sharp paring knife, cut an X on the bottom of each tomato. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, place 3-4 tomatoes in rapidly boiling water in a 6-8 quart pot for 15-25 seconds. Be careful not to cook the tomatoes. Let cool then peel.

Bolognese Sauce:

Use two pots, one for your stewed tomatoes and one for your meat and veggies. Throw your crushed tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper in your pot on medium heat and let it begin to boil down. This will take about an hour, stirring occasionally.

In the other pot, start sautéing over med heat your onions and carrots in butter or olive oil. Sweat your veggies down until they begin to look translucent and caramelized, then add your meat. Brown the meat and set aside.

Once your stewed tomatoes have reduced to a thicker sauce add sorghum and basil. Let it reduce a bit more until you like the consistency, then add your meat.

Voila! Happy eating! - k

Kentucky Proud Restaurants! :)

I'm ready to pack up my guitar and move to Berea, my friends. Berea embodies all that I hope to have in Williamsburg someday-- community events, culture, sustainable practices, and LOCAL restaurant cuisine!

When I started this challenge, I had just accepted that I wouldn't be eating in a restaurant for 30 days. Until I read about the Boone Tavern in Berea. At first I was suspicious--sure, they say they use local products...but does that just mean tomatoes? Or tomatoes and corn? Or all veggies but not meat?

How's a girl to know what's really local?

I figured its worth a shot, plus I really wanted to meet up with my parents somewhere for the holiday...so I packed my back-up lunch of homecooked local food and went on my way.

The restaurant is a pure eco-friendly, locavore heaven! I grilled the wait staff on where the veggies came from, where the beef came from, where the chicken--all of it! So here's the lowdown:

All produce and fruit that can possibly grow in our area is local--except the asparagus.
The chicken is not local, but the beef and pork is.

And for your coffee drinkers? The coffee is as local as it can possibly get--its fair trade, organic, and shipped to Kentucky while the seeds are still green, and roasted Kentucky Proud especially for Boone Tavern.

I decided to go with the wedge salad:

...and it was fantastic. Doubly so because I didn't have to prepare it myself! :)

My adventure in looking for local restaurants turned up these places:

Lexington:

http://www.doodlesrestaurant.com/ -can't wait to try here!

http://stellaskentuckydeli.com/ - non-locavores rave about this place, but its closed on weekends so I haven't been there yet :(

http://www.goodfoods.coop/ - this is also a co-op market--can't wait to visit there!

Berea:

http://www.boonetavernhotel.com/

http://www.blackfeathercafe.com/

London:

...I've been told that "Reva's" uses local products, but I haven't been able to find anything online that says so...here's their address anyways:

http://www.menupix.com/kentucky/restaurants/1706189/Revas-Breakfast-and-Lunch-Co-London-KY

...and since I'll be in Cincinnati this weekend, here's my source for Cincinnati locavore info:

http://cincinnatilocavore.blogspot.com/

As I find more info, I'll letcha know! :)

~Mel

The human side of food

I've been thinking quite a bit about the why of taking the locavore route, at least as it relates to me...

The primary motivator for me personally in joining this adventure has not necessarily been a reduced carbon footprint or healthier/tastier vegetables (although these are important). For me, it’s more about standing face-to-face with the people who have grown (or prepared) my food, to honor the memory of my grandparents’ garden and food cellar, to sink my teeth into a meal with human – not robot – fingerprints all over it.

On or around Day 2 for me in this experiment, I remembered John Steinbeck’s comments on the super-sanitized American food system in Travels with Charley: In Search of America. I drove down to the county library, checked it out and found the passage I was looking for:

Everything that can be captured and held down is sealed in clear plastic. The food is oven-fresh, spotless and tasteless; untouched by human hands. I remembered with an ache certain dishes in France and Italy touched by innumerable human hands.

In another, he recalls sharing tea with an elderly man in North Africa:

He gave me mint tea in a glass so coated with use that it was opaque, but he handed me companionship, and the tea was wonderful because of it.

More often than not, the food I eat has spent more time on a conveyor belt or an Interstate highway than on someone's kitchen counter, and I'd like that to change.

So, by all means, touch my food.

Locavores get high-tech!

Hey fellow locavores,

Check out this iPhone app. It uses your iPhone GPS to spot where you are, and tell you what's in season...also gives a list of Farmers' Markets in your area!

I am downloading right now, so I can't tell ya if its awesome or not...but I figured its worth a try. :-D I'll keep you updated.

~Mel

Taking stock

I’m jumping on the bandwagon a tad late, my first day in the challenge being July 1, but it went well, even if a little sandwich-heavier than I’d planned. (I intended to make a big pot of soup for Day 1’s supper, the leftovers of which would carry me through multiple days, but I got home later than expected.)

I’ve taken an inventory of what local fare I currently have within my grasp.

In terms of home-canned foods:
· 30 quarts of green beans
· 10 pints of salsa
· 4 pints of zucchini relish
· 2 quarts of tomato juice

What’s frozen:
· Zucchini, yellow squash, winter squash, tomatoes, tomato juice, corn, bell peppers, banana peppers, miscellaneous greens, blueberries

What’s available in my garden now:
· Carrots
· Cabbage
· Cherry tomatoes
· Green tomatoes
· Red and white onions
· Garlic
· Bell and banana peppers
· Herbs: sage, cilantro, dill
· Blackberries

And, in the kindness-from-neighbors department:
· Some ground beef given to us by a neighbor. (Just a few months back, that steer was grazing right here on my holler.)
· Grape jam we made from a washtub full of Concords a neighbor gave us last year
· A bag of local pecans gathered by a co-worker. (These will be for mid-afternoon snacking.)
· Two nice heirloom tomatoes – a Cherokee purple and a Rutgers – that a friend handed me last night
· Mint from a co-worker that’s thriving in my garden
· An assortment of herb butters made by a local Master Gardener
· Strawberry freezer jam – no, wait…I already et that last week.

What I’ve bought so far:
· A loaf of Bluegrass Bakery sourdough
· Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese (Asiago)
· A ziplock bag of cornmeal from the Harrogate, TN farmers’ market

Okay, soup tonight.

Day 4- YAY tea!

After grillin' up a hamburger in "Kentuckyaki" sauce for lunch, it was time to go grocery shopping---so off to Berea, to check out their market!

Which brings us to the absolute highlight of my day: I found local tea, thanks to Salamander Springs Farm! Not only did they have loads of onions, garlic, and wonderful blackberries...but they had tea! And a girl working at the booth told all about how to make my own yogurt...so that's definitely gonna happen soon. :) Thanks, Salamander Springs! (Did I mention they had tea!??)


While at the Berea Farmers' Market, I also stocked up on raspberries and blueberries. Now, we all know that we shouldn't shop while hungry...but I totally broke that rule, so half the raspberries were gone before I even left the market! They were so good though, and I've never been so happy to have a big ol' raspberry.

After Farmers' Market, I rolled on down to Happy Meadows and bought a loaf of bread and cheddar cheese, which made quite possibly the best cheddar cheese sandwich dinner I've ever had (or maybe I was just really, really hungry!). I also got a jar of cream from a local dairy, because I didn't do so well at rationing my butter to last an entire week. Unfortunately, the cream met its demise on the sidewalk outside of the house, rather than actually making it through the door. So much for having cream 'n berries for dessert! Ah, well--getting more milk tomorrow, so I can manage a day without butter! ;)

Tomorrow and Friday will be tricky for me, because I'm traveling for meetings both days. On Friday, I'll be out of town for lunch and dinner...I'm a bit nervous about that one!

~Mel

Local Food Finder

This post is in response to a few followers who were interested in where we are finding local foods in the area.....

Where to shop?!

Weingerberger Mill, Midway Ky – Offers cornmeal, grits, pizza dough for sale.

Hillside Bakery, Knoxville - They offer fresh breads such as Cranberry Pecan, Kalamata Olive, Multi-grain, 
Oatmeal and Raisin Oatmeal, 100% Whole Wheat, Multi-grain
Pumpkin Harvest, Raisin Walnut
Rustic and Rye Rustic and granola….all of course seasonal.

Meats

C & P Quality Meats, Canadatown Ky (outside of Williamsburg on 25W) They have a variety of meats for purchase (Beef, Pork, Lamb, Goat). You can custom order and have your meat aged even. ( 606-549-1151 )

Eat Wild Kentucky - Beef

Local Farmer’s Markets

Whitley County FMkt - Offers Blueberries, Farm Fresh Eggs, Tomatoes, Green Beans, Corn, Squash Zucchini, Onions, Rhubarb, Honey, Jams and Cedar Grilling Planks.

London FMkt (haven't visited yet but plan to soon!)

Berea Fmkt - Great little FMkt! Several varieties of mushrooms, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, garlic, and then the usual veggies. Salamander Springs Farm was also set-up here and they provide a wide range of special produce (like tea)!

Knoxville Fmkt - All varieties of meat, vegetable heirloom varieties, Hillside Bakery, the best Bacon, Chive and Swiss Biscuit I have ever had!

Lexington Fmkt - Whole Chicken

Dairy

According to Kentucky Legislature, selling raw milk (unpasteurized milk) is illegal. Though I am aware of a few farmers who have dairy cattle and dairy goats that are willing to sell you a share of the cow/goat for fresh milk. Tennessee laws are a little bit more relaxed.

Out of fresh milk I make butter, buttermilk, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese and yogurt for my own dietary needs. If your doctor prescribes that you need that particular bacteria in your system.

Happy Meadows Natural Foods, Berea Ky -Offers local milk, buttermilk, cream, Kenny’s cheese and Fresh Baked bread….which is quite yummy!

Happy Shopping! - k

Day 3-Sugar Withdrawal!

So breakfast was great. Thanks to my chicken Helen Keller, I had a loverly egg on toast:

Lunch was fabulous too. A salad made from cucumbers, tomatoes, and feta cheese, and a porkchop!

Then.....the clock struck 5pm. All I could think about was sweets. Of some kind...any kind! Suddenly, every commercial on TV was of some sort of processed, fried, sweet, wonderful looking food...oh, I was craving it!

So I reminded myself that I already had my celebratory "Last Coke" on Friday Night, and I was probably just craving caffeine:

...and went for the honey on bread. And ya know what? I felt better afterwards! I was sure that the honey would be a sad, hollow replacement for a Twix...but after eating it, my sweet tooth was quite happy.

So far, I feel like I get downright ravenous around breakfast/lunch/dinner! I think its because I'm not snacking between meals like usual. So I'd say that's actually a good sign--I realize now how often I eat high calorie, high processed "filler" foods just because I'm hungry. Who knew eating local could be so enlightening? :)

~Mel

The Radius

The challenge is to eat local food within a 100 mile radius or 160 km for you funny folk. Click on RADIUS and see the location of our food mapped out!

Day 2....Cornbread!

Definitely not as difficult as the first day because I stayed close to home. It's when I'm out and about that the food challenge gets hairy!

So for breakfast I ate.... a poached egg from my very own Chickens, toast from Hillside Bakery patted with my butter I made and honey I got from Lynch Farm, and a porkchop from my farm as well...AND a cold glass of raw milk! Yummo!

Lunch got a little difficult, because I went over to my Grandparents after Church and Grandad was bent on grilling...thankfully we eat our own beef. So I had a nice hamburger patty with a slice of onion, tomato and basil from my own garden, green beans ala Dot bought at the Whitley County Farmers Mkt and cornbread! The corn meal came from the Wienerberger Mill in Midway, Ky. I thought my Grandparents would be interested in trying the milk and the butter...but neither were really interested. Granddad said he had never seen such yellow butter before....swearing it couldn't be real!

This unique recipe included:

Cornmeal

Farm Fresh Eggs

Buttermilk (left over from making butter)

Shredded Zucchini

Minced Hot Banana Pepper

Grated Manchego Cheese (from local sheep)

Salted Butter

And I had the cornbread with honey and butter for dessert after tonight's meal too! It was scrumptious!

For Dinner I had steak and potatoes! Steak from my own beef cattle and new potatoes from the Whitley Co Farmer's Mkt. For a salad, I had chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, garlic and feta....all local! So far.....soooooo good!

Day 1--Makin Butter

Welcome to Saturday, our first day of eating local! I woke up feeling super confident and excited about my breakfast of local raw milk, and locally made bread, toasted, with homemade butter.

That's right, I said homemade butter.

We made friends with a woman with dairy cows here in Whitley County:

(this is one of the cows, not the woman ;) )

She gave us some milk, and we siphoned off the cream and put it in the food processor:

We hit the button and watched it spin, and spin, and spin...and suddenly, it started to transform!

Pretty yellow butter:

We separated the (now) buttermilk from the butter, and set it aside for cornbread (yum!)

and now we're left with this:

And lemme tell you, it tastes good! Also, I've churned butter before...and a food processor is Godsend. :)

Lunch was beans and potatoes from the Whitley County Farmers' Market, with some ham from Faulkner Bent Farms. Oh, and a very nice man offered me a piece of fudge...but I totally passed it off to Rudi with only a twinge of sadness.

Dinner was a repeat of lunch, but add in a huge hunk of bread with aforementioned butter and honey from the Lynch Farm...I could probably last the first fifteen days on just bread, butter and honey...I love that stuff.

I then launched off to Moonbow Prom by the Corbin Main Street Program, and felt so full of honey, buttery goodness that I didn't even long for the funnel cake. Plus, we were all too busy dancing to think of food! Day 1=Success. :)

~Mel

Milk, Bread and Cheeeeeese!

So in search of the few items I had not yet acquired for my local culinary adventure, Mel and I headed off the beaten path on a lead to a source for raw milk! The lead was a success! We met this wonderful woman, who has 5 very cheerful Jersey milk cows. She gets almost 10 gallons of fresh milk a day, making her own butter, yogurt and cheese. After being educated on butter production we took off to try our hand at making our very own butter. We were tickled to death to find raw milk only 15 miles away. We left there with 3 gallons of local milk and a new farm friend. I can tell we are going to be fast friends! I mean seriously……do you get a call from your dairy source asking you how well you liked your milk after you bought it?! Seriously, this is so much fun!

Milk….check! Butter….check!

I still needed bread and cheese though. I headed to Knoxville this afternoon to their Farmers Market on Cherokee drive. I was shocked at the amount of variety they had to offer. The market provided so many kinds of seasonal fruits and vegetables, and especially the heirloom variety. There was even a company there who sold any kind of meat and cut your heart desired! Wanted organic free range chicken, duck, leg of lamb, oxtail, salad bar beef…they had it!

But, we were in search for the cheese! There were two different booths set-up for cheese. One from goats milk and the other, sheep’s milk. We tried samples…which were all very yummy and proceeded to buy Feta (from the dairy Goat producer) and Manchego, a yummy peppercorn hard cheese from Sheep. Then we visited Hillside Bakery’s booth and tasted many samples of bread! It was a hard decision between all their options but I narrowed in on buying their Rustic Round bread and a Raisin Bread loaf that both smelled, crunched and tasted unbelievable!

I think I'm set for this new local culinary adventure!

The Challenge-Mel's Perspective!

I'll be honest, I never put much thought into the food I ate before working with Extension. Eating local to me meant getting KFC...after all, it is Kentucky, right? Well...in working with the Farmers' Market, I started learning about what really goes into this food that travels across the country-or across the world to get to us. Did you know that a tomato grown in Brazil is bred to be hard, because its sole purpose is to travel for days and days before reaching you? Kinda cuts down on the flavor, huh?

Over the past year, I've been more and more involved with finding local foods-but never decided to go exclusively local. But from Saturday on, I'm gonna be a local-only girl. I'll letcha know how that goes. :) The goal is to be more aware of what I actually eat, see how I feel about cutting processed, preserved, and transported food out of my diet... and then bonus points if I lose a few pounds! ;)

So what exactly is an Eat Local Challenge ?

When: June 26-July 26

What: Eat locally grown and produced foods for a meal, a day, or for the entire week - you decide what is a challenge for you. --We went with 30 days!

Exceptions: Marco Polo Rules apply (salt and spices that sailors could carry in their pockets for 6 months while at sea) --I dunno who invented this rule, but I love it.

Wild Cards: Choose from 0 to 3 wilds cards for foods that you will eat during the challenge that are not local. --This makes it possible for people who have to have their coffee or tea able to participate. I havent decided on my Wild Cards yet...I'm saving them for if I get an awful craving for something non-local--I'll keep you posted. :)

If you wanna join in, for a day, a week, or a whole month--you're more than welcome! Jump in with us, the more the merrier!

~Mel

The Challenge

Inspired by a few recent reads, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver and another from the magazine "Mother Earth New", I have decided to challenge myself to a local culinary adventure! Starting June 26th, I am making an effort to eat only foods grown or harvested in a 100 mile radius from my home in Williamsburg, Ky. After becoming more aware of the origins of the food I consume, I realized that the weight of my decisions of what I eat are not only important healthfully but politically, environmentally and economically as well.

Since considering this challenge, I have shared it with a few of my friends in our local foods group and several of us have made the decision to give it a try together! As I make note of how my new diet differs from my Walmart/IGA diet within factors of my pocketbook, nutrition, accessibilty, lifestyle, variety and locality.....I will invite my friends to join the blog as well documenting what differences they encounter.

Luckily, I live on enough land that I am able to raise my own beef, pork, chicken and goat and grow several varieties of vegetables. Off to do a little more research before the big day! I still have to find.....raw milk, flour and honey!