Farm to Belly

I don't like summer. Not gonna lie. But I do like berries.

I got the ones in that photo from the farmer's market on Saturday. The hotter it gets, the crankier I get, and honestly, it's mostly the berries and a few other things that grow in the summer that keep me going until October 1st, when I feel like I can officially celebrate the next several months of tolerable weather to come. We are lucky enough to live within walking distance of a great market that sets up every Saturday morning, year-round, and on Wednesday afternoons, as well, in the spring and summer. We're also a short drive from several farm stands and u-pick places. Blueberries should be ready any day now, and you can bet a field trip to pick some is in my near future.

I've mentioned being inspired by Barbara Kingsolver's quest to eat only local food for a year, but for most of us, it is completely unrealistic to attempt something so epic and restrictive. I do think most of us could commit to one meal each week, though, and so that is my goal. But why do it at all? Here are a few reasons I can think of off the top of my head:

• A fun fact from Barbara Kingsolver's book: "If every US citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week." Reducing your carbon footprint any amount you can is always a good thing.  
• Food that hasn't traveled thousands of miles tastes better.
• Food that is in season and is as freshly picked as possible tastes better.
• You will know exactly where your food comes from, and might even get to meet the person who grew/picked/butchered/processed it. This is a good thing.
• You can get your kids excited and involved in planning the meal and shopping for the ingredients at the market, picking them at a local farm, or growing a small garden of their own.
• It's fun.

I decided to start my mini eat-only-local-foods quest a couple of weeks ago by planning a special inaugural Local Food Sunday. I shopped at the market that Saturday, and enjoyed talking to the vendors about my plan, which they enthusiastically supported. Then, Sunday started like this:

Breakfast: Honey Greek yogurt from Blue Ridge Dairy with Alder School strawberries on top. Yep.

Then lunch: Locally grown heirloom tomatoes with fresh mozzarella from Blue Ridge and basil from our garden.

And dinner: Baked eggs from Lost Corner Farm with chevre from Shepherd's Whey Creamery and tarragon from our garden, locally grown asparagus, and beef brats with sage from one of our local meat producers. (The bread wasn't made from local ingredients, but it was home baked!)

We even got a bottle of albarino from a local vineyard named for my favorite date, October One! Couldn't pass that up at the market.

Everything we ate was fresh and delicious, and made us feel good about our food choices. A great start to the new plan.

Our one local meal this week was  a Sunday dinner of local kielbasa, green beans, and potatoes with rosemary from the garden. Good times.

If nothing else comes of this blog, I'm finding that because I'm writing again, I'm being more mindful of so many things. Hopefully, there is more good stuff to come. In the meantime, I hope maybe someone out there reads this and is inspired to make one local meal. Let me know if you do! I'll even share a recipe for the baked eggs above:

Ouef Cocotte: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat the bottom and sides of one small ramekin per egg with lots of butter (we usually have two each for dinner).

Sprinkle some crumbled chevre on the bottom of the ramekin and crack a fresh local egg on top, being really careful not to break the yolk.

Top with a little fresh tarragon, salt, and pepper to taste.

Place the ramekins in a baking dish, and when the oven is ready, pour boiling water into the baking dish, half-way up the sides of the ramekins. 

Bake 12-15 minutes, or until the egg whites are fully cooked but the yolk is still runny.

Serve with asparagus or a small side salad, and plenty of toast for dipping.

YUM!

If you've only ever bought eggs at the grocery store, it is worth it to try to find fresh ones. The difference is like night and day. This is such a delicious simple meal, but it feels very French and fancy, and can totally be customized by adding whatever you like to the bottom of the ramekin - leftover vegetables, other kinds of cheese, ham or cooked sausage. Lots of other ideas if you google Ouef Cocotte recipes. And it's fun to say!