Pretty much all over the place, I guess! Mouthing off about politics and schlepping my art from Matthews to Chicago and back, deciding just how far I want to go when the fall shows come around.

But I’m also curious about how economics will pan out, and thinking that even though it’s late, it might be a good time to get out and plant some cabbages and other cold crops. Since I’m denying conventional rules for when to plant, my thoughts are leaning towards planting: Rutabagas, parsnips, carrots, beets, swiss chard, and tasty little members of the cabbage family.

Last night we had butternut squash sauteed with pears, onions, roasted chestnuts with sage and cumin, and cheese grits on the side.  Is there anything out there that sounds more like autumn than that?

The chestnuts and sage were from our back yard, the pears from my brother’s front yard.  Fall feels good already.

I’ve been drawing and cooking all week.  Me and the Mr. have stayed pretty local, aside from the impulse (aka too hungry to be food shopping at Earth Fare) meat substitute buys (Tofurkey sausage and some sort of Boca something).  Mr. C hasn’t had meat in a week, which I hadn’t thought about. He was simply eating what I made for him, which was obviously vegetarian.

I’m eying these grains from Anson Mills. The price tag is prohibitive, though.  I’m sure it’s totally worth it.  One day I’ll break down and get some goods. I like everything I’ve read about them.

With all the cooking we’ve been doing, I’m very intent on researching the viability of a food co-op in Matthews.  I’m writing this little seed of a thought down simply because it needs to move forward: wholesome, accessible food. It’s a thought I’m just throwing out into the great world wide web.

On another note, click on the image to print it up and use it, if you’re feeling the need to jot down a recipe.

Although he carries quite a torch for what can only be described as the antithesis of eating local, the changes will be significant. A last minute attempt to add cheese to our vegetarian dinner several nights ago, prompted us to stop by Harris Teeter to see what they had. Nothing. The closest cheese they had was from New Jersey. It was too late to drive to Earth Fare, so we went home and tried the home made goat milk feta. As we searched for the nonexistent local cheese, I could tell he was pretty disturbed, knowing that Harris Teeter is based less than 2 miles from our house. Surely their buyers must know of the incredible local resources we have here in the Carolinas? Maybe they don’t, and if not, now we are 1) aware of other, often cheaper resources, 2) have a higher standard of flavor, something the grocery store foods often lack due to a variety of reasons, and 3) more likely to let the grocers know we demand local. No, Mr. Teeter, I don’t consider Florida local.

Also, nixing sugar from our eating has been tough, but learning to love the simple sweetness of a bright fuchsia plum has been monumental. We’ve both eaten a lot smaller portions because the food is satisfying, rich in flavor, and worthy of contemplation while we eat it. There are no weird preservatives I can’t pronounce, no additives to change my desire to eat more than necessary, a little more cooking but a greater reward. It’s not just the grocery store tomato that literally pales in bland, pink comparison to it’s farm fresh truly tomato red counterpart, it’s everything. Milk, eggs, cheese, the sweetness of a baby zucchini, the texture and mouth feel of fresh egg noodles. It’s a slower, more appreciative reflection of the process a brilliant, kelly green bean undergoes while traveling from farm to plate.

As we go forward, it’s only appropriate that I thank the Carolina Farm Stewardship for introducing me to a more colorful approach to eating. Thank you!

Originally written for and posted on the Carolina Farm Stewardship Assn.’s blog.

As I’ve said in other posts, it’s gotten me out into the community to meet people, but more than anything it’s gotten me into the kitchen to cook. The beauty of the time spent in the kitchen is more time than I’ve had in a long time to commune with myself and listen to my natural patterns. It’s a meditation that embraces the clattering of pots and pans.

Realistically, I don’t have the stamina to maintain this weeks habits long term. I’ve set the week aside to experiment, try flavors and keep the local eating exciting. Perhaps it was a desire to entice my husband into the experience, rather than let him sit back and think it’s another fad I’m going through. The meals I have been making have been much more extravagant than average every day eating, so my days consist of working, cooking, eating, fixing lunches, sleeping and starting all over again. I’m feeling a bit like Donna Reed, although her house was far cleaner than mine.

The issue at hand isn’t the local food. We luckily live in, what my amateur senses feel is, an area of great agricultural wealth. The issue is that I’ve been cooking each meal, one at a time, and disregarding the planning aspect. Instead of making enough pasta for one meal and a leftover snack, making enough for several meals and storing it for later would be much better. That’s the aspect the planning department that I ignored. It has been nice to have interesting foods on hand and snacking has been a completely different experience. I’m not sur

e, but I think my body knows this week it’s pretty much preservative free!

Without sugar, there has been an apparent lack of dessert, and when I read the recipe for Salt-Kissed Buttermilk Cake on 101 Cookbooks my brain started storming. Perhaps it was the irresistible name or the mouthwatering pictures? Whatever the reason, I was curious enough to start translating the ingredients. Surprisingly, it was simple math! I interchanged the buttermilk for leftover whey from cheese making. I have 50 pounds of flour grown in South Carolina and milled by Adluh Mills. Sugar was subbed with honey, eggs are easy. The lemon zest might have posed a problem, except that one of my favorite herbs in my front yard is Lemon Verbena, which I chopped up and let simmer in the warming butter to infuse the lemony depth even further. Okay, so I didn’t have local salt or baking powder, and for those I used my non-local stock pile. And the topping, the salty bits to counter the sweet; for that I made a flour, butter and honey crumble, kissed with salt.

Despite my complaining about spending so much time cooking, this cake was just the challenge I was looking for. As it turned out, the time spent translating the recipe and communing with the food through baking just might have been the pinnacle of my kitchen experiment this week. Now I need to find a neighbor to share it with.

Originally written for and posted on the Carolina Farm Stewardship Assn.’s blog.

With grand hopes there are others like me,  I started a flickr group for Local Eaters in the Carolinas called Loco for Local: The Carolinas.  Joining flickr is free, and once you’ve joined you just go to the group page and click on the join button. Even non-bloggers of the challenge can join in and post pictures.  Just make sure your images are pictures of food or meals follow the rules of the Eat Local Challenge.  Also, here is a limit to 5 photos uploaded per member per day to the group. Any extra descriptions (sources of ingredients, recipes, etc) are encouraged, too.

If you’re not familiar with flickr, the FAQs page is very thorough,  as is the part pertaining to posting in groups.

In the meantime,  click on the image above and see the sources of my food for the week ahead.  I hope to see your pictures soon!

Originally written for and posted on the Carolina Farm Stewardship Assn.’s blog.

The world of sustainable food production is vastly different than the evening news would have you believe the “real world” is. It’s filled with like-minded, ecologically concerned people whose work involves both incredible effort and an underlying desire for quality in life. I’ve met a family that sows seeds seasonally, there are the first cousins of a friend of mine whose compassion and consideration for their dairy cows produce a more nutritious and flavorful product, the neighbors who have shared the fruits of their own land, there are the friendly workers and volunteers making the farmer’s markets happen, and, of course, the customers that support it all. Put them all together, and they are my community.

I thought I’d share the pictures of what I’ve found in the world: colorful, healthy food, grown by people who haven’t forgotten the two major lessons we all learned in kindergarten: the first is to share–some people have shared the fruits of their labor, others have shared their story. The other lesson is “Do unto others”. Each person involved in bringing food from the farm to the table preserves a greater quality of living. And that, this shy thirty something woman in Matthews, NC is learning, is an invaluable lesson for life.

Originally written for and posted on the Carolina Farm Stewardship Assn.’s blog.

As my own garden has started into Summer Production Mode, I’ve got figs coming in, tomatoes starting to blush, beans maturing, corn standing tall, and melons just poking their heads from their bright yellow buds. The Challenge for next week will actually be the pantry essentials like flour, butter, milk and eggs. Thanks to Carolina Farm Stewardship and this amazing world wide web, the edibles of the Carolinas are more accessible than I’d ever realized.

Little by little I’m finding resources I had no idea existed! Thanks to Kurt’s list several posts back, I now have a source for rice that is within a 100 mile radius of my house. I’d never, in my wildest imagination, thought rice would be part of the fun of exploring the Carolinas. The variety is phenomenal, and I can easily claim the foods available will have more flavor packed per bite than a whole head of iceberg lettuce could ever provide.

Another interesting facet of this experience so far (and it hasn’t even officially started yet!) has been talking to friends about the purpose, the goals, and the resources. Already I’m learning; a casual suggestion here or there about a friend of a friend’s farm, sources of goats milk, and just how many people really are interested in fresh, local food.

While on my quest for North Carolina cow’s milk, I decided it was finally time to try Homeland Creamery. Their website doesn’t list a retailer near me that sells their products, so I emailed to find out where the closest place would be for me to pick some up. They quickly emailed back and let me know it is The Bradford Store in Huntersville.

Huntersville is a bit of a drive from Matthews, not too horrendous, but enough for me to consider maximizing gas use for the trip there and back. So I emailed friends and family and explained this challenge and also explained I would be making the drive to pick up some provisions (sounds a bit like Little House on the Prairie, doesn’t it?) and asked if anyone else was interested in me picking things up for them. The response was phenomenal, not only in the amount of groceries I’ll end up bringing back, but just the sheer “neighborliness” of the action. Seems nothing brings people together like the prospect of fresh butter.

This afternoon I’m making the short trek to Lancaster, SC to visit Mahaffey Farms. They’ve got a gallon of goat milk with my name on it. Tonight I’ll be elbow deep in a small, experimental batches of goats’ milk feta and yogurt. Then on Saturday I’ll purchase the professional version of chevre from Bosky Acres at the Matthews Farmer’s Market.

What will I do with all this cheese? Last night we had the first figs of the season, though we had no cheese on hand, I can’t help but dream and drool about this simple, flavorful, Mediterranean inspired dish: Figs brushed with butter, infused with rosemary, then grilled, drizzled with honey and topped with feta. In terms of locale, this translates to: backyard, farmer’s market, front yard, farmer’s market, and farmer’s market. Can you imagine such a flavorful wealth, all within arm’s reach?

Seems a waste to keep such enjoyable flavor potentials to ourselves, anyone else out there have a local recipe to share?

Still looking around to see what is within 100 miles of our house (click on the image to see the large view).  Yesterday I found (through the CFSA Blog) there is a rice plantation 89 miles away! I was dumbfounded!

Despite the number of milk cows in North Carolina, finding a dairy that uses sustainable practices within 100 miles has proven difficult. Homeland Creamery is actually within the 100 mile radius (though driving it is closer to 109 miles) and it’s owned by the family of one of my co-workers.  See, the community is already getting a little bit smaller.

I’d been researching local foods prior to signing up for the challenge.  Looking for local cow and goat milk to further practice my rudimentary cheese making skills. Seeking outlets that surely must sell the local wheat I see thickly growing by the North Carolina roads. Ready to know the season by the foliage in gardens around town. My husband and I have been practicing car-free weekends to localize on the most literal level.  Though it was finding out about this challenge that was the boot-to-my-behind to dive in and eat the way I believe I should be eating.  Not just food, I expect the Eat Carolina Challenge will help me find my own roots the local community, connect me to others and to the earth.  I feel pretty certain those connections will last a whole lot longer than seven days, too.

Originally written for and posted on the Carolina Farm Stewardship Assn.’s blog.

This place is fairly average, I assume, probably wealthier than other places, but not overtly so. The US Census Bureau (dated 1999, I don’t know why it’s not more recent) lists the per capita income at $27,546, where the average North Carolina per capita income as $22,945 and the $25,267S.

I come from a family well-rooted in the area, live in a house built by my grandparents just as Matthews took on the life of a small town. As I approach my 30s, I’ve recognized the ever-widening chasm between the area of the US that has sustained the previous generations of my family, and seek on an observational level the answers that explain this.

That said, this blog probably won’t be too interesting to others, but I must recognize a certain degree of publicity blogging allows, especially since I have no intention of marking any as private. My views come from strongly liberal leanings, as the subtitle implies, which I hope will be open minded enough not to come across as patronizing. My intent is to reconnect with the identity of the past I feel closest to, as well as to understand why I feel so disconnected from it.

Part of this blog will be based on local foods and directly connecting with others.

So there I am and here I go.