Local Eating This Week

I have a new blender and took advantage of it this week, making smoothies with fabulous Cultural Revolution organic yogurt (from Iowa) and Sno-Pac frozen organic blueberries and strawberries (from southeastern Minnesota). Oh, okay, there were some decidedly nonlocal (but fair trade) bananas in there too, bought for the first time in ages, as I try to think of ways of expanding my eight-year-old son's very limited repertoire of acceptable foods (he who lives mainly on grilled cheese sandwiches, pizza, and chicken patties, making pizza sauce and organic ketchup about his only "vegetables." Thank goodness for Flintstones vitamins.).

My official local meal of the week, however, was this evening's squash, carrot and ginger soup, which also made good use of the blender. The idea of a squash soup with ginger has been simmering for the last couple of weeks, ever since it was suggested by Laura of Urban Hennery, who is running the Dark Days Eat Local Challenge. I searched online and found a recipe that sounded good and didn't call for orange juice or much else in the way of long-distance ingredients.

Going with what I had on hand, I used more squash (a whole delicata squash bought last month at the farmers' market) and fewer carrots (the last of my farmers' market carrots, along with a local onion from the co-op) than called for in the recipe, but either way the Vitamin A content is wonderful. I had fresh ginger left over from last week's curry, and that and the other seasonings were the only non-local ingredients. We ate it with fresh, organic multi-grain bread (made by Brick Oven for Just Food Co-op), cheddar cheese from Wisconsin, and golden, organic, grass-based Pastureland butter from southeast Minnesota -- the best tasting butter I've ever encountered. A simple but delicious supper, made even better by being shared with two dear friends.