The Dark Days Challenge - Week #2

For week #2 of the Dark Days Challenge, "Breakfast for Dinner" was theme. A trip to the last outdoor Farmers Market of the year, a stop at the store, and preserves from the pantry provided everything we needed for a quick and tasty dinner. The menu consisted of eggs ( scrambled or poached) with a sprinkle of cheese on top, bacon, home-fries with onion, and toast with butter and jam. I particularly loved looking at the egg carton with its mix of tan, brown and blue eggs. Beautiful, unique eggs from happy girls.

Eggs - 3 Miles/ Sweet Briar Farm

Bacon - 3 Miles/ Sweet Briar Farms

Fingerling Potatoes - 13 Miles/ Groundworks Organics

Yellow Onion - 13 Miles/ Groundworks Organics

Wheat Bread - 27 Miles/Cottage Grove Farmhouse Bakery

Milk- 13 Miles/ Lochmead Dairy

Tillamook Cheddar - 102 Miles/ Tillamook Cheese

Butter- 102 Miles/ Tillamook County Creamery

Blackberry Jam- O Miles

Exceptions: Oil, Salt, Pepper

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food,

For love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

The Dark Days Challenge - Week #1

This week kicks off the 3rd Annual Dark Days Challenge. Hosted by Laura at the (not so) Urban Hennery, the challenge invites bloggers to cook one meal a week focused on SOLE ( sustainable, organic, local, ethical) ingredients and write about it. Traditionally the definition for local has been a 100 mike radius, though this is more difficult in the Winter. The true object of the challenge is to widen your awareness of in-season local foods and share your triumphs and frustration with the others. Each week a full recap of every one's meals will be posted at the (not so) Urban Hennery. So here we go!

For my first weeks meal I went with a family favorite - stuffed Delicata Squash.I was able to buy everything I needed at the Saturday Farmer's Market. My only exception for the week was corn bread stuffing. I think now that I could have bought loaf of local bread and dried bread crumbs to use, but I didn't have the time or energy this week. A goal for the next time. Ingredients:

-Delicata Squash - 0 Miles, my own garden
-Ground Pork Sausage - 5 Miles, Farmers Market/Sweet Briar Farms
-Onion - 5 Miles, Farmers Market/Hey Bales! Farm
-Egg - 5 Miles, Farmers Market/Sweet Briar Farm
-Corn Bread Stuffing - Non-local

The Arrival of the Seed Savers Exchange Catalog!

Tonight when I got home from work, I was excited to see in my mail pile the 2010 catalog from Seed Savers Exchange. For those of you who are not familiar with the name, Seed Savers Exchange is a non-profit organization based in Decorah, Iowa. Its mission is to to save the world's diverse but endangered garden heritage for future generations. Each year they offer through their catalog hundreds and hundreds of unique fruit & vegetable varieties for the home gardener. The catalog is a visual treat as well as an amazing resource and idea bank. If you are interested in the work of Seed Savers Exchange or would like to receive your own catalog just visit their website. You will be so glad that you did!

Last Day of the Farmer's Market 2009

Today was the last day for 2009 of the outdoor Lane County Farmer's Market. Next Saturday it moves inside the Fairgrounds for the Holidays. For the middle of November, the weather couldn't have been nicer. Clear , sunny but briskly cold. Beth and I ran into Aunt Jayne which was a pleasant surprise. We all had our market baskets and warm jackets on!

The produce mostly reflected the season. Lots of squash, onions, shallots, and brassicas. Leaks were plentiful at most booths but these were the largest to be found.

A popular vendor the last few weeks had been the Rain Forest Mushroom Company out of Eddyville. They were busy selling bags and bags of Chanterelle, Oyster and Lion's Mane Mushrooms.

Nothing says Fall in Oregon like fresh apple cider. We saw many folks walking around, doing their shopping, with a glass of hot cider in their hand.

As I prepare for the upcoming Dark Days Challenge, I stopped at Sweet Briar Farms and stocked up on local bacon, sausage and eggs. It sounds like a breakfast is in my future!

As we were walking the aisles, I spied this huge Hubbard Squash back behind a stall. It's difficult to tell in the picture but I bet it was over 25 pounds. Beth joked you could cook it instead of a turkey at Thanksgiving.