One Local Summer, week 13:  Midwest

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

We’re a little short-handed this week as challengers attentions are being pulled in ever more directions.  It’s been a great summer and we’ve all learned a lot.

Anne of Green Leanings made a great vegan dish this week:  “It was a simple dish, served warm, and was somewhere between a stew and a salad. Local black beans teamed up with onions, bi-color corn, and grape and pear tomatoes from the garden.”

Sirena of Swimming in this Sea of Life did a roundup of some local foods she had while she was travelng on vacation.  They had “eggs, tators, biscuits and gravy, and country ham” and “fried green tomatoes from the Chef’s garden, we also tasted their freshly brewed IPA and wheat beers” and wine and ice cream and ... (not all at the same meal, though).

Karen of toteleeding had a fantastic brunch:  “The meal included arugula frittata, roasted potatoes and a mixture of blackberries and blueberries. All local, all fantastic. We even washed it all down with local milk.”

Joy of The Spiral of Seasons gives a thoughtful summary of some of the things she learned over the course of the summer, including new ways of cooking, trying new foods, and a new way of thinking about what foods to eat:  “instead of asking ‘What’s for dinner?’ we’ve learned to ask ‘What needs to be eaten?’”

Jenny of The Nourished Kitchen wrote:  “This week we enjoyed a classic American meal.  The main course was a rich meatloaf of grass-fed beefalo, beef and meadow-raised pork covered with a nice rich gravy.  Aside from that, we also enjoyed salt-roasted fingerling potatoes, raw carrots, steamed baby squash and a salad of our very own lettuce in addition to home-made sauerkraut with all its beneficial bacteria.  Top that with sweet peaches and we were all set.”

Anna of twelve22.org wrote “I made eggy-hashbrowns (chopped potatoes with eggs scrambled in—a Torborg family classic) with red bell pepper and onion, served on top of wilted chard and topped with two tiny tomatoes. Everything came from my garden, apart from the eggs.”

Destabee of kaleidoscope Living used some fresh local beef and fresh veggies for a an experimental crockpot meal. 

Debbie of Rites of Passage, in response to the cooler weather we had been having, made roasted corn and pepper soup.  And she took a picture this week, but, while it tasted great, but it looked awful.  Ah well.