This week I started to feel the joy of eating locally. There were a number of great responses to the Food & Faith Challenge and The Locavore’s Handbook giveaway, which are very encouraging. Sometimes I feel caught between two worlds. On the one hand, are my friends and family who think I am completely nuts and insist there is no difference between canned asparagus and fresh homegrown Michigan asparagus. On the other hand are my friends who are horrified that I don’t eat 100% organic and grind my own flour.
So when you comment, I feel like I’m doing OK. I’m doing the best I can, and that’s all anyone can do. No one else shares the joy of my two super finds this week, and that’s OK too.
What are my finds? First, I posted on FaceBook that I was going to the farmer’s market. My cousin Jessica replied that she has some rhubarb plants – that she transplanted from our Grandma’s garden! And that I was welcome to take as much as I needed. The photo on the left is of me in her backyard. It was so fun picking it knowing it was from the very same plant I chewed on as a child.
Secondly, I have been on the hunt for sorrel ever since rhubarb came into season so that I could make the Rhubarb Sorrel Crisp in Simply in Season. After telling Jessica about it, I went to the farmer’s market and lo and behold–there was lemon sorrel for sale! I purchased enough for the recipe and the gentleman asked what I was going to do with it. I told him about the recipe and he said he’d never heard of that combination but that it would probably be good. He totally made my day by having the sorrel there that day.
How about you? Any farmer’s market finds you’d like to share?
OK, now on to the winners.
The winner of the apron from the Food & Faith Challenge is Stephanie! She writes, “The seasons definitely dictate what we eat. Strawberry-rhubarb, asparagus, and eggs are plentiful “easter” foods. The ordinary time of summer is full of fresh produce from our garden and grilling out. We harvest and preserve to sustain us through the winter, and lent is a time of necessary fasting until spring arrives.”
I was encouraged to see how many people do try to eat with the seasons. Even if you don’t eat ALL of your food in season, it’s good to start with some of the things that bring back good memories and establish new ones with your family.
The winner of The Locavore’s Handbook was Jessica. She writes, “I would love to win this book! My husband and I were talking just the other day about buying locally and this book would get us headed in the right direction.”
Good luck, Jessica, it’s a tasty journey!
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