Back in the kitchen

I'm trying to get back on track and back to the blog after a lot of diversions, including too many meals away from home.

Here is some of next winter's very local cornbread--I hope. It's the ground and growing at last. This is Painted Mountain Flint Corn from High Mowing Seeds.

You can read more about my gardening efforts at MyFolia. I highly recommend this site.

Pennywise Challenge, Day 7

Breakfast -- Oatmeal (Bob's Red Mill scottish oats)
Lunch -- Leftover night-befores
Dinner -- OK, I broke down. I gave in. I yielded. I took DS out for our not-quite-usual payday meal. (He read the blog, got right in my face--he does this, literally, carries on his most intense conversations nose to nose--and said "A year off? A year?")

"It's not like there was a prize or anything," I said. "It was an exercise in self-discipline. It was an adventure in local food. The only benefit of doing it at the same time as anyone else is just to have someone to share the fun with."

"Fun?" he asked. "Fun?"

And then, "El Charritos."

I agreed.

Total for the week (not counting the meal out): $101.40, after I had adjusted all the estimated weights at the end).

Total INCLUDING the meal out $123.40.

Now, DS did NOT eat at home on from Friday night to Sunday afternoon, and I didn't count his school lunches, or the hypothetical expense of the free food I had (including a whole meal Saturday). This is our situation every other week; a normal part of our budget.

But it is clear that the budget goal is do-able. Since the "average family" has endured a year of inflation since the actual date of the challenge, I could have had an even bigger "average" budget to work in. Unfortunately, the average family had not had a year of salary increased keeping pace, so like everyone else, I need to cut expenses.

I would like to reduce the number of exceptions I made...but for most of those exceptions, replacing items with distant sources with local items should not result in an increased cost. I am trying to grow as much as I can this summer....

Next up:

Why bother?

Pennywise challenge, Day 6, Monday

Home stretch.

Breakfast: Coffee with half and half, cocoa. Son had blueberry snack bar.

Lunch: Glass of kefir, Kettles potato chips (I unearthed them while reorganizing things in kitchen. Hey, made in Oregon.)

Dinner: Baked potatoes topped with leftover tostada meat, leftover beans, slices of Greenbank sharp cheddar.

Snack: Broke down and opened up the "Adelle" round of cheese from Ancient Heritage dairy. It was a $5.20 hunk of cheese, and I was going to save it until I was through with challenge. DS asked to try it, and I shared. We ate about a third of it.

He said, "Not bad," which coming from him, for cheese, is high praise. I said, "I think it could have ripened longer," and he said "What do you mean?" so I explained that cheeses like Brie and Camembert need to "ripen" as the mold from the rind permeates the interior until it turns into a creamy liquid. I thought it was pretty good, a smooth mellow flavor with a little tang.

But he thought it was ridiculous for cheese to cost $19.95 a pound, no matter how much work goes into them.

"It would be good on crackers," he said.

I agreed.

I have been on a Quest. The Quest is to find a local cheese that DS will eat.

Now I need to find one that I can afford to feed him.

Did I say, he made faces at the Oregonzola?

And he thought the Greenbank cheddar was weird because it didn't melt on our hot food tonight (even after another 30 seconds in the microwave).

Does raw milk cheddar have a higher melting point?

Total for week: $125 and change. This might go down when I go through the list tomorrow and weigh everything where I am calculating the amount I used by the beginning and ending amounts.

Pennywise Challenge -- Oops

Just figured out -- trying to find other bloggers who are participating -- that I'm doing the challenge a year late -- wonder what my food budget SHOULD be, considering the last year of inflation? Still, I'm on track and sticking with it.

Just don't tell my son.

Not only is it the kind of whoops that has him rolling around laughing at me (sometimes for years into the future, like the day I couldn't find the "On" button on a borrowed video camera), but he is having to suffer through my enthusiasm, without sharing it.

Pennywise Challenge, Day 5 (Sunday)

An all-out fun in the kitchen day.

Breakfast: Leftover rhubarb crumble. Coffee with half½ later in day had pot of decaf doctored with half&half and fair-trade cocoa.

Lunch: Pink Lady Apple. Nibbles from things I'm cooking. By the time dinner was on I was frantically hungry. Fortunately, I had ready within a half-hour of DS walking in the door at 4:30.

Dinner: Tostadas: fresh hand-made tortillas (corn, cal-lime, grapeseed oil)
Beans (cooked all day in slow cooker with bacon ends, bay leaf, and half onion)
Seasoned beef (ground beef with salsa and other half of onion
Cheese (Greenbank cheddar)

Bedtime snack: Green salad with Oregon Gorgonzola and green goddess dressing
Chard wilted in bacon grease, with bits of bacon ends.

OK, it's an odd bedtime snack--would have been better at lunch--but at lunch I was working on dinner. Also spent a lot of time on the computer today updating blog and searching online for WA or Oregon sources of grains.

For the tostadas, I made my own nixtamal. Nixtamal is corn soaked in lime, which makes it more digestible, removes the skins, and adds calcium -- making nixtamal is one of the few processes that actually makes food more nutritious.

To do this, I boiled the corn with cal-lime for about an hour and let it soak all day, then ground it in the VitaMixer. I've had good results with this before, but today it came out very gummy. Same bag of corn. I'm either--not boiling long enough, boiling too long, not soaking long enough, not using enough lime, or some combination of the above. My guess is the soaking, since up to 24 hrs is recommended for fine tortilla dough and I only had about 8. Also, the corn was warm when I ground it. I tried sticking some in the freezer to cool for little, and the cup that was cooled wasn't as sticky. (The VitaMixer generates a lot of heat in grinding.)

Also, this process is supposed to remove the skins, and while the skins were loosened, they weren't just coming off. I just ground them up.

On the other hand, the sticky corn did not just fall apart in tortillas the way my masa harina tortillas usually do. It was sticky, but not too gummy to handle. But a walnut-sized ball, rolled in my hands, felt like a rubber ball.

There are a few websites that give brief directions for making nixtamal (the lime-soaked corn kernels) but none of them have FAQs for things that go wrong.

I took the last cup and spread it on a cookie sheet in a warm oven to dry (200 with door propped open, then shut oven off). I was going to grind it dry for more tortillas to see if I get better results, but I may parch the corn instead...I haven't tried parched corn with nixtamal yet.

After the nixtamal was ground, I made tortillas in the press, cooked them in my little stainless steel omelet pan, added grapeseed oil to the pan, and fried them. They tasted great. They didn't puff up while cooking, and I'm not sure if they are too thick, too gummy (or both) or if my pan isn't hot enough. HIGH is as hot as my stove goes! A cast-iron comal would probably get hotter, but my little comal is still packed somewhere.

One of these days.

What's local: Milk, half and half, butter, cheese, beef, oil, bacon, chard, lettuce/salad greens mix, Oregonzola (blue cheese), onion from CSA

Exceptions: Corn, Cal-lime, salsa, salt, salad dressing, coffee, cocoa.

Total for week: $112.60

Note on total -- I'm getting close to the limit -- but I haven't used all of the estimated amounts on some of the pricier items. About half of the Greenbank cheddar, just a few chunks of the Oregonzola...I think when I weigh out the estimated items at the end of the week, I will just squeak in.

Pennywise Challenge, Day 4 (Saturday)

Breakfast: Last of the leftover biscuits, some kefir.

Lunch: Exception--I spent the day at a church conference and had the box lunch there (a submarine sandwich from Fred Meyer with Cheetos and carrot cake); also coffee and a soda.

Dinner: Three blue potatoes, melted butter and Tillamook cheddar, salt and pepper.

Snack: Mozarella cheese

Midnight snack: Small batch of biscuits.

Local: Potatoes, butter, milk

Exceptions: Lunch, and the non-local ingredients in the bisuits.

Pennywise Challenge, Day 3 (Friday)

Breakfast: Cup of kefir (local milk, cultured)

Lunch: More leftover pizza

Dinner: Burgerville strawberry smoothie, leftover biscuits with melted cheese (leftover biscuits with honey for dessert!)

Local: Leftovers, milk, cheese, butter, Burgerville smoothie

Exceptions: Wheat, salt, baking powder & soda in the biscuits

Strangely, I didn't feel particularly hungry or as if I were doing without, although this is very light and simple eating for me. The smoothie was an extravagance--I drove DS to dad's in Vancouver right after work, and was hot tired and hungry--had the smoothie before I got back on the road and it was just right, almost a meal in itself.

Pennywise, Day 2 (Thursday)

Breakfast:
Coffee at work (free). Snack bar for DS.

Lunch:
Leftover pizza. Free cake and mints from going away party at work.

Afternoon:
Flavored water (I swiped some from son for my lunch).

Dinner:

6 eggs, scrambled
Bacon ends (fried and scrambled into eggs, leftover & fat saved for another meal).
Cheese (in eggs)
Homemade biscuits (used all whole wheat flour and some goat-milk yogurt & kefir).
Bedtime tea (chrysanthemum, exception) for son.
Free cake & coffee at Bible study.

Total for week so far:
$84.40

What's local:
Eggs, bacon, cheese, milk, leftover local ingredients in pizza, flavored water.

Exceptions:
Coffee, tea, chocolate, snack bar, free food.

Pennywise Challenge, Day 1 (Wednesday)

I went shopping earlier this week, including a trip to Portland. I won't waste my time and gas that way again...not a special trip. Only when it is a side trip on a drive I have to do anyway.

Keeping track: I set up a spreadsheet. I'll save to it to Google documents and make it public for you, if you want details or just to see how I'm doing it. Many items I will not calculate the cost daily--things like milk and butter and blocks of cheese, I have written down the cost of gallon, or a pound. I'm estimating how much of it I will use (so it shows in my running total as if I have used a week's supply already).

Is this obsessive or what?

Breakfast:
Hot chocolate. Milk; 2 scoops mint hot chocolate mix

Lunch:
3 scrambled eggs with cheese, salt, pepper

Dinner:

2 10-inch pizzas, one with tomato sauce, chicken Italian sausage, Mozarella cheese, some leftover olives, and one with roasted beets and leeks, sausage, cheese, grapeseed oil.

Rhubarb crumble with ice cream.

Total for week so far:
$81.00

Note that includes estimates items that I have on hand and expect to use during the coming week, including a lot of cheese, some of it expensive. I doubt if I will use it all--I might save some of it without opening it at all.

Recipes today:
Rhubarb Crumble
Beet Pizza (subsituted mozzarella cheese & leeks, added sausage)
Cornmeal Pizza Dough

Teenage Reaction: "It's Okay" to sausage pizza, rhubarb crumble. Ate two bites of beet pizza and handed it back to me. Ate non-local exception snacks (included in costs).

Local today:
Milk, butter, eggs, cheese, beets, leeks, sausage, grapeseed oil, rhubarb, ice cream

Exceptions today:
Yeast, sugar, baking powder, corn starch, salt, pepper, olive oil, cinnamon, coffee, half and half.

Benefits of eating locally and organically

One benefit, unexpected, is that when I revert to an ordinary rushed everyday home meal, my son rejoices and asks for seconds, instead of pushing it around on his plate and murmuring "I'm just not that crazy about spaghetti."

"Nothing is local? Nothing is organic? Just regular normal food?"

Yup. Just plain old spaghetti with a half a jar of canned sauce dumped on top, and some Kraft Parmesan, um, er, well, they call it cheese.

Oh yeah. The butter on the white bread toast (white bread purchased specifically for soothing the wild teenage beast). Tillamook. Local.

"You can buy local butter?" he said. "Really?"

From leftovers to tostadas

I took the last of last week's pot roast, chopped it into chunks and trimmed off the fat [note: the big pad of fat across a rump roast tastes like the very cheapest most disgusting grade of hamburger that has been sitting in the frig soaking up nasty odors until you are afraid to cook it...I will trim it first next time no matter what I read somewhere about fat keeping meat tender and juicy and adding flavor].

I put the a skillet with about a 1/4 cup of chicken broth and a few tablespoons of canned salsa, covered and let it simmer.

While it simmered I made fresh blue corn tortillas, fried them, opened a can of black beans and warmed them up, mashing in some olive oil, and cooked some brown rice in chicken broth (with a little low-sodium V8 juice added in). I stirred some cubed cheddar cheese into the beans.

"What's that smell?" DS asked while the meat was cooking.

I lifted the lid.

"Umm, that's the smell of lightly seared beef, just like they serve it in the finest Mexican restaurants." It was, in fact, the salsa turning into a hard black shell of spicy-hot carbon on the bottom of my skillet (but I got lucky--the meat really was just lightly singed with a toasty grilled flavor, just the way I actually like it). I turned the heat off and shredded the beef with a couple of forks.

Tostada shell. Beans. The "lightly seared" and very flavorful shredded beef. Topped with shredded lettuce/greens from CSA and little more cheese. Rice on the side.

My son and I both ate four. I have a hit, but he thought the rice was underdone and bland (he was right).

The last few spoonfuls of everything are in a ziplock for my lunch tomorrow.

Bother. It's after midnight and writing this made me hungry again.

What was local? The beef, the cheese, the greens. Rice is from closest known source. Corn masa is one of my exceptions until my own corn is harvested. Salsa is from my "using it up before buying more and IS there a local source?" cupboards. Come summer, I might try canning salsa. I've done it once.

My 100-Mile Food Web Map

Here's a tool I want to share with you. I went to Google maps, created my own map, drew on lines radiating 100 miles (within a mile) from a center, and added some of the sources of local food that I have found over the last several weeks.

Here it is: My map

This really includes only the places of most interest to me. I have not tried all of them--many are there for future excursions . . . but the yellow shopping basket icons indicate places where I have made regular purchases.

The map is centered at the Cowlitz County fairgrounds, right across the street from the Farmer's market. I will be gradually crosslinking the map and the blog, so that if I write an entry on a CSA, the blog entry will link to the map, and vice versa. Gradually.

I hope this will be helpful to you. . . . but the best sources for this kind of information are still www.localharvest.org and www.eatwild.com.

Wednesday Night. Winco. Pizza.

'Nuff said.

Tough Stuff

It's actually pretty easy to find local seasonal produce, beef, pork, poultry, and eggs. Cheese and milk, in this area, are harder.

The kind of wheat that you need for bread (hard winter wheat, either red or white) grows beautifully in the colder and dryer climates east of the Cascades. It's apparently not successful on a large scale west of the Cascades. Soft wheat (the kind used in pastry flour, pancakes, biscuits, pie crusts) can be grown here, and I'm going to try it myself this summer.

So wheat flour for bread is regional (WA/OR) rather than local.

Olive oil: As far as I know, the closest source is California. I'm looking for a regional or local source for grapeseed oil, which shares olive oil's reputation as a "good" oil. I have found a couple of farms that make it, but haven't found out yet how to buy it without a long drive or paying a lot for shipping. Other oils, such as corn, safflower, sunflower, walnut, and hazelnut should be possible, but I haven't found them yet.

Dry beans: Who'da thunk it? This standby staple, this old dependable, old reliable protein source has suddenly become problematic. I'll give you details of my search for organic (local if possible) cannelloni beans another time. I'm still hunting. For that matter, try finding ANY cannelloni beans that aren't already in a soup can. Neither Fred Meyer nor Safeway have them on their rather limited shelves of beans.

Rice: It should be possible, but I don't think anyone is doing it. Wild rice, on the other hand, is not only grown in Oregon, but within 100 miles of us. So far, I'm stocked up on organic rice from Lundberg farms, in California . . . will I buy more when I run out?

Pasta (the problem is the same as wheat, with manufacturing added in).

Oatmeal and . . . in fact, almost any product made from almost any grain, bean or legume.

ALL Local Pot Roast!

Last night, I pulled brown paper packages out of the freezer. Several weeks ago, I crossed the river, drove to a private home on a country road, and invested about $120 of my tax refund . . . in meat.

The meat is grass-fed beef from River Run Farm. It has a rich, full beefy flavor, and it comes already vacuum-packed and frozen.

I bought four roasts, each between 3 and 4 pounds, and ten pounds of ground beef, in one-pound packages. Two of the roasts were sirloin tip, and two were rump roasts.

I had to go to the internet and consult various sources, because I remembered that I had picked out one type of roast for pot roast, and one for roasting slowly, London-broil style. I decided to go with the rump roast, since that was recommended in the recipe I chose, and tucked the others away for another day.

I loosely followed a recipe for Yankee Pot Roast from Culinate. I added organic onions (already in my kitchen, in a net bag that says they were grown in Washington . . . I bought them either at Trader Joe's or Wild Oats). From my CSA, I added three potatoes (unfortunately, they were russet potatoes, which are great baked and fall apart stewed) and four turnips. I added a bay leaf from a couple of long branches from a bay tree that a local gardener gave me recently.

Yes, bay leaves grow on trees, and yes, they will grow here . . . I always thought bay trees in this area had to be kept in pots and brought in for the winter, but apparently not.

Result: 100% local pot roast (the salt and pepper and olive oil are all routine exceptions for me). DS and I both had it for dinner, along with a green salad of CSA salad mix with Annie's Green Goddess dressing. Quote: "You know I'm just not that crazy about pot roast." I had more when I came home after church, and put it up in the frig to have again today--I'll freeze whatever I don't have for today for my future lunches.

Turnips: I've never cooked with turnips myself, though my mother used to. Remind me sometime to tell you about the Year of the Turnips in my father's life.

But I was feeling to frazzled to try to photograph it as I went along. Maybe next time.

Leftovers

Lunch today was the bean soup, with a slice of bread and the last of the Valentina cheese.

When I came home from work both my son and I were ravenous. He made hungry take-me-out-to-eat noises, but I made a giant omlette, cut it down the middle, and served it with buttered toast.

6 eggs (local); parsley, chives and thyme (from my CSA); medium Tillamook cheddar (local), sea salt, organic pepper.

Then I caved in, without too much pressure, and bought us Drumsticks for desert.

White Bean, Orange Squash, and Kale Soup

I followed the recipe for "White Bean, Orange Squash, and Kale Soup" by Carrie Floyd on Culinate.com. I left out the celery. The milk in this picture is an accident (I had two recipes mixed up in my head as I set out ingredients) and I forgot to set the onion out. Otherwise: From Winlock Meadows, you see squash, parsley, thyme, and kale. From my cupboards, garlic cloves, olive oil. From the supermarket, purchased for this recipe: fresh sage, Great Northern White Beans. I couldn't find canneloni, which the recipe called for, and the beans were neither local nor organic. I also bought a baguette (not pictured).

On the white saucer, there is a little wedge of cheese, what is left of the Valentina I bought in Olympia. It is a Gouda-style cheese, just what the recipe calls for. Even though I used it sparingly (there are a few sprinkles on the soup as well as on the baguette slice), it had a sharp distinctive taste that added a wonderful contrast to the soup. Using a sourdough baguette also added a crisp flavor, as well as a crisp texture to the soup. The Great White Northern beans sort of wrinkle up and then fall apart in a soup, while (if I remember), the canneloni beans keep their smooth shape.



It was pretty good--I had a big bowl and half a bowl more, and suddenly discovered that I really wasn't hungry for more...not even for salad, which I had saved for the end of the meal. My son ate about half a bowl and announced that it just wasn't his kind of food. He grudgingly ate a few more bites for me.

One little step at a time.

It's a big recipe, so I pulled out the Foodsaver (hardly used since I bought it) and put four vacuum-sealed bags of soup into my freezer for lunches.

I picked up my first vegetables from my CSA yesterday. (CSA is Community Supported Agriculture--consumers pay in advance for a share of the season's produce.) My CSA provider is Susie Kyle of Winlock Meadows Farm. My share was $250 for ten weeks for a "Mini" package. It's just about right for the two people in my household (and probably more than enough since one of them takes a very suspicious view of any vegetables not served on a pizza.)

I came away from the Farmer's Market with a big grocery bag full of vegetables. Here is is on my kitchen counter. I may have to get a tripod for this kind of photography--these are the best of a blurry group of pictures.



There are:

One large slice of a Hubbard squash (since this is not a spring vegetable, it is obviously a good keeper!)
Three large carrots
One apple (Cameo)
One onion
Half a cabbage
Several small turnips (the turnips are the white vegetables in a bowl, about the size of a lemon each).
A bunch of kale (very sweet and tender--that's the spiky looking green stuff on the left)
Swiss chard (the shiny green stuff in the middle)
A bag of mixed green salad (including baby kale)
A bag of stir fry mix, ready to use
Parsley
Thyme
Sage

While I was at the market, I also picked up two loaves of bread from Homer's Bakery: one cinnamon raisin, and one cracked wheat; a pint of honey from John Penner (I've been buying honey from him at the Farmer's Market every spring and summer since 1994); and two dozen eggs from Kathleen's Animal Protein (KAP).

Posts will follow this week on meals prepared with local food.

The Penny-Wise Eat Local Challenge

I missed the last few challenges issued by various groups...but this one hits me in the pocketbook:

The Penny-Wise Eat Local Challenge, scheduled for April 23-29, 2008.

The challenge is to eat local for one week on an "average" American budget, keep track of every penny, and report the results. You get to define local. You get to specify (in advance) the exemptions you want. You can use food you already have on hand (lots of local eaters stock up on bulk items, and everyone has staples like oil and spices in their cupboards)--but you have to figure out the current value of those foods and include their cost.

If you want to join me, you can go to eatlocalchallenge.org to sign up.

Here's my statement of goals for the challenge:

1. What's your definition of local for this challenge?

I'm trying to use a 100-mile radius but so far there are many things that I just haven't been able to find (yet)...I'm pretty new to it, and I have to keep a 15-year old boy moderately happy....so I'm going to define local as anything produces within Washington or Oregon (I live in Washington near the border). A lot of produce is also labeled by state, but not city. So I'll say Washington and Oregon (but within 100 miles wherever possible), plus Northern California (because this is how one of the stores I shop in defines local). So it will be a challenge to keep finding new sources....

2. What exemptions will you claim?

Coffee, tea, chocolate, salt, pepper, olive oil, assorted spices, yeast, baking soda, baking powder, dairy products from Organic Valley that are not labeled "Northwest Pastures,"(only their gallon jugs of milk are labeled with a specific coop -- the rest could be from anywhere) and...because I have just ordered it and will want to cook with it....Hopi blue corn (my excuse for this non-local extravagance is that I am evaluating it to include in my garden...and I've been looking for it for a long time and just found it). Also...I'm still looking...I'm down to emailing individual farmers that I find online....hard winter wheat for baking bread.

And because I'm not sure I can get through the week without pacifying my son, chocolate, sodas, assorted "healthy snacks", and flavored waters.

3. Will you be making any changes to our budget goals?

The second person in my family is not, strictly speaking, a wage earner, but does have a small income. So I'm not sure if it's fair to go for the 2 person wager earner level, which is a bit higher. So...

2+ persons in the family, 1 wage earners: $121 a week, plus the $8/week for alcoholic beverages (I occasionally indulge...)

[Note to my blog readers...they had a list of "average" budgets to choose from to fit your family.]

4. Do you have any additional personal goals for the week?

Absolutely no eating out! Eliminating restaurant food and fast food is the biggest challenge in my life.

Keeping track of mileage (at least for stuff I have to buy that week...would be tough to do it for what is already on hand.)

Coming attractions...

THE COWLITZ FARMER'S MARKET OPENS FOR THE SEASON TOMORROW!

I'm turning cartwheels because I signed up for a CSA and my first delivery of fresh local goodies is tomorrow. (Please understand that these are strictly metaphorical, imaginary cartwheels, the kind of cartwheels that can be expressed by all capital letters, bold, italic, and a single restrained exclamation point.)

Here's what I'm hoping to cover (with photos and interviews) in the near future:

--The real benefits of buying local...and cooking at home. For now, see Locavores, the 100-mile Diet, the Eat Local Challenge, and our local branch of Slow Food.

--Some of my truly local sources of food--vendors at the farmer's market, a CSA, local eggs and beef.

--A look at Guse's coffee

--Posts on sustainable agriculture and fair trade.

What I'm hoping for in the more distant future:

--A Google map showing a 100-mile circle "food web" with its center in Longview/Kelso

--Posts on local buying trips to exotic locales...across the river for goat milk...a loop to the coast, north and back again for cheese...cranberries...bison...Seriously, I don't get out of Longview much, so this would be an adventure. An expensive adventure, which is why it is in the distant future.

--Notes on the progress of my own plots in the community garden

--Notes on food preservation

--Links to other sources of information

Say What?

Say again? The Cowlitz What?

Locavorian. An information source for locavores, and a personal account of my adventures in finding, preparing and enjoying local food.

A locavore is a person who has made a commitment to eat food from local sources. The level of commitment varies, as does the definition of "local." For this site, I'm using a circle with a 100-mile radius to define local, with the center at the Longview Farmer's Market. I hope to have a Google map available soon.

My own take on the issue looks like this. For food that I buy to prepare at home I will, whenever possible, buy food that is:

Local
Organic
Sustainable
Socially Just

I try to get as many of these factors as possible in the same food item. I can't always get them all. For today, I will just address local and organic (briefly) and save the other issues for another day.

If I can't get local, I will try for regional (Washington, Oregon, and at a stretch Idaho). I will always make exceptions for items such as coffee and tea that can't be grown locally, but I'm trying to replace goodies such as orange juice with equally delicious local options (think strawberries....) and I will wait for produce to be in season. Right now I am waiting eagerly for strawberries and asparagus. I will buy a few berries in the supermarket as soon as the label says "Oregon" instead of California (because I've been waiting so long) but I'll wait until there are truckloads at the farmer's market to buy more.

I didn't buy more eggs today at the supermarket (after using my last two) because I'm planning to get more tomorrow at the farmer's market...I'm working on getting the number I buy local matched evenly with the number I actually use...but if I run out, I'll probably buy organic eggs at the supermarket.

My understanding of organic is flexible as well. I buy from local farmers who tell me that they don't spray pesticides or use herbicides (and I hope that they are also using real organic methods of cultivating, fertilizing, etc.) This is not the government definition. Certified organic farms have to do a lot of paperwork to prove that they are not using chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. If I could always get certified organic, that would be great. But I accept that the farmers--the people who greet me with a smile at the farmer's market and answer every question I ask--are doing the real work of organic farmers without always doing the paperwork.

Having said all that, I admit that I am talking about the food I buy to cook at home, and that I eat fast food at least as often as I eat at home. I'm working hard at changing that sad fact of my life. Yesterday was breakfast at McDonalds, no lunch (big long busy day involving a trip to Tacoma), and dinner on the road munching on food purchased at the Olympia Food Co-op, followed by a substantial late evening snack.

I liked the Olympia Food Co-op very much...and I was looking specifically for local cheese...and they had a little section in the dairy cooler labeled local so...I forgot to pinch my pennies and...I had been given a little package of smoked salmon earlier in the day...so...

the late evening snack, shared with several friends at a Thursday evening Bible study, was a loaf of whole-grain artisan bread topped with a choice of Organic Valley cream cheese (organic, but at best regional rather than local), Cirrus cheese (a Camembert type cheese) from the Mt. Townsend Creamery, and the smoked salmon from the Muckleshoot tribe.

And breakfast was strips of fresh handmade blue corn tortillas browned in butter and olive oil, then scrambled with eggs and topped with cheese and salsa. And lunch was more of the tortillas fried up as little tostadas and topped with black lentil refritos and a "taco mix" of ground beef, onion and salsa and a little sliver of cheese.

What was local? The eggs, the grass-fed beef, and the cheese, a tangy, earthy Gruyere style cheese called Valentina from the Estrella Family Creamery. My link doesn't go to their cheese page, but their "about us" page...take a look at those happy faces before you look at the cheese.

The blue corn masa that I used to make the tortillas was definitely not local. I think the only way to get local blue corn will be to grow it myself. The salsa was from Trader Joe's and doesn't meet even one of the criteria above (but it was already in my cupboard) and it was delicious, hot with chipotle chilies. The coffee I served with it was from Guse's in Longview. The onions? I'm pretty sure they were both organic and regional (Washington or Oregon) but I don't remember when and where I bought them. The black Beluga lentils were also from the co-op and, while still dry, they really do look just like shiny little black caviar eggs. Cooked, they lose some of their color and look more brown and more like the usual disk shaped lentils. I bought them (and some French green lentils as well) to try them out as candidates for growing in my garden.