Localvore Week, Day 1

Today is the first day of my experiment of having as much locally produced foods as possible for our meals. So far I'm calling it 99% successful. The glitch came about because Jim had bought green beans at Ashland's farmers market on Saturday when he was in that town on business. I was working at Bucyrus' Lil' Farmers Market, if I had known that he was coming home with fresh green beans, I could have bought ham, bacon, or ham-hock from Mendy and Russ, who also set up at the market with their naturally raised meats. 

Those beans needed to be cooked today, and Mendy's store is not open on Monday, so I thought the next best choice would be at Discount Drug Mart. Yes, it is a chain store, but it does a pretty good job of supplying local when available. DDM carries meat from  New Washington, a village in the northern part of the county. 

No luck, DDM was out of what I was searching for, (being Monday morning I am guessing that the delivery hadn't arrived). My only option that was left was to go to our main grocery store. I bought a nice ham hock, that I believe came from an Ohio farm. 

Back home, I cleaned the green beans and put them in a slow cooker with potatoes and onion from our garden. The ham hock went in for flavor.

Then it was time to fix lunch. The only thing on our lunch menu that was not local was lettuce.

I made hamburgers from ground beef bought at Mendy's store on Saturday. The bread was a hearty maple/oat loaf that I got at NorthSide Farmers Market last week. It is wonderful bread made by the Charlton's. The bread has no preservatives and has to be stored in the refrigerator, but believe me, I've never had any kind of bread keep as long as the Charlton's. :)

The tomatoes and red peppers were from our garden, the cauliflower from Witter's Produce (again bought at NSFM).

A peach smoothie, made with our peaches and fresh milk from Hartzler's Dairy in Wooster (again, purchased at Mendy's) served as beverage and dessert :)

Tonight's dinner is the green bean dish (it smells SO good!) and apple/pear cobbler, made with our apples and pears, honey from Dave Duncan (Crestline) and Hartzler's milk. 

All in all, I think that I've got a good start to a localvore week of eating. What do you think?

Marcheta *keepin' it real

Heart Warming Ham Loaf Oven Meal

There is an old farm saying; "When the days begin to lengthen, the cold begins to strengthen".  Frost on the ground and in the air proved this to be true today. What better day to make an oven meal to warm up the house as well as the spirits?

Today's recipe for ham loaf comes from Mendy Sellman (see "Farmers Wife" on the business page).

to make an oven meal, along with the ham loaf you could

bake potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, or squash (I vote for squash)

and

make a green bean casserole or scalloped corn (I vote for green beans)

for dessert

make a fruit crisp, pie, or cobbler (I vote for crisp)

Doesn't this sound yummy? What sides do you vote for?

Marcheta *cast her vote

 

Mendy's Ham Loaf

 

 

1#ground ham

1#sausage

2 cups soft bread crumbs

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup chopped onion

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp powdered mustard

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

1/8 tsp paprika

Basting Sauce

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, mix all ingredients. Press into 9x9 cake pan, Bake in oven for 45 minutes, then pour basting mixture over top of ham loaf, bake for an additional 15 minutes. Note: The unbaked loaf freezes very well.

A Seedy Proposition

 

A blanket of snow has painted the landscape with a monochromatic pallet, making the outdoors appear calm and serene…a perfect winter scene. But step inside just about any store these days and you’ll find a riot of color at the seed displays that pop out between main aisles. Pictured on the packages are images of yummy vegetables, beautiful flowers, and aromatic herbs. It makes the senses reel with delight.

It’s a bit early for serious seed-starting for the average home gardener, but winter-weary people (and even winter lovers like me) find it hard to resist the temptation of buying ‘just a few’ packages for fun. Serious gardeners and market growers are already planning their 2013 season and many, like Mendy Sellman and Toni Norwood have told me that they’ve already ordered seeds. There’s something comforting in that fact, that farmers are planning another season of feeding the masses, that we’ll have locally grown fresh food available again come summer.

I don’t think on such a grand scale. For now, a bit of green growing in my kitchen window with a backdrop of snowy fields and woods is enough to satisfy my need for seed. I chose a few herb packs to have fresh to cook with and headed back home. For my big herb garden I rely on buying plants from NorthSide Farmers Market vendors like Toni and Brenda Kocher, but a few clay pots of leafy parsley on the kitchen windowsill in the heart of winter are the smile-makers that this gal needs.

Marcheta *smiley faced gal

Everything's Coming up Rosy

 

 

 

I woke up earlier than usual this morning, before the dawn. This gave me opportunity to watch the sun paint a desert-like scene on the low-lying clouds. The warm brushstrokes blended into a cool ocean of blue above. Higher up, the crescent moon shone clear and bright.

 

 

Within 10 minutes, the sun was filling my home with a rosy glow, which I found to be both relaxing and energizing. I have a lot that I want to accomplish today, but have peace of mind because I know there is enough time to do it all.

 

 

This morning I am interviewing Mendy Sellman, who specializes in naturally raised meats,  for the first Full Time Country Woman profile. While I am out and about, I plan a nice walk (with camera and binoculars) at my favorite nature spot. A writing session awaits for when I return home, along with the 'have to' chore of laundry. Clean clothes...what a good thing to have available. Our closets have been thinning out as the laundry hamper grows to bursting its seams. The past few days found washer problems because of a frozen water line. That's my excuse for letting laundry pile up, and I'm sticking with it!

 

 

But that's for later. This is now, and I am heading out the door to catch up on life with Mendy and maybe buy a roast for tomorrow. Yum!

 

 

Marcheta *a rose-strewn sky in winter....priceless!