I have to start off by saying that I did not take this photo. My local meal this week was so yummy that I forgot to take a picture before I gobbled it all up. We had roasted portobello mushroom sandwiches with roasted red peppers and melted Raclette cheese on toasted homemade wheat bread. The mushrooms looked just like those in the above picture though!
Funny thing about this week’s meal: I actually just realized yesterday that another week had gone by and I hadn’t planned out my local meal. Then thinking back on the past few dinners I realized that we’d actually had an all-local meal without me having done so deliberately! I think this is definitely a sign of progress, don’t you?
Ingredients:
portobello mushrooms from Richmond Specialty Mushroom Growers
red peppers from BC Hothouse
Raclette cheese from Little Qualicum Cheeseworks
bread homemade using locally milled organic whole wheat and unbleached white flour
And, in a definite improvement from the first week of this challenge, I have already made and consumed (and photographed) my submission for next week. Stay tuned!
June 21, 2008 at 8:44 pm
I’m sure you must live in BC by your description of your local produce. I was wondering what kind of onions you planted and if you started them from seed or from sets and when? My onions from sets have made the beginnings of flowers but they have not bulbed out yet and I have no idea why. (I’m totally new at this…)
June 21, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Hey, want to fill me in on the rules for “one local summer”? I always assumed we’d have no hope in h*ll of managing, because we have no grains grown locally (i.e. within 100 miles). In the fall I can get potatoes locally, but that’s about it for starches. We’re vegetarians, so we rely on dairy and legumes for protein, and there’s no local source for either of these, unless we go unpasteurized and under-the-table for dairy. We don’t live in an agricultural area at all. Think mountains, those tilted evergreen-covered rocky things that like to keep snow until May or June.
So anyway, can I ‘count’ as local the grain I buy from Alberta, originating in Saskatchewan, which I mill locally (in my kitchen)? If so this is a challenge I might be able to manage. Your photos (even the borrowed ones) are inspiring!
June 22, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Kat: I planted onion sets, two kinds. The Westerfield red onions have not “bulbed out”. The others are “multiplier onions”. I haven’t actually seen any flowers yet, but many of them are starting to topple over.
Miranda: I have been wondering myself exactly what constitutes “local”, especially with milled foods where they aren’t sourced locally (the authors of the 100 Mile Diet didn’t count Anita’s Mill as local because of that). My own feeling is that this challenge is just a fun thing to do and nobody is going to freak out if you try your best.
By the way, I’ve been enjoying podcasts from your local radio station (Kootenay coop), specifically their program Deconstructing Dinner. Apparently there is a permaculture farm in your area? Might be a good place to find out what is local for you.
June 25, 2008 at 10:36 am
Yes, the biodynamic farm over the hump is a good resource. We were part of their CSA for a while but an hour and a half drive to pick up our box each week was unsustainable. They bring in grain from afar (Alberta and the Okanagan) too.
I love Kootenay Co-op Radio podcasts too! Deconstructing Dinner is great, as is Canadian Voices. There’s a great Matt Hern interview in the CV archives. We don’t actually receive KCR up here over the airwaves (too many mountains in the way), but there’s always the internet!