Posts Tagged ‘locavore’

Support Your Local and Regional Growers, Save Cash

Friday, August 22nd, 2008

Fresh ZucchiniSo, Wednesday was market day.

And, by market I don’t mean a trip to the nearest strip-mall supermarket with cart corrals, though I shop at Giant and Safeway like everyone else.  It was walk-to-market day.  I work from home one day a week, and every other Wednesday I’m afforded the luxury of my own private branch office in Catonsville, MD.  Not only to I get to save 20% on my commuting fuel consumption, I can walk or ride to somewhere interesting on our “main street” at lunch time.

Every Wednesday morning, from May to November, we have a local farmers’ market.  It’s small, it’s in the community center parking lot, but it’s better than just about any grocery store’s produce department. All vendors must grow or produce for themselves all of the goods they sell.  No “faux-farmers” offloading trucks of greenhouse tomatoes from produce distributors; these folks grow it, care for it, pick it, and truck it to your community.  We use the farmers’ market a lot.  When I’m home on Tuesdays instead of Wednesday, Theresa makes the trip to gather the goods.

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Posted in Food, Ingredients, Slow, The Kitchen | Tags , , , , | 3 Comments »

Diet Progress Monday – August 11th

Monday, August 11th, 2008

Eighteen pounds and counting.

Notables from this week:

  • It’s berry season – we went out and picked a couple pints of blueberries and almost a gallon of ripe blackberries yesterday.  Fruit betties – slightly sweetened fruit baked with a breadcrumb topping – are not bad dessert choices.
  • Long derided by the more snobbish wine drinkers, Italian Pinot Grigio, especially from the Valdadige DOC, is a great summer wine.  Somewhere between the mineral austerity of Sauvignon Blanc and the rich fruit of Chardonnay, it’s a wonderful picnic wine and does an admirable job accompanying light summer foods.
  • It is possible to put together an incredible and satisfying high-end meal with considerable portions and still come in at under 800 calories.  You’ve seen part of this already with the Caprese salad.  More to come.

Link it up:

  • Butler’s Orchard – Farm market, pick-your-own berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries), cherries, peas, pumpkins, and apples.  Just south of Damascus, MD.
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Posted in Diet, Miscellaneous | Tags , , , | No Comments »