Living In A Local Zone

Week 3 of One Local Summer.  This was a tough one for me since I have been feeling ill over the past couple of days and have not felt like eating much of anything, let alone anything exciting.  I am feeling somewhat better today, however, so I decided to tackle the challenge and take time to make a nice meal.  While eating local is not a difficulty, often my meals during the week are very basic: flatbread, some type of veg dish, and some fruit.  A good variety in type of veg/fruit/etc, but not too different in structure.  During the weekend, I’m trying to find ways to stretch myself beyond just the “arrive home and get something easy/staples on the plate and eat” mentality.

Since I bake bread anyway, this time I tried something new, yet more involved than what I’d normally do.  I picked a lean baguette from from “A Year in Bread”, posted in 2007 by Susan from Farmgirl Fare.  Part of the Summer Bread collection, it seemed appropriate, and sufficiently versatile. My only change was using all whole-wheat flour.  It came out wonderfully, with a nice open crumb.

Twice risen, shaped, and now resting in the "cradle"

Baked, cut, and ready to serve

Along with the bread, I had a lovely dish of navy beans with peas, cucumber, basil, green garlic leaves, and some dried red pepper from last year’s garden.  Usually I go with cooked veg, but this one really let the basil and garlic shine.  Plus, it was my first taste of peas this year! (a post on that episode to come)….  Dessert was a big bowl of strawberries with mint.

Sources: Whole wheat flour from Wild Hive Farm; peas from Dondero Orchards (I believe – I’m blanking a bit here); basil, green garlic leaves, mint, and red pepper from my garden; cucumber from Rose’s Berry Farm (yes they have veg too!); navy beans from Cayuga Pure Organics (bought through Wild Hive); strawberries from George Hall Farm.