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.

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!

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!

OLS West Week 6

Summer has created a bit of a schedule crunch here at Chez Gnome. With the garden and a birthday this week, our dinner was meager at best. We had veggie stir fry with egg. Pretty boring but there you go.

Cookie crumb at I'm Mad and I Eat made a wonderfully simple yet tasty dish of homegrown tomatoes stuffed with egg salad, served over homegrown lettuce leaves. (Must try this one)

Lauren at Shooting Stars of Thought has yet another wonderful post with recipes. She had sea bass in paper, homemade orichette with arugula pesto, and eggplant caponata with roasted red peppers. What a feast!

Turtle at My Green Turtle made chicken salad. The salad consisted of red butter lettuce, cucumber, red peppers, chicken, and tomato. There was also squash on the side. Even her butter for the squash was local.

Sarah is being buried alive by summer squash of all sizes and shapes. What do you do with those round ones? Stuff 'em, of course!

Amy enjoyed beet salad, Alaska-style (with smoked salmon).

Melissa had her lovely assistant help out with the pasta making, then topped the noodles with sauteed zucchini and onions. Melissa recently posted her refrigerator pickle recipe, so get your hands on some cukes!

Great job everyone!

OLS West Week 5

Our OLS meal was grilled veggies (zucchini, peppers, green beans, onions, and eggplant) with a light splash of olive oil and a dash of balsamic vinegar. For dessert, we had rhubarb/strawberry cobblers. Yum!

Jocele over at Knitting On Call made a wonderful tortilla dish using egg, veggies and local tortillas. The potatoes on the side are an added touch of yum!

Sarah at Sarah's Homestead Blog found local salt! How cool is that... For this week's dinner she made a turnip puff, with mystery golden beans, a sliced tomato with shredded basil, and home baked herb bread. A recipe is also included in her post.

Over at My Green Turtle, she made greenbeans and tomatoes tossed with a bit of red wine vinegar and olive oil. On the side, they had a combination of cauliflower and romanesco cauliflower. They have been gone this week and so made two meals last week.

Laura over at Urban Hennery has been on a cross country trip. While vacationing with family, they created a wonderful local meal from that area. They had whole chickens on the grill, fresh green beans, peapod salad with green onion and bread from the bakery in town. I can't think of a better way to holiday than to eat local foods.

Melissa at Homesteaders in Training, a recent Colorado transplant, dined on two tarts: savory and sweet. While getting a hold of raw milk is proving to be a bit of an obstacle, she used local, pasteurized milk for butter for the crusts. Her new job at a CSA supplied the veggies for one tart, and plums and honey filled the other.

Lauren at Shooting Starts of Thought was inspired by okra. She had local gumbo z'herbs. With recipes. She also made a delicious and beautiful pie.
Great job everyone!

OLS West Week 4

Here at Chez Gnome, there are no photos of our meal this week. It was just too yummy to stop and take the time. We had roasted chicken with vegetables which included carrots and potatoes. For desert we had fresh peaches. Yum!

Laura at the Urban Hennery made a meal on the fly. They are just getting ready to leave on a cross country trip. She prepared spaghetti, salad, and ice cream for dessert.

My Green Turtle made salad with red peppers, carrot, and eggs. She also made beets! She too will be hitting the road this next week. She posted a second meal this week to make up for next week while she'll be gone but I'll save it till next week's post.

Sculpin has hurt herself! She is going to be taking it easy and not doing a lot of standing. Get better!

Cookiecrumb at I'm Mad and I Eat made local corn; potatoes mixed with peas; cucumbers; and tomatoes this week. I love what she said about summer cooking in the heat:

"I agree with my friend Catherine, who said that during the warm season, simple food is best. That doesn't mean you can't get complex flavors. Just layer bite after bite, clockwise or counterclockwise, around your plate."

Great advice!

Amy at Amystery made homemade pesto, cheese and local tomatoes on noodles. They look wonderful.

Sarah at Sarah's Homestead Blog made a yummy pizza of Spinach, basil, tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, and onion. She didn't stop there and made Lightly boiled new potatoes with butter and chives and a wilted spinach and kale salad with lime drizzles turnips and a poached egg. Two meals this week!

Lauren at Shooting Stars of Thought made mushroom and gouda humitas, served alongside Winchester Gouda, bread from Charlie's Best bakery, and a simple arugula and yellow tomato salad. And again, recipes!

YAY!!!!

The West is doing an amazing job!

OLS Week 3 - West

My meal for this week celebrates the new red tomatoes I've got on my vines. They are the most delicious thing ever. I decided a red onion, bell pepper, and fresh basil pizza with homemade sauce and a ton of fresh tomatoes on top. It was so yummy, absolutely no leftovers to be had.

Laura over at Urban Hennery made a feast! After having a bout of almost local meals, she pulled off the grande finale for the week. They had grilled chicken, salad, roasted veggies, and even an appetizer. To round out the meal they had some local wine and ice cream. YUM!

Cookiecrumb over at I'm Mad and I Eat made Joe's special:

"Joe's Special. It's a historic San Francisco mish-mash dish of ground beef, onions, mushrooms, spinach, eggs, and seasonings. If you follow the recipe on that link, be advised that you will get a wet, gray mess."

She lists her Joe's special method which includes very basic ingredients. It sounds delicious!

Sarah at Sarah's Homestead Blog made Homestead egg frittata filled with yellow squash, onion, garlic, spinach and local sharp cheddar. On the side: green beans sauteed with garlic and fresh out of the oven herb-filled bread. To drink: a freshly pulled pint of Blake’s home brewed Hefeweizen. Her glass of beer is a site to behold.

Amy at Amystery went out and caught her own food. Wild Alaskan salmon never looked so good.

Jocele at Knitting on Call found local tortillas to make a wonderful Mexican inspired egg taco with local veggies.

Lauren has made another masterpiece over at Shooting Stars of Thought. She is so wonderful to take us through her selection through her shopping experience and ultimately gives us her wonderful recipes. This week's menu includes: grilled yellowtail & cipollini onion kebobs with ginger-chili marinade, Nicoise Potato Salad, Grilled Corn and Radish Salad with Spicy Lime Dressing. Check out her haul from the market, beautiful!

Krystle and Hans-Peter at Taste the Seasons are using up the last of the chard.

"After finishing this meal, we knew that we had come up with a dish that could serve as a main course, without leaving any stomachs unsatisfied."

And of course the recipe is included in the post. The colors of chard are amazing.

Update!

Human error has caused me to not catch Turtles week 3 post. (and I thought I was doing so good too...grrr).

Turtle's meal looks wonderful. There was a wonderful salad with baby gems, cucumber, eggs, tomatoes and cheese. They also have corn on the cob! We don't have that here yet~lucky! She also baked some home made bread and there where strawberries in the photo as well. She lists all her mileage there as well. Great job!

I swear, every time I do the weekly roundup I feel like I've gained 10 lbs from just looking at all the delicious food everyone is making.

Great job! See you next week.

Week 2 OLS West

Wow! What an amazing week. Everyone from the west is doing a great job!

I was gone most of the week and unable to make our food choices (long story of camping with the parents). When I got home, I was too tired to do anything but make some eggs. I did wake up early and bake some blueberry muffins before a long day of errands and catch up. They are the perfect on the go breakfast.

Jocele made roasted red potatoes and onions, a salad and fixin's. This is even with the disappointment of a freezer going caput and them loosing all their meat. Way to hang in there Jocele!

Cam made homemade fettuccine with homemade butter and basil. Raspberries for dessert rounded out the meal. She also has a bonus post on how she made raspberry butter.

Ms. Peabody over at Urban Hennery made not one but two local meals. They had New York Strip steaks on the grill with fresh green beans and a salad on the side. To top it off they had local vanilla ice cream from the Sno-Isle co-op with fresh raspberries and strawberries on top. Their second meal:

"We did the chicken on the grill with a medley of vegetables in the grill basket. The chicken was seasoned with another spice mix from Grandma Edna’s, the veggies (potatoes, onions, green beans and zucchini) were seasoned with some sea salt, more of the same herb mix, and olive oil. We washed it all down with tap water and beer from the local Red Hook brewery."

MMMMM Red Hook... Don't forget to check out her new baby chicks. They are so cute!

Cookiecrumb made a wonderful soup straight from her own garden. Check out her greens clippings. Beautiful in it's simplicity.

Amy was going to a potluck and brought some amazing looking Gracious Grilled Salsa. The potluck she attended had some other wonderful local foods.

"This salsa was a hit at the potluck which also featured other spectacular regional foods....marinated moose steaks, salmon, halibut, of course many homegrown salads and rhubarb crisp."

Krystle and Hans-Peter made Penne and Swiss Chard with Gorgonzola Sauce. Chard production is going crazy there and this meal uses up what they have straight from the garden. They've also included the recipe. It looks delicious!

Lauren went with a liquid theme this week. She made milk poached halibut and summer squash with cantaloupe & green tomato salsa. She again has documented her meal composition and has recipes. Very cool Lauren.

Kathy made roasted chicken, green beans and strawberry strudel. She had all but given up the hope of finding any local strawberries this season when she stumbled upon some of the last available at the local market. She also made 12 jars of jam. Yay for late season strawberries!

Trina made a camp dinner using a variety of ingredients dried by themselves. She's survived the fire ants and is back home from her weekend of Energy Independence.

Sarah made some homemade herbed egg noodles with sauteed Walla Walla sweet thinnings, garlic, and zucchini. What is with all this homemade noodle goodness?! You guys are so creative.

Great job everyone! You are all doing such a wonderful job.

Week One - West

I'm so sorry I'm late. I've had a food poisoning for the last 3 days. (Not from local food(: ) Word of warning, don't eat seafood that's been sitting out for a while no matter if the shrimp cakes are calling your name.
I'm still recovering so please excuse the lateness.

My first week's OLS meal was fried green tomatoes, grilled zucchini, strawberry rhubarb cobbler and blueberry slab pie. I'm still unable to find really local flour. What I've been buying is 120 miles away and milled onsite so I'm going to call is close. I didn't take photos of the tomatoes and zucchini because we devoured them before I remembered to take a photo. DOH! But I did hold back the natives so I could take a photo of the desserts.

We've got some amazing posts from the west.

Laura at Urban Hennery made a wonderful Joe's Scramble with eggs from her own backyard! I thought the potatoes on the side were grapes at first glance. What delicious little things those little potatoes are. She even has her distances per item listed. Wonderful job Laura!

Cookie Crumb's photos are amazing! Her stuffed cabbage rolls are definately an inspiration. I love her posting of the thought process on making the meal. And she gives a shout out to Mommy Mosh Pit for her entertaining will all local food.

Amy's Yard Frittata looks amazing. And it includes reindeer sausage. That sounds very interesting. What does reindeer taste like Amy?

Krystle and Hans-Peter made a wonderful Pasta Primavera using bow-tie pasta. Bow-tie is definatly a favorite at our house.

"Although “primavera” means “spring” we decided to bend the rules by using summer squash!"

Way to work with seasonal ingredients! Delizioso!

Lauren attempted gnocci but settled on zucchini, chard, blue potato and roasted red pepper casserole, Roasted smashed potatoes with garlic & parsley, mixed string bean and mint salad. She includes recipes as well. She even improvised and used beer instead of wine in a recipe. She also included a google map of where her ingredients came from.

Kathy made a wonderful meal but was a bit pre-occupied:

"I prepared a delicious meal of local hanger steaks, fresh greens from my garden and sugar peas from my garden. Unfortunately, we ate it all before I remembered to take a picture. My excuse is somewhat exceptable….I was busy all day helping my daughter get ready for her trip to Europe. She left early this morning. The picture really isn’t the significance of the challenge, its’ the mindset."

Ms. D had one heck of an adventure for her first OLS post. Lets just say she survived OLS week one.(:

Trina had one amazing salad from her CSA produce. They're going camping this week plan on eating their OLS meal on the road. Can't wait to see how that goes. It should be pretty cool.

Sarah made a wonderful meal of egg and zucchini scramble and sauteed baby beets and greens. Crusty home baked herb bread and a glass of home brewed lavender mead. Home brewed lavender mead people! How cool is that. It sounds amazing.