Cookin' in the 'Cuse

Winding down the season

At this time of the year it can be hard to tell which way the season is going to go by the weather.  Today felt like a beautiful spring day while this past weekend had me prepping for winter.  I'm not all that inclined to rush the season along but the earlier sunsets and the raking of leaves tell me that there is no turning back.

I, however, will do what I can to put it off.  Instead of putting my garden to my bed, I tuck my tomatoes in at night to extend the harvest.  Each night that there is danger of frost I cover the volunteer paste tomatoes growing in the middle of the back yard (where last year's tomato patch had been) with an old bath towel.  In the morning, I wake up, remove the towel and hope for sun and high temps.  I cling to hopes of being able to jar a bit more sauce for the winter.

Other signs that the season is winding down...tomorrow is the last of the four farmers' markets held on the Syracuse University campus.  The last two were on days with tropical storm like weather.  Tomorrow promises to be beautiful so come check out the the fall harvest and get your squashes, root vegetables, and other storage produce to hold you over the coming colder months.  I'll be there from 11:00 - 1:00 pm signing copies of the book I contributed to:  Bread, Body, Spirit:  Finding the Sacred in Food.  The University Community Harvest Farmers' Market takes place in the Waverly parking lot from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

Lastly, lovers of all things apple shouldn't miss the annual Lafayette Apple Festival taking place this weekend.  Local apples, cider, the crunch of leaves underfoot, and yeah, I know, crowds.  But it's autumn perfection.  Enjoy every moment.

Dinner at the Farm--Harvest Dinner at Stick and Stone

Back when the notices first went up for the Harvest Dinners to help support Healthy Food For All--a program that makes CSA membership accessible to families in need with partial subsidizing of the fees--I knew I had to make a reservation.  I like to think of it as eating well so others can simply eat. As it happened, the only one that fit in my schedule occurred tonight--right near the start of the Eat Local Challenge month. 

Under the warm lights of Stick and Stone's new barn 100 or so producers, farmers, chefs, coffee roasters, vintners, and lovers of seasonal, fresh, delicious food gathered to partake of an incredible four-course meal.  Wines from Silver Thread Winery were generously poured, while a menu that included home crafted pork sausage, black, navy, and red bean soup finished with arugula  and sumac scented yogurt, roasted delicatta squash filled with root vegetables and green beans, and a spit-roasted lamb and braised goat with honey braised fal greens were passed family style around the table.  A star anise infused white wine candied apple with quince paste and smoked cheddar completed the meal.  Oh yes, Gimme! Coffee was served up as well.  Some of us even took a tour of the Gimme! roastery before the dinner.  What a night!

Special thanks to all the farmers who donated foods (I sat with John and Marion Wertis who supplied the goat).  And kudos to Chefs Hans Butler and Bernie Oshaben of Watercress Restaurant, Ithaca, for turning an abundant harvest into a feast.

A Homegrown Experience--Tomorrow in Skaneateles

 
A Homegrown Experience--with Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, Speaker
October 2nd at 6:30pm
at the St.James’ Parish Hall
96 E.Genesee St., Skaneateles

EarthWorks , the eco-ministry of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Skaneateles is hosting an evening in celebration of local food and the people who produce it with a pot-luck supper and presentation on October 2nd at 6:30 pm. We are asking participants to bring a dish to share, prepared from ingredients produced within a 100-mile radius.   
Please join us for this free event. For details, call 685-7600.  

Eat Local Challenge 2008--Central New York Style

Today is the first day of the Eat Local Challenge and I could not be more excited.  We are surrounded by the delicious abundance of the season and there are countless resources for local food and products in our area.  I hope you will join me and people across the country who are attempting to get a little closer to our food and food sources.  Here are few things you can do to get started:

• Sign up at the Eat Local Challenge site.  This takes just a moment and is a great way to help us know where the locavores are for this Challenge.

• Think about how you want to live into this Challenge.  How will you define "local"?  How many meals do you hope to source locally?  Will you take exemptions and, if so, what will you exempt?  You can read about how I hope to do the Challenge further down.

• Check out the Eat Local Challenge archives on this blog and on the ELC site to read about how the Challenge has been done in years past.

• Check out the local resources on the sidebar to source products and locate restaurants that are committed to supporting local producers or practice sustainability.

How I'm doing the Challenge this year:

Definition of Local:  I plan to source as much food as possible from sources within a 150 miles of Syracuse, NY for all home-cooked meals.  I also hope to be particularly intentional of eating in restaurants that support local producers when I do eat out  I also recognize that I'll be traveling A LOT this month and will not be able to eat this way in the hotels and conference centers I'll be staying in (such as the one I'm typing this from in Madison, NY).  This will make my local eating (and cooking!) at home even more precious.

Exemptions:  Ah, yes...I will be exempting salt and spices, cooking oils, sugar, some grains, tea, coffee and chocolate.  Whenever possible I do plan to use these products when they are locally processed (like locally roasted coffee) and fair trade when available--October is also Fair Trade Month.

Goals for the month:  To enjoy the bounty of the season for as long as it lasts; to put up food as I have time; and to put the garden to bed properly.

So have fun--post a comment and let us know if and how you will be doing the Challenge and if you know of any new food sources drop me a line!

2008 Eat Local Challenge Begins....

Eek!  in just a few minutes!

It's just before midnight as I type this but come morning I'll have more information on my plan to participate in this year's Eat Local Challenge and how you can too.  For all the details on the Challenge click here.

Till the morning...

Buy Local Week in Madison County

Are you looking for some "eat local" inspiration right now?  If you live in or near Madison County then you'll want to check out their Buy Local Week sponsored by the Madison County Agricultural Economic Development Program and the Cornell Cooperative Extension.  The emphasis of Buy Local Week, which begins today and runs through Satruday, is to support local farmers and help people learn how much food they can obtain from local sources.  You can even get a passport stamped at participating farms and at the Cazenovia and Hamilton farmers' markets.  They'll even hand out prizes for those who collect several stamps on their passports.  And there's more!  This Saturday, new maps to Madison County farms will be available at the Cazenovia and Madison County markets--very, very, cool!  Click here for more information.  Thanks, David, for the tip!

If you're looking for more inspiration check out the Eat Local Challenge blog for information on this year's Eatl Local Challenge taking place in October.  While that will be high harvest time for us in Central New York, you won't want to forget to freeze, can, pickle, or dry the great produce we have right now for extra variety through the fall and winter.  I hope to have news about some canning workshops soon.  Stay tuned!

Would you pay someone to grow food in your backyard?

Today's New York Times ran a cover story on folks who are willing to pay someone to install a vegetable garden, weed, tend, and harvest the produce growing in their own backyard.  You know I had to comment.  Check it out on the Eat Local Challenge blog.

The beginnings of a beautiful thing

There couldn't have been a better way to end the 2007 Eat Local Challenge than to gather folks for a dinner prepared from locally grown ingredients.  The Syracuse Eat Local Dinner Club was born last Saturday night when a collection of food growers and food lovers came together to celebrate the bounty of the season and to talk about the highs and lows of eating local in Central New York.

The great thing about this dinner--in addition to the food--was the passion, commitment, and talent of people who genuinely care about the food they grow, prepare and eat.  As it turns out, everyone present grew a little something--some of us were farmers others of us had small garden plots in our backyards.  And it also turns out, everyone could whip up a delicious dish.  Kudos and thanks goes especially to Heather Brubaker for hosting (and baking some scrumptious breads and other goodies). 

The Syracuse Eat Local Dinner Club plans to meet on the fourth Saturday of the month--the next location is yet to be determined--but stay tuned.  Below are some photos from the inaugural gathering--click on any photo to enlarge.

Update:  The Hungry Foodie has a nice write up here.

Getting in a Pickle

I think the Cookin' in the 'Cuse community is awesome and one of the things that makes it so great is the willingness of readers to share ideas, events, and even recipes.  This recipe for pickles come from Kathleen in the Albany area.  It seems so quick and easy I can't help but give it a try.  She even provided some step by step pics. It is right in the spirit of this year's Eat Local Challenge with its emphasis on canning, freezing, and preserving. 

Though we are in the last days of this year's Challenge, I hope to post more about preserving and canning because in many ways, the preserving season is just at its peak.  We can look forward to preserving all the delicious apples and squash that are just coming to market and we'll still have lots of beans and greens over the next month or so.  And, I still can't keep up with my tomatoes.  If you've been having fun canning and preserving this month, drop a comment and let us know what you've been up to.

Bread and Butter Pickles

2 cups sliced cucumber
1 medium onion, sliced thin
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. mustard seed
1/4 tsp. celery seed
1/4 tsp. turmeric

Set out ingredients

Sliced cucumbers

Combine vinegar and dry ingredients in a microwave safe bowl, add
sliced cucumber and onion, mix well.

Choose a bowl you won't mind
getting discolored a nice day-glo green.
Cover with plastic wrap and microwave 5 minutes on High.

Stir, microwave for 5 more minutes. Refrigerate immediately.

Kathleen's "Yummy Pickles"!

Keeping Track of Recalls

I guess I missed it in my busy-ness but I was a bit shocked to see signs of the latest mixed greens recall in the Dewitt Wegman's.  To read more and get my take on the future of the Eat Local movement, check out my latest post on the Eat Local Challenge blog.

Archive Alert:  On this date in 2005 I was reflecting on the Eat Local journey.