Morels for the Holiday

It’s a balmy 45 and I considered covering my precious tomatoes this evening. I decided against it, convinced that it’s Memorial Day weekend and they will be OK. I’m pretty sure that last year couldn’t have been a more different setting. I feel like everything came early last year and I wasn’t prepared for it. At a recent Chicago Cooperative meeting the ice breaker question was what is your favorite spring vegetable? Without blinking an eye my answer was morel mushrooms… Well, River Valley Ranch had photos of their morels up last week at the market, so if you are able to find them, I recommend this morel mushroom ravioli courtesy of the Parsley Thief as a long weekend project for the family or friends because it’s amazing, albeit a bit time consuming but completely worth every minute of work put in. It’s buttery and creamy and textured and melts in your mouth. Homemade pasta has more flavor and is more fun to eat because there’s more to the experience. The flavors that come out are more surprising and exciting than dried pasta and this recipe with the fresh morels drives it home.

Cut and wash 8-10 ounces of morel mushrooms in water. Beware, ants may fly out of them… totally normal, don’t freak. Drain when you’re sure they’re dirt and bug free. Heat some butter in a skillet and add 2 or 3 large shallots that are minced (if you’er lucky, River Valley Ranch will have some grown from their mushroom compost). Cook until translucent. This is one of those times where you really use real butter… like super awesome high quality butter and don’t skimp ladies and gents, this ravioli is serious (Nordic Creamery I’m looking at you). Add the mushrooms and let them sweat out all the water they absorbed for 10 or 12 minutes. Pour 1/4 cup dry white wine into the pan and let the mushrooms absorb it. Add 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon (I used dry from the Spice House and wasn’t disappointed). Remove from heat and let cool.

Drain 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese for 15 minutes. Since you’re already taking the effort to make the pasta from scratch, might I suggest also making the ricotta (seriously, Smitten Kitchen where would I be without you)? Many local farmers have both milk and cream for sale. I have used Kilgus Farmstead but there are many options. Chop the mushroom mixture and mix it into the ricotta along with an egg (farm fresh or bust), a pinch of nutmeg and a cup of grated Parm. Make the fresh pasta courtesy of Mark Bittman and roll it out into sheets. I used a rolling pin (i.e. empty water bottle/wine bottle) to roll my dough out. You don’t have to be fancy about it! Lay out 2 sheets of pasta and take the advice to use cornmeal dusting because it will stick. Spacing an inch apart, mound some heaps of mushroom goo onto one of the sheets of pasta. When you have a reasonable amount, carefully lay the second layer on top. Dip your finger in water and moisten the edges of the pasta so they’ll stick together.

Cut the ravioli with a knife, or a ravioli press, or a cookie cutter… whatever works and lay on a pan covering with a towel until the process is complete. You should get about 24 ravioli out of it. Boil a pot of salted water and carefully drop them in one at a time. Cook for 2-3 minutes until they’re floating on the top. Drain and serve with some melted butter, parm, or mushroom oil and just let the emotion take control. Thank you Parsley Thief for a great recipe and River Valley ranch for delightful morels! Happy mushrooms!

Jambalaya

I don't want you to get the wrong idea about me - lately many of my posts have been about simple fast dishes that you can throw together without thinking. But I also like a good challenge in the kitchen and more importantly, if I want something for dinner, I'm going to make it.

Enter this incredible jambalaya courtesy of http://www.cooking.com/recipes-and-more/recipes/chicken-sausage-jambalaya-recipe-2478.aspx#axzz2KbU2vHgI.

Sure it takes some time, but the rice is creamy and full of flavor and you can adjust the vegetables to your liking.

Start by browning 1/2 pound of andouille sausage for about 8 minutes. You can get higher quality from your local butcher and I bet you can find some at a local farmers market. Remove from the pan and chop into small pieces. Then in the same pan (so you get the fat!!), add a chopped onion, two chopped ribs of celery, a chopped bell pepper and a couple of cloves of garlic. Let them soften and wait for the onion to turn a beautiful gold.

In a separate pot, combine 1 1/2 cups rice, 3 cups of chicken stock, 2 bay leaves, the chopped sausage, 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Simmer covered for 15 minutes.

Can we just pause for a second and talk about how much better any grain is cooked in stock and not water?? Seriously trust me and spend the extra on stock. It makes eating grains much more appealing and flavorful. I think it does a nice job of tying the meal together since it's served with chicken.

So on that note, cut a pound of chicken breasts into cubes and add to the pot. Cover and simmer until it's cooked through for about five more minutes. Before serving, remove from heat and allow it to sit for a couple of minutes.

Eat up friends! I hope you're all as excited for spring as I am - lots of greens on the way :)

Popcorn

I love a nice big bowl of popcorn.  Restraint isn't even attempted when I've got a bowl in my lap.  But popcorn from a microwaveable bag is gross and when consumed, I'd always feel awful after.  It's been a long time since I purchased a box of bags of the stuff - I just can't wrap my head around the fact that the inside of the bag flavors the popcorn for you.  Wouldn't you rather just melt real butter and put real salt over the top... amiright?  If this isn't a good enough reason to stay away from the stuff then mayhaps this won't interest you.  However, I think it's worth noting that even if it's been proven that microwaveable popcorn doesn't cause lung cancer, it's likely that it's probably not a good idea to consume it.

One suitable alternative to bags of microwave popcorn are the kernels you can buy and pop in a pot - much healthier and safer and you can flavor however you like.  But, how about you take it one step further and try it from an actual cob of popping corn!

I dropped by Green City Market a couple of weeks ago and one of the stands was selling cobs of popping corn for $1 a piece.  I've read many positive articles about people who've tried it so I decided to give it a try. It was recommended to me that I put it into a paper bag and microwave it to contain the mess, but I couldn't handle not watching it pop for my first time... it made a bit of a mess, but was totally worth it.  I microwaved it for about 4 minutes and ended up with a wonderfully hot and fresh bowl of popcorn.  Flavor however you like - melted butter, cheese, truffle oil, spice blends, hot caramel - and you've got a delicious snack that you can use for entertaining or for a quiet night in on the couch.

I think if I heated it in a bag more kernels would have popped - it will take a bit of experimenting to get the perfect recipe down, but I'm up for the challenge.  There were plenty of cobs to go around at the market - try it out!

Support the Chicago Cooperative!

Many of us have ideas constantly bouncing around in our minds that we don’t know how to turn into reality.  I am most certainly a victim of this and I look up to those people who are brave and courageous enough to take a risk and follow their hearts.  One of those people is Greg Berlowitz.  He is attempting to fulfill many of our dreams to create an accessible cooperative in the northern part of Chicago.  His dedication is tremendous and was clearly shown Wednesday night in his kick-off meeting where he conducted a group activity and brought in speaker Clint Popetz, former chairman of the board of the Common Ground cooperative in Champaign Urbana.  He couldn’t have been more honest and up front with the amount of time and energy that will be needed to make this a success and, despite that, couldn’t wait to get started.

Group activity where we all write our ideas for everyone to see!

A cooperative gives us the opportunity to decide what goes into our grocery store and establish the price of the goods sold.  It is unique in that the members of the cooperative own the cooperative.  The members elect the board and the board establishes the policies of the co-op.  The board then hires a General Manager to implement policy with their supervision.  Many products you will find at a cooperative are local, organic, sustainable or a combination of all of these.  The profits go back into the cooperative and often members shop at a discounted price.  While the community is what keeps a cooperative operating successfully, membership isn’t required to shop there.

Greg’s sense of humor and enthusiasm could not be more encouraging and endearing.  He believes that “building a co-op is not just about building a store.  It’s about building a community-supported organization that can build a store, maintain a store, and enable the store to thrive.  And a co-op is successful when it is born out of a community and fulfills a need that that community has.”  

As a local food advocate, I couldn’t be more excited to become an active member of this project. Although I am more of the uneducated but eager type in this instance, he has assured me that this is, in fact, OK.  He attended a conference in Bloomington over the weekend and says: “At the conference, which was supported by national organizations which support co-ops and are taught by veteran co-op builders, we were reminded that we aren’t reinventing the wheel.  There are established steps we will take and demonstrated processes we will undergo to build a strong organization and then an inspirational food co-op.”  Greg welcomes any and all levels of commitment, ideas and questions you may have.

There is another meeting this Thursday, March 7 at 7:30 at the Sulzer Library on 4455 N Lincoln Ave.  If you have even an inkling of interest in learning about a cooperative or becoming a part of a great opportunity, I really encourage you to stop by and talk food with everyone!

Chicken burgers

I have this thing about ground beef - it really just doesn't do it for me.  Reading way too much about how many different cows go into one burger made my decision to stop eating it really very easy, except I really like them... They are easy to make and are great for company.

I had my best friend over for lunch a couple of weeks ago.  She is a paleo eater and we were planning on just making a salad.  I said earlier that my life change goal is to use what I have and embrace it.  So I looked in my freezer and found some beautiful ground capon from C & D Family Farms in my freezer and texted her that we were having chicken burgers.  Her response was "OK...." so that was encouraging.

The amazing thing about burgers is that they can be whatever you want them to be.  I used what I had laying around: 1 pound of ground capon, a squeeze of lemon, a handful of chopped cilantro, two chopped chilis in adobo sauce, an egg and a couple of teaspoons of Caribbean Calypso seasoning from the Spice House.  Had I not had my little gluten hater over, I certainly would have added some whole wheat bread crumbs, but they're not necessary.  I formed them into 4 beautiful patties and sauteed them in cilantro olive oil, topped with soft queso fresco and voila: a masterpiece.  We liked them so much we both had two.  Certainly a unique approach, but localish and healthy all the same.  What are some weird creations you have made?

Winter Comforts

So I'm a little late in writing what my New Years Resolutions are, but I think that's OK because my goals are more of attempts at life changes.  You see, food for me is an obsession.  I have been obsessed and fixated on food since I graduated from college until last summer.  After I canned tomatoes, I was convinced that I wouldn't be a local eater until I baked my own bread - Can you see where this is going?

And so my friends, I give you the beloved soft boiled egg.  It's elegant in its simplicity.  It's beautiful and delicate.  The yolk is velvety and buttery if you have the right egg.  And if you're reading this blog post, I'm pretty much assuming you know my feelings on store bought eggs versus the real thing.

This is my goal for 2013: embrace what's simple instead of being discouraged by imperfection.  This doesn't mean I have to be thoughtless and careless.  This means that I don't have to get wrapped up in the fact that I don't make my own bread every weekend.  I can easily buy freshly baked bread (or not, if that's what you prefer) and high quality eggs from the farmers market or a specialty store here in Chicago.  And guess what, I'm still kind of making a difference with my locally purchased bread and eggs.  So if that's all I can do this week, then thank you and good night ladies and gents.

And here is the best part.  My 3 minute soft boiled egg actually has some extremely deep sentiment behind it.  When I was a little girl my dad travelled all the time - inevitably when he came home, all he wanted was to sleep in on the weekends.  But he was ever so lucky to have me as his offspring and so at 6 or 7 AM I'd jump out of bed bursting with energy ready to talk to him.  He would get up every weekend and make these eggs for me except he cut the crust off my toast and the egg cutter was Mickey Mouse, not a rooster.  But the egg cups and cat warmer are the exact same as when I was a little girl.  This was something that I waited for all week to do with my dad and now I fondly eat my soft boiled egg and whole wheat toast with a smile on my face, knowing that that is truly what's important.

Summer Reflections

Last week I had to dig my garden up, pull the weeds out and throw my dead plants away.  It was awful.  But at the same time, it was beautiful.  I ended up digging a whole bunch of carrots up that I used in soup along with the thyme that I pulled too.  And then I started planning what I'm going to do next year.

The truth is, I let my garden die.  And I didn't can as much as I should have.  And sometimes, I even bought produce from the grocery store.  This summer was a huge learning experience for me - it was the peak of my quarter life crisis... did you know those existed?  I didn't until I was in the middle of it.  BUT, the good news is that it happened.  I had put so much pressure on myself to only eat a certain way that I sort of exploded and stopped eating food that I even liked.

The passion I have for vegetables may be absurd, but it's part of who I am and it's who I'll continue to be.  And even if I don't cook every single day, the changes that I have made in my life are substantial enough to impact the world in some small way.  I still eat local food.  I'm still eating the food I canned.  And, I'm still learning new canning and cooking techniques.  My bizarre preachy word vomit aside, what I'm trying to say is, don't be so hard on yourself when you're eating.  It can create chaos.  Do what you can do and don't freak out if you don't make the best choice every time.  I promise you'll appreciate cooking/baking/preserving/canning/eating more if you are able to keep this in mind.  At least it worked for me.

And so I leave you with these final thoughts: It's Thanksgiving time!  Make your favorite dish and throw in an extra stick of butter.  It'll be OK :)

Pork Belly Chaos

Most people buy their dad a practical gift for Father's Day, but I'm not so good at those.  I just can't bring myself to go get him another shirt.  This year I knew that my gift for my dad would come from Becker Lane - I assumed it would be some of their gorgeous pork chops.  But as I got to chatting with the guys there, I decided to be bold and buy a piece of pork belly.  It's always the most succulent item on the menu that you never make at home.  He was delighted and surprised by how random I went and we agreed that we would make it together.

I do believe that a piece of pork belly would be excellent smoked on the grill (Labor Day ideas, anyone?), however, we slow cooked it in the oven using Lara Calder's recipe.  It was succulent and juicy and agonizingly sweet yet savory.  It was perfect.  We served it over lentils, as Lara suggests, but you could roast beets or something similarly earthy to keep it as local as possible.  Lara Calder creates this gorgeous glaze with water and apple cider vinegar to start and then honey and mustard brushed over top of the fat as it cooks.  You could serve this for company as an alternative to burgers on the grill and most of the ingredients you can find from local people around here.  Surprise your loved ones with some pork belly.  The shock and awe factor will be excellent and the end result is delicious.

Pickled Beets

It's been far too long since I posted last.  I missed it greatly and I'm glad to be back.  After working through several major changes I have found peace and happiness in my cooking projects and running and I can't wait to continue sharing them.  I have a post for you that I wrote a couple of weeks ago for The Local Beet.  In the meantime, I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful produce and you haven't lost too many fruits and veggies in this extreme heat!  This really is the best time of the year: tomatoes are everywhere. :)

I know what you’re thinking: pickled beets are gross. But I promise you, when they’re not purchased in a mystery can where they’re hardly recognizable, they are irresistible. Beets are without a doubt one of my favorite vegetables in the world (artichokes are at the top, no question). They are earthy and complex and warm and perfect on salads. Usually I just throw a couple in foil and roast them for 30 – 45 minutes every week so I can make salads with goat cheese, arugula and walnuts, but these past couple of weeks it has just been way too hot for the oven. If you’re a city dweller I know you’re with me because AC units hardly have the capacity to cool off a bedroom let alone combat the oven. So I offer you pickled beets as an alternative to your standard roasted beets!

You will have to use your stove, but it will make several pint jars which will be enough to keep you oven free for quite some time. The recipe I used to pickle beets is from the most informative book I’ve found thus far: Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. The book calls for 10 cups of prepared beets – I just bought a bag of them at the farmers market for $5 and called it a day. Boil beets whole with the tops almost all removed in a large pot covered and cook for about 40 minutes (prepare canning jars while the beets boil; for instructions see my post on Strawberry Jam). When beets are cooked, run them under cool water, remove skins and slice them as you like.

Acquire pickling spice (or make it!) and tie 3 tablespoons in a spice bag. The Spice House is where I got my pickling spice. Combine 2 and a half cups white vinegar, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of sugar OR honey (which I used and I really recommend) and the spice bag. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat heat and stir to make sure the honey dissolves. Boil gently for 15 minutes, remove the spice bag and add beets. Return the mixture to a boil. Ladle the beets into the prepared jars within 1/2 inch of the top of the jar. Ladle the hot liquid over the beets to cover. Wipe the rim, center the lid and screw the band on; place the jars in canner and process for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and wait 5 minutes to remove the jars. Cool for 24 hours and store.

Once you have achieved this perfection, serve with homemade ricotta and sourdough (as in the picture) or on top of a lovely salad of arugula or romaine. This is such an easy “condiment” to make and it’s so healthy! I find it a delightful alternative to my roasted beets with quite the kick. Try it out – and let me know what you think!

The Porchetta Sandwich

I find it hard to stick to a routine every day, week, whatever. But I do have one thing I absolutely must do every Saturday morning and that is go to Green City Market. It has become almost a joke among friends because I must get there early in case they run out of food. But, you see, they have a better selection early. And it’s not crowded early. And now that they have moved outside, it’s peaceful and I feel all those excited feelings I get when I know summer is coming.


The point is that when the market moves outside new and glorious things happen. I am required to do a lap of the vendors before I buy anything. And let me tell you that when I did my first lap of the outdoor lot and laid my eyes on this beautiful hunka meat at 7:30 AM, I had to have one.

Becker Lane has the best pork I have ever tasted and now they have decided to sell Porchetta sandwiches at the market for all of our eating pleasure. I ask you is there anything better than a pork sandwich for breakfast? I think not. On a soft ciabatta roll, an onion relish is spread on the bottom half, and then they layer the most tender and juicy meat, with the marbled meat overtop of that and the skin on top of that. As a bonus they put a tangy homemade slaw on top to sort of cut that whole meat overload that you may be picturing in your mind.


In short, I have never been so happy at breakfast as when I tasted this succulent gift from the pork geniuses.

The Food Matters Project - Hot Tomato Quinoa Salad

This week Nicole chose an excellent recipe for The Food Matters Project: Savory Tomato Crisp.  I decided to turn it into a warm and filling but healthy dinner.  I chose to use my own canned tomatoes for this recipe.  There are some gorgeous tomatoes at the farmers market, but since it's so early in the season, they are really expensive!

The Food Matters Project - Mexican Style Fruit Salad with Fish

This week Sarah W. chose the recipe for The Food Matters Project and I have to say, it was delicious.  I decided to make whole wheat fish sticks with strawberry salsa.  Not only was I able to use ingredients from the farmers market (except for the lime), but it was delicious, quick and healthy.  Strawberries are absolutely amazing right now.  They taste just like they're supposed to, bursting with flavor and super sweet!

All you have to do is cut a tilapia filet (or any type of fish you like) into pieces, coat with an egg and cover with whole wheat flour.

Saute with olive oil for a couple of minutes on each side.

For the salsa I made I used 1 1/2 pounds of chopped strawberries, a large handful of basil chopped, half of a diced habanero and a quick squeeze of lime.  I have never tried to make a fruit salsa before, but I really enjoyed the contrast of flavors.  It had quite the kick but was sweet and flavorful.

Squeeze some lime over the fish and serve with the salsa.  It really gives a lot of pizzaz to a mild fish.  I was craving fish sticks (not quite sure why), but this really satisfied my craving and took it to a whole new level!  I don't know about you, but I couldn't be more thrilled that strawberries are in season.  This was a clever way of incorporating strawberries into a savory meal.  Try it out!  Great pick Sarah!

The Food Matters Project - Salsa Five Ways

Now I know that we post our Food Matters Project posts every Monday, but I am a day late - sorry!  I made an incredible salsa chosen by Alisa.  Check her website out for the recipe!  I used my homemade canned tomatoes for this one and served it over tilapia and it was delicious!

Spring Vegetable Omelette

The thing, you see, that I love about May is that Green City Market moves outside as well as so many Chicagoans, and farmers markets pop up everywhere.  It's beautiful.  We relish every minute the sun beats down and the heat threatens to make us uncomfortable.  I delight in the idea of wandering outside and stumbling upon a market I've never seen before.  But my Saturday mornings are reserved for trips to Green City to fill my bags full of greens, fruits, eggs, cheeses and anything else that I stumble upon.  It is easy to eat local in the summer and I encourage you to try it!

The Food Matters Project - Roasted Asparagus and White Bean Soup

The Food Matters recipe for this week was chosen by Adrienne and I have got to say, it was absolutely incredible.  For the full version of the recipe head on over to Adrienne's website and check it out!  This challenge is seriously pushing my food horizons and I like it.  A lot.

The Food Matters Project - Whole Wheat Bread

This week the recipe for the Food Matters Project was chosen by the lovely Melissa.  I actually already posted about this recipe a couple of weeks ago because it has become a staple in my house and I didn't realize it was up on the schedule - whoops!  For my post on whole wheat bread see here! 

My favorite way to munch on this loaf is with some honeycrisp apples, sharp white cheddar, and a dollop of honey.  Whole wheat bread is such a healthy snack and this is something I like to eat if I'm not quite hungry enough for a meal but don't want to eat something junky.  Enjoy!

Homemade Ricotta

I promised last night that I would post an explanation of how homemade ricotta is done... so here it is!  I must thank my wonderful friend Sara for showing me how to do this.  It's quite simple and it's so creamy and delicious you'll never want to buy it again!  I will say that it costs more to make it than it does to buy it, but it was so rich and creamy that I didn't regret it at all, and the dairy was from a local farm which made me happy too.

Combine 2 cups of whole milk, 1/2 cup half and half, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon white vinegar into a microwave safe bowl.  Heat for two minutes.  Gently stir and put back in the microwave on thirty seconds increments until the curds separate from the whey.

It will look like this when it's ready.  It will take around 5 minutes to get it like this.

Line a colander with several layers of cheese cloth and dump the whole mixture into it.  Allow it to drain for at least 30 minutes.  Squeeze out excess whey before you use it and keep the whey!  You can make some sweet bread with it!

I am just so thrilled that I made cheese.  Isn't it a weird concept?  And it's ridiculously easy to make, so next time I'm craving a soft cheese I know what I'm doing!

Ricotta Cheese
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup half and half
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt

The Food Matters Project - Mostly Whole Wheat Pizza

Making pizza has been my favorite activity by far for The Food Matters Project.  Head to Niki's site to see the full recipe!  Excellent choice lady!  I decided to do personal pizzas because I was at my parents house over the weekend and I thought more variety would be more interesting.  I am pleased to report that all of the pizzas were very successful!

We had the ingredients to make truffle mushroom, margarita, and pesto ricotta pizzas.  All were outstanding and had incredibly different flavors which was the best part!

Ian sauteed mushrooms in white truffle oil and added some truffle goo to the mixture.  We topped the dough with the mushrooms, goat cheese, and prosciutto.  Delicious!

My parents chose a more traditional margarita pizza style and it did not disappoint.  We layered the dough with gorgeous basil leaves, slices of fresh tomato, mozzarella and prosciutto.  It was classic and elegant and the prettiest of the pizzas.

I decided to make a "local" pizza.  I used frozen pesto leftover from last summer, some beautiful asparagus fresh from Ellis Family Farms, and I made ricotta cheese (recipe to come) with milk and half and half from Kilgus Farmstead.  I am telling you that this pizza rocked my world.  It was so unique and the flavors were bold.

This week has been a great success and I feel like once again I have accomplished more food goals.  Making dough from scratch isn't hard at all and it is SO good and even a little bit healthier using the whole wheat dough.  Pizza is a favorite in my book.  Who knew that you could make three completely different styles of pizza in one kitchen?

The Food Matters Project: Cassoulet with Lots of Vegetables

The recipe for the Food Matters Project was Cassoulet with Lots of Vegetables chosen by Keely.  Check out her website for the incredible take she did as well as the original recipe.  My version of this recipe turned out really well.  I loaded it up with lots of green vegetables and quinoa for some extra protein.

Aside from the Brussels sprouts which had been in my fridge for awhile, I managed to get the rest of the ingredients from the farmers market on Saturday.  I found leeks and napa cabbage as well as lovage, which is something that I had never heard of until this weekend.  It's that gorgeous leafy stuff that tastes exactly like celery, and bonus, it's in season, so I was able to have that essential bold flavor in my cassoulet!  I also found Italian sausage at the market which I was excited about.

First I browned the Italian sausage and then I sauteed all of the vegetables until they were just softened.

The recipe called for a quart of canned tomatoes so I was able to use my canned tomatoes with their juice from last season.  I added one can of white beans, thyme, 2 bay leaves, salt and pepper, and boiled it for 20 - 25 minutes.

I served it over a bed of quinoa since I only had one can of white beans which worked really well.  Next time I make this I don't even think I'll add meat.  I finished the dish with some Parmesan cheese.  Great choice Keely!

Cassoulet with Lots of Vegetables

1 lb Italian sausage
1 quart canned tomatoes with juices
2 leeks
1 bag of Brussels sprouts
1/2 napa cabbage
4 stalks of lovage
1 can white beans
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Whole Wheat Bread

Eating locally means more than just buying fresh fruits and vegetables from the farmers markets every week.  It requires thought and planning to maintain a local diet, especially in the week.  Eating local meat and eggs can be expensive, so it's worth conserving in other areas in order to get the best product.  Bread is one of those essential parts of a diet that can save a lot of money and it's better!  Bread and I have had our ups and downs.  We sometimes get along.  Don't misunderstand me.  I love bread.  I can't imagine my life without it.  But that also means that I feel obligated to make my own.  It is so much cheaper to buy a $3 bag of flour and make it from scratch.  I am hoping to find local flour as soon as I can, but for now, making it from the store bought flour will have to do.