Eating Locally in Winter

Laura at Urban Hennery has proposed a challenge for those of you who would like to continue eating one local meal a week throughout the year. It's called the Dark Days of Winter Eat Local Challenge, and the premise is basically the same as OLS, only in a more challenging season. Check out her site for more details.

In other news, if you are interested in being more involved with One Local Summer next year, please email me at pocketfarm {at} gmail {dot} com. Thanks!

Week 10-The latecomers

Well it's time for the final One Local Summer update from the late comers.

Karl enjoyed a steak dinner with pickled beets among other things.

Kristin had spaghetti bolognese, and she has some thoughts on eating items not from your foodshed, and how intense it can be when it's a special occurrence.

Carmen had pesto pizza! Yum-O!!

Thank you all for participating!

Week 10 ~ International & New England

Amanda in Scotland showed that you could even be homeless (well, more like in-between flats) and still enjoy local foods. Luckily, she has access to a good farmers market and was able to stock up on provisions.

Karen in Ontario enjoyed some meatloaf this week. About her OLS experience she said, "Overall, it really makes me think about where food comes from and how it's made. I will definitely be continuing with this in many different ways!"

Moonwaves in Ireland enjoyed roast chicken, homegrown peas, and green tomato and lemon chutney before heading off to Germany for an experience she'll never forget with WWOOF.

Wendy in Maine made an eggplant parmigiana type dish that even her non-eggplant loving husband enjoyed. She added, "I think I've gotten closer to finding that balance between eating local and my food budget."

Leslie in Martha's Vineyard enjoyed grass-fed beef from a local farm, along with veggies from her garden.

Frances in Western Massachusetts started the day with a simple omelette and cantelope melon, and ended with grilled veggie and goat cheese sandwiches.

First, Korinthe in Massachusetts stuffed a runaway zuke, then used my favorite tortilla recipe and became her own tortilleria.

Laurie in Massachusetts also went for two meals this week: fried clams (dug by her husband), and that famous New England delicacy: lobster.

And James and I enjoyed a simple garden frittata along with scarlet runner beans and a glass of homemade (and homegrown) strawberry wine.

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in One Local Summer for these past ten weeks. It's always satisfying to see a tiny seed of an idea grow into something mighty. Your efforts are truly inspirational.

Don't forget that the Eat Local Challenge takes place during the entire month of September this year, and the emphasis is on putting up the harvest so you can enjoy those local foods year-round!

OLS West Week 10

The last week of one local summer. It's been a lot of fun seeing what everyone has been making.

At Chez Gnome, I decided to try something new, Salad Nicoise. The only thing not local was the tuna. Of course, as been the case with most meals, we dug into it before we could get a good photo.

Homesteaders in Training made gnocchi AND red Wagon lettuce, homemade buttermilk dressing with fresh chives that traveled from Maine to Colorado and buttermilk marinated Colorado chicken. Yum!

Sarah at Sarah's homesteading blog made Hearty Summer Vegetable Stew & Drop Biscuits. What a great idea for extra produce when the nights are getting cooler.

Turtle had a yummy salad with tomatoes, red carrots, and baby gem lettuce. Lets hear it for a great salad.

Laura from Urban Hennery had halibut fillet on the grill with steamed green beans and toasted bread. And she says it so well in her post:

"This is it, our last One Local Summer Challenge meal. It’s become such a part of our lives, spreading so that pretty much every meal we cook this summer is 75% or more local. Hard to imagine that we won’t “have” to report on it every week any more. It’s been a wonderful trip, an exploration of our local food shed that I don’t think we would have made so thoroughly so soon without the one local summer challenge."

Thanks everyone!

Midwest, Week Ten

Sweet potato flower (who knew?)

With this, the last week of August, our One Local Summer experiment has ended!

I hope you all had FUN with this challenge. I certainly learned a lot from all of you. This exercise may have been frustrating at times, and if anything it has proved to us that, like it or not, we have really become separated from the food-growing process. (I mean, my grandparents did not need to go 80 miles from their homes to find dairy and flour, as I have done!) With any hope, you've all done some thinking, and more than likely, you have inspired other people to consider their food miles. And let's not forget the food itself! YUM!

I recycled the meal I made for the last meal for One Local Summer last year. Very univentive, I know, but it was so good, I had looked forward to making it again this year...just needed some beans to ripen.

Matt in Iowa made two local dinners this week. He made his first pesto! And his mom promises to teach him how to make noodles for the next time he makes it. How great is that.

Lucette in Cleveland made a meal with simplicity and ease, she said. Listen to this: "vegetables chopped and sauteed to a sputter...." (I will certainly miss these tomato/cucumber daily salads in three months, won't all of you?)

Farm mom Ang in Michigan posts a lot of firsts in this week's meal. This challenge was really hard for her at first (she is surrounded by farms but nothing to eat), but with some effort, they've done it. And she says if she can, anyone can! Go see her Eggplant Parmigiana.

Emergency surgery and prolonged recovery has taken its toll on Frugalmom in Illinois. She hasn't posted to the challenge as much as she would have liked. That said, she reminds us that eating local need not be a complicated affair: a BLT or some home fries is a simple start.

Evie in South Dakota grabbed her last meal on the run: literally! She did not one but two marathons this week. (Whew.) Speaking of influencing people, she thinks this challenge has helped her daughters the most, and will be something they remember through their lives.

Kelly in Ohio will be continuing the challenge on her blog. She feels that she hasn't made nearly all the recipes she wanted to try, so she needs a few more weeks! Now, that is inspiring. This final meal looked delicious and not too difficult, which is also inspiring.

I will say that Linda in Missouri has had some of the more interesting meals of the challenge: she really goes all-out! She put an Asian spin on this last one, using her own lemongrass and tag-sale dishes. Those cabbage rolls sure looked great!

Ohioans E4 and Lori made a huge haul at the farmer's market this week, but life's complications got in the way of a 100% local meal. (I think 90%, or even 50%, qualifies if your heart is in it!) But both their barbecue and its charcoal were local...

I realize that today is a holiday and that many of us are caught up in the frenetic pace that is Back To School season. If you're still planning on posting a meal, please do so: I will try to catch you all up on the One Local Summer site. I'm missing many of my usual Midwesterners this week, so I hope you can still participate!

Thank you, Liz, for dreaming up this challenge!

The South, week 10

How can it already be the end of One Local Summer 2007?! Well, I trust we'll be seeing all of you at the Eat Local Challenge, right?

This week Laurie made this summery, sunny plate of open-faced chicken salad sandwiches (note the Pineapple tomatoes) and bright-orange Charentais melon. The melon could have been sweeter, she says, but it was still good.

Jeff and Joyce dined on macaroni and cheese (yes, with homemade noodles, and locally sourced dairy and eggs) with corn on the cob and squash.

Jen incorporated a co-worker’s homegrown banana peppers into a dish of vegetarian enchiladas.


Eating locally sourced food changes your habits fundamentally, Maggie reflects: “Having one local meal a week has not been a challenge, choosing which meal to post about has.” She wrapped up OLS with this stunning mustard- and herb-crusted rack of lamb with Russian Banana fingerling potatoes, Roma beans, and her neighbor’s homemade kamut rolls.

My local meal this week was an ode to the two vegetables that are surviving best in Georgia right now: tomatoes and peppers. I made panzanella (Italian tomato and bread salad) and served it alongside local organic free-range pork chops.

Stew, ever a girl after my own heart, made ratatouille and ate it for dinner one night and breakfast the next morning. I love a meal that multitasks.

Molly calls her last OLS meal “not very exciting and kind of a repeat”--although I beg to differ. I'd have gladly shown up for hamburgers on homemade buns (the ground beef was from her family's own cows), roasted okra, oven french fries, and arugula salad with tomatoes.

Pattie took me at my word when I suggested we go all out this week. She harvested her garden, went to the farmers’ market, collected her CSA box, and put together a Grand Feast. The main dish was an assortment of multicolored heirloom tomatoes with grass-fed lamb on a bed of organic grits. Genovese basil pesto and lamb’s quarters (this year’s MVP!) were the accompaniment, and a muscadine and scuppernong granita made a spectacular dessert. “I wish I could have taken a picture of how my house smelled last night,” she said.

Finally, Paulette decided to give One Local Summer 2007 a grande finale. All but one of her family’s dinners--and all but one of their breakfasts, too--were local this week! Check out the menu she put together, and note especially the homemade beef breakfast sausage.

Thanks so much, everyone! And especially to Liz for making it all possible.

Mid-Atlantic Week #10

The Mid-Atlantic went out in a flourish this week with great meals and important testimonials to how this wonderful idea of Liz’s has changed their behavior.

Nicole from New Jersey is in Maine this week vacationing with her family. He post this week proves that you CAN dine locally when away from home. Anticipating their family meal of local lobster she reflects …“We are happy locavores this week.”

Naomi from Philadelphia’s made a hearty quiche filled with veggies from her co-op share.

Mac in Philadelphia provided a link to the Farm to Philly website. Please check it out. It is filled with wonderful meals that I may have missed these past weeks.

Mikaela from PA featured a Week #9 Meal brought to us by the letter “S” - scrumptious squashed and stuffed spicy seitan! Then this week she made her own pizza dough and her finale LOOKS scrumptious. She sums it up when she reflects:

“As much as I love to cook, and love local foods, I can truly say that never would've made a pizza from scratch had it not been for the challenge of OLS. Nor would I have considered using corn as a topping. But! These were all good decisions!

Thank you, Liz! You are amazing and inspiring and fun.”

You may recall that Seedling in NJ became a new mom this OLS season. A special congrats to her for posting when she could. Her meal this week was a simple frittata and her reflections on the 10 weeks are worth sharing here.

“More than material for blogging, we've enjoyed getting to know our local foodshed. Though the challenge may end here, we've got the know-how we need to keep eating locally, at least on some level. And the incentive, too, because meals made from mostly local ingredients are by far the tastiest.”

Christy in Delaware made a delicious looking potato-corn chowder and homemade crescent rolls. She reflected on how her habits for buying and for preserving local food have changed as a result of the challenge.

Rabi from NY had a meal of stuffed patty pan squash with roasted tomatoes, okra and potatoes. Hats off to Rabi for some of the finest food photography in the Mid-Atlantic. It has been a real treat!

Steph from PA made another frittata this week only THIS time with sweet peppers. Yum!

Thanks to everyone who participated and shared the bounty of the Mid-Atlantic region. It has been a pleasure to look over your shoulder in your kitchens and in your gardens. Have a great fall. And don't forget that September is this year's Eat Local Challenge month.

September Eat Local Challenge

If you're interested in continuing your experiments and successes in local eating, you may be interested in taking part in the Locavores' third annual Eat Local Challenge, happening in September this year.

What makes this year's challenge different is, that instead of focusing exclusively on local foods for the entire month, you can select the level of participation that feels most comfortable for you.

Check here for a great list of ways to be involved!

Week 9-The Latecomers

This week Carmen enjoyed a simple dinner that allowed her to taste the flavor of each item and enjoy the freshness of eating locally.

Faith's group had to throw something together quickly, and they recycled the picture from an earlier meal. I've had week's like that.

Karl's group enjoyed some spaghetti sauce this week.

West Week 9

This week at Chez Gnome it was fair week. We were quite busy but able to make home made pizza again. It had zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, bell peppers, and onions. Very yummy and hit the spot so quickly there are no photos. We did actually try to make the ravioli from Cheryl posted on her blog Free Range Living. It was my first time making pasta ever. It all stuck together in one huge clump and I had to throw it all away. Next time.

Homesteaders in Training made vegetable pie. It included locally milled whole wheat flour, and the guts were all local: potatoes, leeks, pattypan squash, zucchini and cheese. She had something very nice to say about OLS.

"This morning I was struck by how much has changed in our lives over the past nine weeks. The Local Summer project seems to be about the only constant, quite frankly."

Isn't that the truth.

Sarah at Sarah's Homestead Blog made a tasty dish of potato pancakes made from mashed potato, sauteed garlic, onion and kale, eggs, and a bit of shredded Red Dragon cheese. And on the side was a mix of Summer squash, fresh beans and shelled beans sauteed up with fresh rosemary and oregano from her herb plot.

Over at Taste the Seasons, they made ratatouille.

"Our saving grace was a French dish called ratatouille, originally a poor farmer’s solution to excess summer produce. Ironically, the original recipedidn’t include eggplant, but today, ratatouille is almost unrecognizable without it ."

You have to go check it out. It looks amazing!

Laura of Urban Hennery made corn chowder from a recipe of OLS member Jamie from 10 Signs Like This. She says it's definitely as good as it claims to be. How cool is that.

Lauren at Shooting Stars of Thought made pan-seared pork chops with red wine fig reduction, corn, shoulder bacon, and tomato stuffed zucchini, pork and maple baked beans. Complete with recipes!

Turtle blog made quiche with chard. What a great idea to use up some eggs.

Great job everyone. One week left.

The South, week 9

Whew. The dog days of summer are upon us. The garden is sun-scalded and plagued by pesky blister beetles. But there's good stuff to be had!

Lastewie made a diner-style dinner of local burgers, fries, and TWO kinds of tomatoes: sliced red, and fried green (now that, my friends, is a victory for southern cooking). For dessert, she had frozen strawberries and lemon ice cream.

Similarly, Molly made hamburgers on homemade bread with a side of tomato and cucumber salad. Oh, and some edamame from a local farm. (I wish ours was still in season--it seems to have disappeared!)

Jeff and Joyce never planned a local meal this week, but they did accidentally have two of them. (Isn’t it great how that happens after you’ve been doing this a while?) One was crustless quiche, and the other was--yes, once again--tacos.

As for us at 10 Signs, we had tacos twice this week: once with White Oak Pastures beef and once with our own chicken. But I submitted spaghetti with meat sauce as our OLS meal, due to degree of difficulty. I had to make the Italian sausage on the spot because I hadn’t gotten around to it when we got our half-pig in January. Freezer raid! Where’s that bag labeled “future sausage”?

Jasmine has noticed that she tends to eat her meals in an unassembled state. Recall that last week she had enchilada filling. This week it was eggplant ravioli filling! I say bravo--assembled or not, the food chez Jasmine always looks phenomenal.

This week Laurie made a crock pot stew of chicken, carrots, onions, and cutting celery with herbs. She served it with field peas, butterbeans, and okra. Dessert was cantaloupe, which is at its best right now!

Week after week, Paulette has wowed us with beautiful beef dinners from her family’s ranch. But in the third straight week of 100-plus-degree temperatures, all she wanted was a vegetarian meal. Check out the dessert wine!

Pattie made a cheese-, egg-, and vegetable-filled “quichey/tart thing” and spent much of her week foraging for figs, muscadine grapes, and greens.

Amy gave new life to leftover North Carolina-caught grouper by making it into beer-battered fish fritters. The little fried nuggets accompanied bowls of chilly gazpacho, and the meal was topped off with a dessert of apple crumble and locally made ice cream.

Maggie had a mightily hectic week, but still managed to squeeze in two almost-local meals: one of spaghetti with marinara sauce, and one of shiitake mushroom and wild rice soup.

That’s it for this week...one more to go! I’m going to try to go out in style. How ‘bout you?

Midwest, Week Nine

Shameless stealing of Becke's meal posting

"Eating in season" also means "eating what's available now." I mixed up a lot of what I had a lot of for this week's meal. (It tasted better than it looked, I swear.)

Matt did a Comfort Food meal for his family this week. And what is more comforting than Cottage (Shepherd's) Pie? (Even the name gives you a warm, toasty feeling, right?)

Lucette found the last of the last, she thinks, of her venison. Her photo of the burgers she made of them scared her, though, so she substituted instead pics of the corn and salad she made.

Ang has been busy using her stove for things other than meals. How can this be, you ask? Well, her kitchen is like a lot of ours lately: we're all putting away that harvest, one boiling pot of water at a time. She wanted to keep things simple, yet tasty, this week: sure looks like she succeeded!

Evie has had lots to contend with this summer. Hail, then a flood, has done away with much in her garden. She's a stalwart Scandinavian, though, so she's carrying on with a Swedish meal her grandmother made quite often.

Ever-diligent Kelly has discovered the secret of perfectly-grilled chicken breasts: it's diligence! She praises the flood of wonderful veggies that now show up on their plates, knowing well this late-summer eating is but a small slice in time.

Joanna missed this week. She knows why, and how. But here's the best thing: she knows that next year, they'll have a house, and a garden of their own, so this eating-local thing will be REALLY local.

Linda made a spookily autumnal meal this week. It looked GREAT! She confesses, though, that it tasted awful. (I blame it on rushing the seasons: fall will be here soon enough, girl!)

Lori and E4 posted last week's meal this week. Hey: at least they posted it! They both brought up how kooky this Midwestern world is, though, in terms of getting local goodies. You'd think in a breadbasket like Ohio you could get local wheat. I think the same of dairy in Michigan. Farmers out there, listen up! Sell local! We're HERE, and we want to buy!

Becke was chilling with some local soup this week, too. Dang, that looks good. And she, like me, can't believe One Local Summer is almost over!

Manerva missed the floods that hit her state. She got some much-needed rain, though. She happily shared some great grub with visiting relatives this week, though. That's the best kind of meal, I think.

Week 9 ~ New England and International

Korinthe unintentionally went for a two-fer this week. She started with a Deborah Madison-inspired potato soup, and came back later with a whole day's worth of local eats.

Laurie put together a lovely pizza featuring her backyard tomatoes.

Wendy treated her husband's business associates to a typical Maine feast: lobster, corn on the cob, coleslaw, rolls and a blackberry and peach cobbler. Mmmm.... I would have loved to sit in on that business lunch!

Leslie's simple meal shows how truly easy local eating can be.

One Local Summer is inspiring Heather to try new things: last week she made her first pizza, and this week she feasted on grilled veggies, trying grilled zucchini for the first time.

My sister-in-law was visiting for a few days, and we treated her to chicken enchiladas verde, made with our own chicken and tomatillos. Who knew Maine could be tomatillo country?

Karen in Ontario made a fabulous meatloaf.

Mary in Ontario found a new toy in the local thrift shop, and made a batch of Kettle Corn from local popcorn, and called it dinner. It's maybe a wee stretch, but she was excited, so go look!

Moonwaves in Ireland is having a busy time of it, but managed to squeeze in a plate of veggies and some nice Cheddar cheese.

Amanda in Scotland managed to squeeze in a meal of baked potatoes topped with summer veggies and cheese. She finished her dissertation, so wander over there and congratulate her, 'kay?

Cheryl in Vancouver made a gorgeous summer veggie quiche.

Sadly (or not), next week is the final week of One Local Summer. Will the intrepid local eaters stick it out? Will there be a surge in participation? Will everyone be on vacation instead?
You'll only find out if you tune in next Monday for the final installment.

Mid Atlantic Week #9

I want to thank the four stalwarts who posted this week in One Local Summer. This week before school starts is about as busy as the winter holidays, so I understand that people are being pulled in other directions.

Nicole in New Jersey used local sausage and peppers for her main meal and then made a berry tart for dessert

Bezzie from New Jersey drew on local potatoes and Philly knockwurst for her local meal this week.

Over at Farm Dreams Christy in Delaware made pasta with her Mom and since Mom had never tasted pesto before, she made a pesto sauce for the homemade pasta.

Rabi from New York came through with two offerings. The first was a roasted eggplant pesto with green beans and squash sauce. And the second was a dinner of corn beet greens and mashed potatoes.

You guys rock. Stay with it for one more week.

Week 8-The Latecomers

This week Kristin rejoins the group after a few hectic weeks. Including dessert!

Carmen enjoyed fresh bread in a sandwich with some goat cheese she made herself! Jealous!

Faith and her clan had some hamburgers with fresh buns. Fresh buns are the best!

If you've been reading Karl's blog you know his family have been enjoying a lot of tomatoes. In fact, I'm wondering when they will just turn into tomatoes. :-)

Karl's enjoying OLS that he keeps doing extra credit. You're an overachiever Karl!

Keep it up ya'll!

Could I have any more exclamation points?!!

OLS West Week 8

I'm super sad to report that Chez Gnome didn't have a complete local meal at all this week. We've been getting ready for fair this next week and I couldn't pull it off. Please accept my lame excuse and check out what wonderful things everyone else created.

Homesteaders In Training made a wonderful meal of an iced melon concoction(think melon sherbet), cucumber salad, and rhubarb crunch.

Cookiecrumb made a lot of wonderful meals this week. I'm going to pick her last as the OLS. It's a beautiful pasta and tomato dish from Nora Ephron's 1983 "novel" Heartburn. It looks amazingly delicious.

Sarah at Sarah's Homestead Blog made Vegetarian Shepherd Pie. Doesn't that sound yummy!

Krystle and Hans-Peter at Taste the Seasons had a busy week making Rolled Eggplant Tapas, Corn Chowder w/ Chilis, and Chiles Rellenos. And recipes are included!

Turtle made a delicious soup and salad. She even made her own soup noodles!

Lauren at Urban Hennery made two meals this week. 8.1 was Ling Cod, broccoli and tomato and 8.2 was London Broil, green beans and tomato.

"We’ve really been enjoying the fresh tomatoes now that we can get them in quantity - and to me nothing is better than a fresh warm tomato drizzled with vinegar topped with salt and pepper."

For sure!

Great job everyone! If everyone else's farmers markets are like ours, next week's meals should be spectacular!

The South, week 8

This is the time of year when my garden turns into a Little Shop of Horrors and I just stop giving a darn. But I have to admit the food is good. We are taking special note of the vegetables that are surviving the drought and heat wave. (For those keeping score at home: Green Zebra and Sungold tomatoes; Fairytale eggplants; and all the hot peppers.)

E-mailer Molly and I are in the same boat: Both cooking a lot of local food, but too frazzled to keep track. “I don't even know what week it is now!” she laments. But she managed to make a delectable tomato pie, with sides of edamame (ooh, my favorite!), mashed potatoes (my other favorite!), and vegetable sauté.

Meanwhile, I copped out big time and only made peel-and-eat shrimp, which I ate messily while watching an episode of CSI. But you should go read about the shrimp; they’re pretty special.

Gazpacho, grouper fritters, and apple crisp with local ice cream? I don’t know about you, but I’m going to Amy’s house.

Jasmine used an astonishing array of local produce in “a meal that is in [her] regular rotation”: the filling for roasted vegetable enchiladas. What would we do without local feta cheese, eh, Jasmine?

Joyce, not wanting to continue her summer Tacopalooza, went rummaging in the freezer and found a forgotten package of stew beef. With summer vegetables and Southern Biscuit flour, it became a beef pie that fed her and Jeff for two whole meals.

The Purloined Letter is back from North Carolina, and has made two OLS meals. I love the idea of cooking banana peppers into hamburgers. I’m going to have to try that as soon as humanly possible.

Maggie’s ducks are laying! She used one of the eggs to bind the meatballs in this week’s spaghetti dinner.

Laurie continues to cook with the most intriguing heirloom tomatoes. This time it’s Pineapple toms, which accompanied pan-fried pork chops and her own homegrown butterbeans and field peas.

Lucky Lastewie happened upon an untended fig tree--which, to me, ranks as one of the all-time great local eating pleasures. The figs were dessert after a meal of pork chops, stuffing, long beans, and summer squash.

Paulette notes, “I know it seems that our One Local Summer meals always center around some form of our beef.” Well, when you have your own herd, that’s fair enough! This time it was T-bone steaks with peppers and onions, cucumber salad, and vegetable fritters.

And last, but perhaps most beautiful and haunting, Pattie’s eggplant parmigiana with orange cherry tomatoes evoked memories from her childhood.

Week 8 ~ New England & International

Frances showed her visiting friends how they roll in Western Mass. (it sounded cooler when she said it), first by hiking on the Appalachian Trail, then grilling up a plethora of local veggies. And what would a visit with good friends be without dessert of peach & strawberry sorbet?

Korinthe made a big dish of Macaroni & Cheese with veggies and sausage.

Lisa enjoyed her own home-raised, home-butchered, beer-marinated chicken for dinner, along with corn on the cob, roasted red potatoes, refrigerator pickles, and red cabbage slaw. If that wasn't enough, they had blueberry ice cream for dessert.

Us New Englanders must have had the chicken harvest on the brain, because James and I also spent part of our weekend dispatching our meat chickens. Along with baked chicken, this week's dinner consisted of new potatoes, coleslaw and a baked tomato, all from the garden.

Leslie is a lucky one with a friend who is a fisherman. Gordon supplied the Bonita, and Leslie's garden supplied the rest.

Between her farm share and her Boston Organics box, Magid had a ton of veggies to get through. In order to make room for all of it in the fridge, she roasted some, made a couple of salads, and enjoyed it all with scrambled eggs with greens. She says she couldn't get herself interested in "figuring out a dessert", but I don't see how she had the room!

Wendy's having a tough week on her homestead, and a simple pizza was an easy thing to make for her girls. I don't think they thought it was boring!

Laurie enjoyed a swiss chard & potato torta, summer squash, and a cuke and tomato salad.

Cheryl in Vancouver got the kids involved in a very involved dinner: baby portobello mushroom ravioli. No one cared that they didn't eat until 9pm, because they were having SO MUCH FUN!!

Moonwaves in Ireland had a very special omelette with her very own peas and tomatoes in it. Three cheers for home gardens!

Mary in Ontario finally got her hands on some local peppers, and made some lovely vegetable fajitas.

Only two more weeks of One Local Summer to go. I know some of you are dealing with record heat, but we're starting to wake up to some CHILLY mornings! It's hard to believe summer is ending already.

Midwest, Week Eight

Just hand me the salt: Hillbilly potato leaf or Flame heirloom tomato, 2.5 pounds of goodness

TWO MORE WEEKS OF ONE LOCAL SUMMER!

I made a lot of meals. It's easy with so much available, but I also wished to show that even busy people can make good food.

Matt agrees that it is easy cooking at this time of year; he's a cyclist so he calls it a "no chain day" to demonstrate how untaxing things can be. He didn't even need to cajole his kids to eat, they readily did!

Lucette thought ahead and froze the dough for this week's pizza. What she really delighted in, besides the good food? The way the house smelled! "Like someone Italian who was a brilliant cook." Brava!

Ang is also thinking Italian with her meal. She made an eggplant bolognese. I keep forgetting that Eden Organics is a Michigan company, so thanks, Farm Mom! I can now slurp pasta local-style too!

Stacie ate a meal that tasted just like chicken...because it was! The veggies were hers, the meat was local...and THEN just take a look at what she had for dessert. YUM.

Kelly sometimes wishes she had some help in the kitchen, and as the solo chef in my house, I hear her on that. But there's so much going on in the background of her meal preparation! Luckily, things are just jumping out in the garden to help her.

Linda, bless her, went foraging for her meal. Lamb's quarters are a...weed in most people's parlance, but in actuality they're a vitamin-rich spinach substitute; I've certainly served my share, especially since it's hot and lettuce isn't available. But she even went out and caught herself some bluegill! LOVE those pan fish!

Debbie made a really yummy-looking stew, complete with local quinoa. It looks both delicious AND healthy.

Poor Becke's air conditioning has been on the fritz! Considering she loves to heat up her kitchen, this is quite a predicament. She made a lovely cold dish this week, though; go wish her a happy birthday.

Manerva has had water woes (her well pump went out), but that hasn't stopped the tomatoes. Big fans of the red stuff, her household...but this week was pizza. Delicious. (And M: I'll clean a messy kitchen over folding laundry any day, won't you?)

The Mid-Atlantic OLS Week #8

With just a bit if a chill in the air this weekend, we offer the meals of the Mid-Atlantic rich in tomatoes and the garden's bounty

Jasmin NY (just outside Manhattan) posted a Week #7 meal that I missed because it was posted after six last week. It was a carrot, ginger and beet soup complete with recipe. Doesn’t it look scrumptious?

Naomi from Philadelphia’s contribution this week was a beef stir fry with tomatillos as the star ingredient.

Nicole channeled Grandma Aurora this week for a squash blossom recipe and added a zucchini basil cream sauce to pasta.

Bezzie from New Jersey made a black bean and corn salsa

Peg from New York posted our first ratatouille of the season. WE ought to have an award for the first person to put together a ratatouille.

Mikaela from PA made this impressive tortilla tower out of veggies from her CSA share and tempeh. A salad side and a slice of watermelon rounded out the plate.

Seedling in NJ’s dinner this week featured her own vine ripened tomatoes over a locally made pasta.

Using Bob’s Red Mill recipe Christy in Delaware made tortillas from scratch and then used them for yummy looking quesadillas

Rabi from NY used her left over veggies, some tofu and local buckwheat to make a tempting summer salad.

Great work everybody. Let's keep the good news coming her ein the last two weeks.

OLS West Week 7

This week at Chez Gnome, we had pesto chicken on pasta with a kitchen sink salad.(everything we could think of we through into that salad: eggs, carrots, zucchini, tomatoes....) We had fresh nectarines for dessert.

Amy at Amystery is starting to experience the first touches of fall there in Alaska. She made Risi e Bisi which is a type of risotto.

Cookiecrumb at I'm Mad and I Eat had a tart of whole-wheat flour crust (and butter and cream), filled with home-grown tomatoes, some herbs, and a sauteed onion. She goes on to say:

"The veggies went over the partially blind-baked crust, which was first smeared with Bodega Goat Cheese crema (groan!), and then it was topped with grated Spring Hill dry jack. Oh, mommy."

Turtle had modified Spanish Torta. You have to see how beautiful it looks!

Laura at the Urban Hennery made not one, but 3 OLS meals this week. She started with an egg scramble on Thursday, then came beef hash on Friday. Saturday night she finished with grilled chicken, a salad, corn on the cob and garlic mashed potatoes. They washed it all down with fresh peach ice cream.

Melissa at Homesteaders in Training feasted on corn on the cob, one of her absolute favorites, along with leftover noodles. She calls it a "cop out". We call it "good eats".

Sarah at Sarah's Homestead Blog had a big salad. It included greens, cherry tomatoes, lemon cucumber, roasted turnips and beets, and carrots. How refreshing

Wonderful job everyone.

Only a few more weeks to go!

Week 7 ~ New England & International

I've always thought of pasta "primavera" as a late spring/early summer dish, but here in Maine, we don't really have enough veggies for this classic until sometime in August. It was well worth the wait, though.

Leslie had the meal that seems to make most folks outside of New England the most jealous: lobster.

Wendy's husband often comes home for lunch, but this past week he missed out on a tomato and cheese omelet, homefries and french toast. I bet he's sorry he had that meeting...

Heather gave tortilla-making a try, and filled them with local eggs and pico de gallo.

Frances found herself craving a hearty vegetable soup after waking up to a chilly morning.

Lisa just added a tortilla press to her collection of kitchen tools so she could make corn enchiladas the slow-food way: with homemade corn tortillas, and two kinds of homemade cheese. Yum!

Korinthe enjoyed burgers, salad and some more of her salsa verde.

Laurie dined on foccacia along with veggies two ways: warm and roasted, and cool and marinated.

Moonwaves in Ireland turned to the kind of hearty meal her Mum would make: mince with potatoes. Mmmm.... comfort food.

Rebecca in Scotland has been super busy writing her dissertation, but managed to find time to get to the Edinburgh festival and make some homemade pasta with zucchini sauce. Whew!

Karen in Ontario enjoyed a simple meal of scrambled eggs with veggies.

Cheryl in Vancouver needed a quick meal, and tossed some non-local pasta with garden veggies and pesto (even local Parm!). She made up for the non-local pasta, though, with a local breakfast and lunch.

Yukino in Moldova got back in the game this week with a baked veggie and pasta dish that nearly looks like pizza.

Mary in Ontario went all out with a local Indian feast: pea curry, zesty roasted corn on the cob and even samosas (one of my absolute faves)!


Another great week of summer down, with a lot of great local meal ideas. I'm thinking I need to hit Mary up for that samosa recipe....

The South, week 7

It has been between 100 and 105 degrees here every day this week except for Saturday. We are all going stir-crazy, and one of my best market-gardener friends lost almost all of his tomatoes to the scalding-hot sun. The fruit literally cooked in its skin. We have fared a little better, but I think only because we grow more tougher-skinned and potato-leafed varieties.

No one really feels like eating too much, but we are doing our best! In fact, some of our southern OLSers really pulled out the stops this time around.

Jasmine says “the heat and drought has had some strange effects on what is available from my CSA and the market.” Still, she’s been making some gorgeous roasted vegetables. She used them on pasta last week and has been contemplating pre-freezing homemade pie crusts for spur-of-the-moment vegetable tarts.

After her heroic turn as my temporary replacement last week (thanks again, sweetie--Cairo is doing quite a bit better, and he sends you a kiss!), Stew put up a batch of pesto and invited a friend over for a ravioli dinner.

Jeff and Joyce are on the all-tacos-and-corn diet lately...which doesn’t sound like a bad way to be. Can I come over for dinner, guys?

The Purloined Letter, on vacation in Asheville, N.C., managed to whip up an entire day’s worth of local menus. And that’s not all: follow her links to see a Shabbat dinner and a tour of local restaurants.

Jen and her hubby are “the Best Blackberry Scavengers Ever in all the world.” They’re going to thank themselves later for making blackberry jam and wild blackberry wheat ale. Oh, and meanwhile, they’ve been canning spaghetti sauce, too.

Laurie had my very favorite type of meat this week. And delectable Green Zebra tomatoes, too! And a homemade baguette. And corn. And cobbler. Sigh.

Busy day? Check. Excruciatingly hot weather? Check. Paulette responded by making a quick, easy, and delicious meal of steak strips and sauteed veggies.

Maggie cleared the tomatoes off the dining room table so she could serve roast chicken, freshly dug fingerling potatoes, Roma and wax beans, and cornbread.

Pattie beat the heat with a cucumber salad “just like Mom used to make.” Sounds good to me--we've been looking for any excuse to use the cool, crisp veggies.

Amy and I both made desserts that mysteriously turned into soup. Hers was a peach pie, and mine was a muscadine grape cobbler. Ah, well--things happen! Better luck to us both next time.

Midwest, Week Seven

'Tis the season

Summer is slipping away! We're up to Week Seven of OLS.

We had a custard for dinner this week, along with some corn chowder. No, it's not an instance of dessert before dinner, silly, it was a savory custard!

Phelan is having camera woes, but she made game hens and a mighty fine peach cobbler this week.

Matt has been consuming lots of local meals lately, but the one he documented used local pasta. The pasta takes some getting used to, as it tends to cook quickly! I've noticed this with homemade stuff, too: just gotta watch it.

Lucette was feeling under the weather, but some local chicken soup lovingly prepared to help see her through definitely made her believe food = medicine.

Farm Mom Ang didn't especially feel like cooking, but she didn't especially feel like wasting good food, either. Maybe many of us feel this way, in this time of extreme produce glut. Just remember this won't last forever, folks.

FrugalMom has missed a couple of weeks due to a longer than anticipated recovery from surgery. She's on the mend, though, thankfully, so go check out her grub.

Evie has had a rough summer, too. This week, though, she put her daughter to work to go out and scavenge a meal from the garden. The first little eggs from their hens helped things out, how exciting!

Stacey just had a birthday and her loving hubby got her a KitchenAid mixer, so she's stepping up and stepping out...this week with pizza. YUM.

Kelly also went in for pizza this week. Whoa: didn't she do this last week, too? Well why yes. But hey: don't you all remember college? Or the once-a-week that our school cafeterias offered pizza and we all wanted it? Yeah. You'd eat it once a week, too.

Joanna made some lovely pasta and some only so-so corn fritters. She'll be out camping next week: anyone have any help for her for her local meal in NW Pennsylvania?

Linda had a meatball quite literally roll off the top of her spaghetti and onto the floor and the next thing she noticed...it rolled under a cabinet. Okay, it wasn't quite like that old song, but she does have some pointers about making sausage, so go check out her post!

E4 and Lori have been...busy. But! this week's meal was fast and satisfying for all.

Becke is the farmer's market shopper extraordinaire, so finding yummy dishes on her site is nothing new. She's getting help from her own garden with this week's meal.

Manerva says it's never too hot for soup if you're in the mood, and I quite agree with her, don't you? This soup featured some home-grown black beans, too.

And finally Kate agrees with Manerva: soup is just plain good eating, especially when it comes from the back yard! In fact, she calls it backyard soup, so go check it out.

Week #7 Mid-Atlantic

Naomi from Philadelphia made this lovely seitan and onion and pepper sauté.

Meredith in Pennsylvania made her favorite pasta sauce with loads of sweet peppers from her garden including a “sheepnose pimento.”

Seedling in NJ has reason for celebration! An hour after eating her Week #6 Meal she went into labor and delivered a healthy baby daughter! She has submitted that meal of local pork chop, potatoes and patty pan squash as her this week’s offering. Golly I feel like a grandmother ;-)

Christy in Delaware made a meal of maple glazed pork chops, royal purple beans and corn. Makes your mouth water.

The most colorful meal of Week #7 was had by Linda from New York . She complemented her home grown frozen chicken with beets and peaches and blueberries and corn

Nicole is upping the ante. She posts two meals this week. One a meal inspired by other OLS posters Tortilla Espanola with Swiss chard and the other meal a gazpacho with cornbread.

Rabi from NY used local peaches to make two different all local desserts. Don’t they look great?

While I imagine the drop off in participation is directly related to summer travels, I am sure that all of us are enjoying the rich local bounty that is available in August. Thanks to everyone who made time to post this week. Only three more to go … keep them coming!