Looks like we've made it......

.....We left each other on the way...to another love. Looks like we made it....or I thought so til today. Until you were there everywhere, and all I could taste was love the way we made it!

It doesn't take a '70's song to remind us food is love in our household. We travel with food in mind. We have vacations where there are no pictures of us, only pictures of the food we've eaten. We invite people to our home to share food and, by extension, love.

That's why I'm excited to share with you our greatest food accomplishment to date (the antithesis of Chef Thom's root beer experiment): WE LIVED LOCAL FOR A WHOLE YEAR!!!!!! Our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program started again last week with beautiful salad greens, radishes, chives, mint, lemon balm and asparagus. Our goal was to live local for a year, and it LOOKS LIKE WE'VE MADE IT!!!!!!!!!

Achieving our goal gives us the chance to pontificate about our experience. And, you, as unfortunate subscribers to our blog, will now be forced to travel this sentimental journey with us. Our top ten observations:

(10) We got soooooooo lucky with the amount of food we preserved. We did not have a guide or reference point. We just guessed, and we guessed correctly! Chalk this one up to, "We'd rather be lucky than smart."

(9) You can still entertain while living locally. We hosted multiple dinner parties at our home without going to the grocery store. Can you imagine the luxury?

(8) Canned tomatoes will chase away the winter blues. After 60 or 70 gray days in a row (check), there is nothing more soul nourishing than opening home canned tomatoes and smelling SUMMER.

(7) The barter system works! You read our pain as we noshed on green beans ad nauseum (literally). Thanks to our friends from Seldom Seen Farms for trading green beans for canned, diced tomatoes. We haven't been this happy to trade something out of our lunch boxes since grade school.

(6) You will cook more creatively with limited supplies. Let's face it, the beginning of Spring is a tough time for dining locally at your own home. The winter supplies have dwindled. The spring crops have yet to arrive. You will become incredibly resourceful when you start to evaluate what you can make with apples, green beans, corn on the cob, pureed peppers and plums. Danger: There are no known recipes that contain all these ingredients!

(5) Out of season produce is as flavorful as my shoes (sorry, Jimmy Choo). We've spent years buying peppers in January, watermelons in December and cucumbers in April (HINT: these things are all out of season). We never realized how flavorless they were until we ate our tasty food at home, preserved in season, then ate somewhere else serving out of season foods. Those waxy peppers don't look good to us in January anymore.

(4) We discovered new restaurants. When we decided to get serious about all this, we started eating at places better aligned with our food philosophy. We've always liked R Bistro and added City Cafe and others to our repertoire as a result.

(3) We know the names of the people who grow our food. We know if our chickens lived happy, free range lives. We know the RDA for wheat berries (did you know these are grown locally?) We discovered local mushrooms. We fell in love with Local Folks ketchup (wicked good, if you've never tried it). We know these folks by name, we've visited many of their farms, and none of our food has been recalled. Yippee!

(2) We've earned the right to play "Revolution" repeatedly. Remember the lines, "You say you got a real solution? Well, you know, we'd all love to see the plan." We made a plan and lived it out! We're advancing the local food revolution! It's awesome!

(1) Anticipation rocks! Do you remember what it's like to really, really, really want something? A new bike? A Boy Scout merit badge? A pony? A promotion? Antonio Banderas? Eva Longoria (before the -Parker)? That feeling where you absolutely must have and it will give anything to get it NOW........even though you can't have it RIGHT NOW......which is what makes it so good when you finally get it! That's what happens when you eat food in season. You know you love asparagus, and the season is coming. You know you really, really love tomatoes, and you'll have some in two and a half months. Waiting makes it better. There's NOTHING like that first bite.

If you would like to learn more about Locavore Living, we will be speaking at the Slow Food Indy event in conjunction with the Weston A. Price Foundation. It is on the 30 of August, at Weston A Price's facility in Fishers, 116 & 69; it's the rec building of a Methodist church

Slow Food Indy Potluck Picnic and Farm Tour

Slow Food Indy Potluck Picnic and Farm Tour
via Going Local by Victoria Wesseler on 24/05/09


Join Slow Food Indy for a potluck picnic and tour of the biodynamic Seven Springs Farm on Sunday, May 31, at 2:00 p.m.

Luella & David Porter raise chickens, turkeys, and beef cattle on their biodynamic farm in Rush County, about 40 minutes southeast of Indy. Their all-natural farm fresh eggs are a mainstay at several Indy-area markets and restaurants. The couple will lead a tour of their farm and explain the biodynamic practices they employ to keep their animals and their land healthy and productive.

Bring a dish to share and feast on a potluck picnic at the farm. Remember to bring your own reusable dining ware (plates, utensils, cups, bowls, etc.) to minimize waste.

If you're interested in carpooling, contact Slowfoodindy@gmail.com.

And if you haven't tried Luella's Magic Quiche you are missing a real treat!

Yes, we were growing it in the basement......

It's not surprising, really. The naturalist movement is associated with certain behaviors that don't appeal to everyone. Behaviors that can put one into a particular state of mind. It all started back in the winter.....

Chef Thom poured over the Seed Savers' catalogue all winter long. He dog eared pages, circled things, researched and dreamt of all that our suburban yard could become. When the seeds finally arrived, he couldn't help himself! He planted them in the basement! We have two windows in our unfinished basement. And, I have to be honest, we have the most unique basement in America (once you look past the rarely used elliptical runner). We have three hams hanging under the stairs in various stages of becoming proscuitto. We have enough platters to cater an extravagant party for the entire Royal Family. We have more wreaths than we have doors. We have already purchased half of this year's Christmas gifts (guess which one of us is ahead of schedule). We have our "root cellar" of local food supplies (onions, garlic, squash). And, then, we have a large, folding table covered with tiny patches of dirt and sprouting seedlings.

It reminds me of childhood when you plant a flower seed in a Styrofoam cup and pray, pray, pray that the seed turns into a beautiful flower by Mother's Day, least you be the only child in your neighborhood giving your mother a cup of plain dirt. (A cup of dirt always looks great next to a homemade card, of course).

But, I digress. We've been watching the seedlings sprout. And, to ease them into their new outdoor environment, Chef Thom made use of his blue boyhood wagon. Each day he rolls the seedlings in and out of the garage for the appropriate amount of sunlight and rain. He's been moving our composted soil to beds made for the seedlings.

This week we reached a new level of status with the neighbors by having three tons of highly stinky, composted soil delivered to the house. It's in a giant pile on the driveway (except for the parts that have been scattered across the lawn). This dirt covered yard has allowed us to meet neighbors we would never have met in the past! They are fascinated with the dirt.....and the blue wagon with plants.

It's all part of our carefully crafted plan to convert everyone to locavore living!!

Everything's coming up......Asparagus.....

We did procure that local asparagus thanks to our local farmers! We added morel mushrooms to our stash from Goose the Market. Chef Thom took morel mushroom hunting to the next level by searching in his brother and sister-in-law's backyard......along with his nieces, ages 22 months and five months. As you might imagine, they were very helpful, especially after watching the movie "Ratatouille" multiple times!

When you wait all winter for your favorite ingredients, you must consume them immediately! Many of you know that reading "Animal Vegetable Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver inspired our local food adventure. The book features a recipe we've been excited to try: Asparagus and Morel Bread Pudding (see below). We highly recommend it, especially when you use local asparagus, local morels, local butter, local milk, local eggs and homemade bread! This will become your favorite spring breakfast. You won't even notice you've become a vegetarian!

We already started freezing asparagus and morels to enjoy year-round. If you want to join our adventure of living and eating locally, this is the right season to start preserving food! Picture the joy of a cold winter day by the fire.......eating asparagus!

ASPARAGUS AND MOREL BREAD PUDDING

3 cups milk

1 cup chopped spring onions with green shoots

Add onions to milk in sauce pan and bring to a boil, set aside to steep

1 loaf stale or toasted multigrain bread broken into crouton sized crumbs

Pour milk over crumbs and allow bread to soak

1 lb. asparagus

Chop into ½ inch pieces and simmer in skillet full of boiling water until bright green

2 tbs. butter

1 lb. morels (or other wild mushrooms)

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in skillet, cook mushrooms until tender, add spices and set aside

4 eggs

1/3 cup chopped parsley

3 tbs. oregano

3 cups grated Swiss cheese

Break eggs and beat until smooth, add herbs and plenty of salt and pepper, add bread crumbs with remaining milk, asparagus and mushrooms with their juices and 2/3 of the cheese. Mix thoroughly and pour into a greased, 8x12 gratin, sprinkle remaining cheese on top and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes (until puffy and golden).