One Local Summer-week Finale: Western Region

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Here we are at the end of the One Local Summer challenge - where did the summer go? Sorry this is a bit late, it’s been a busy weekend and start of the week around here.

While she’s in San Francisco, Anita opted to skip the Slow Food Nation party in favor of continuing her normal slow food life and celebrate in her own way. They’ll keep up their shopping at the local markets and farms, putting up the harvest, supporting restaurants that support local farms, exploring the food traditions of their neighbors and celebrating the bounty of the region. They might not have joined the party, but the sure had their own celebration.

Already looking for another challenge, Green Bean celebrated the end of the challenge by sharing a local pot luck with friends. While they all had their pick of recipes, they all gravitated to Outstanding in the Field and enjoyed a variety of delicious, simple treats. Way to close it out!

Joan took a trip to the coast where they enjoyed a bounty of local foods. With three families pulling from their gardens, CSAs and farmer’s markets there was no shortage of things to eat. Meals included red new potatoes with wilted chard, a saute of zucchini, onion and corn, green salads, chicken, frittata with peppers, cherry tomatoes, cilantro, cheddar and jalapenos and challah french toast. Not only all of that, but also an earlier meal of curly kale and potato soup. Wow.

While local meals have been a bit thin around her house lately, Donna did manage one nameless meal of a fabulous sounding hash / scramble. A combination of potatoes, onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, bacon and eggs. Hmmmm. And Donna - I’ve been wondering the same thing about my squash…

Kimberly and Paul finished out the challenge with brunch at the Raincity Grill. I’m hungry just looking at the photos below… Brunch was Dungeness crab eggs benedict, fresh berries with yogurt and meusli and croissants and apricot scones with mixed berry preserves. What a way to finish the summer!

For various reasons, dinner at our house last week was mostly a simple affair. There weren’t really any complete meals or photos, so suffice it to say that we were busy eating homegrown produce snatched in between rain showers and preserving.