A year ago today, I started this blog in order to track my adventures as I attempted to eat more locally, without the benefit of my own garden, relying only on farmstands, pick-your-owns, and my CSA.
Throughout the year I’ve joined a CSA, bought meat raised less than 20 miles from here pretty much exclusively, been interviewed by a professor researching the spread of local, sustainable eating, discovered new cookbooks, learned to make jam, can tomatoes and preserve fruits and veggies, and really enjoyed cooking.
I have learned that I am not at all like the average, busy, cash-strapped grocery shopper/cook. I enjoy shopping for food, discovering new veggies and meeting the producers. I have time, particularly in the summer, to plan ahead and preserve summer’s harvest. I’ve made cheese, rendered lard and produced maple syrup. I am fortunate and I wish more people could be.
One of the best parts of Yankee Food is that I’ve met great people through their blogs. I’ve learned from them and enjoyed taking part in challenges that keep me motivated in the summer and in the winter. I thank all of the people who have stopped by and commented, or even those of you who are lurkers. I remember how excited I was when my stat counter read 5! You readers are what make this an interesting, fulfilling hobby.
I’ve even done some posting about things other than food, but things that are indigenous to New Hampshire.
People find Yankee Food by searching for things like “greek yogurt” and “frozen turkeys,” but the weirdest search term has to be the person looking for “how people eat/cook other people.” Hmmmm..
My top posts?
Interestingly, my most viewed post is not a food post at all. Go with your gut…, is a post about my dog, Lamprey in the early stages of his, eventually fatal, skin disease. I’m convinced that, although still relatively rare, chemical- or environmentally-induced diseases in dogs are an unrecognized threat.
The second most viewed post here is about freezing peppers. Apparently, lots of folks want to preserve those peppers - good for you!
Kinder, gentler, locavores rounds out the top three. This pretty much outlines my own views about how we can move more people toward more sustainable eating.
What did we have for dinner for Yankee Food’s one year celebration? A meal that I think really sums up how we eat around here: put as much local stuff in a meal as possible, but recognize that there are some ingredients that you simply can’t get local, or that are in the pantry and need to be used up.
Pesto pizza and salad:
The crust was homemade (thanks, Deborah Madison!) and contained King Arthur Flour, the toppings were a jar of pesto from the pantry (from Stonewall Kitchen, a Maine company), local hothouse tomatoes (YUM!) and regionally local cheese. I had some pinenuts left from toasting them for a salad the other night, so they went on top. The salad was all local - lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes. The dressing? Not so much.
Some people are probably tired of hearing me say it
but I don’t think we’re going to change things by being fanatical. Really, if you can buy it locally, you probably ought to. If you can’t, make the best choice (organic, sustainable, fair-trade, etc.) that you can.
Oh, and enjoy it for crying out loud- it’s food, people!
