Lannae's Food and Travel

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May 7, 2007

Eat Locally Part 7 - Day 2

Day 2 went very well, and no cheating on the eating non-local foods. Hurray!

bitter greens with country ham getting ready to cook

What did I eat on day 2?

Breakfast: coffee and milk, rice and a strip of bacon
Morning snack: strawberries
Lunch: left over baked chicken leg and sweet potatoes
Snack: hard boiled egg
Dinner: red Russian kale, Mizuno greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, and fried brown rice with scallion, egg, bacon, and butter.
Snack: frozen blueberries 1/2 cup $1 from Franklin, TN distance from Nashville 20 miles

Total to date: $96.05

On the menu for tomorrow's dinner: Pork Chops with roasted Asparagus and an Arugula salad with Goat Cheese.

What did I learn today? My coffee with real milk is exactly like the coffee I drank in Paris. The first time I really drank coffee was from a Parisian coffee shop for breakfast. I was hooked from then on. There was a quality of the coffee that was so rich, nutty, smooth, and addicting. When I left Paris, I looked for coffee that matched that flavor. I drank and drank and drank. I ground and ground and ground. I spent and spent and spent. Not one coffee bean came close to the Parisian coffee shop coffee. For 25 years, I have been thinking it was the coffee bean, the French press, the toasting or grinding of the bean, the freshness of the toasted bean, or something about the bean. Low and behold, it is the darn MILK. I admit, I get really great coffee beans from a fair trade local roaster Bongo Java, but it is this great local cow milk that makes my cup of coffee like those I had in Paris.

Recipe for the day: My bitter greens to make me grin
sliced thin, 2 ounces of country ham
diced 2 slices of bacon
over med. heat put bacon and country ham in the dutch oven
wash and slice greens to about 1/2 inch strips add to pot
add 1 cup stock
bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer
stir and cover until done, that could be 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours.

This recipe is completely southern. It is not what I grew up with because I am from Los Angeles and then Boston, and we didn't eat too many mustard greens, so when I am cooking them, it is a a little bit of guess work. I am really happy to be able to honor the tradition of cooking local bitter greens with locally made ham and bacon. This is what the south lived on for a long time, and it is a cultural dish of the south.

Excuse me while I go pour some frozen blueberries in a dish for my evening snack. Yum!
Tomorrow I hope to eat only locally again.

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3 Comments:

At 5/7/07, 10:27 PM, Blogger Erica Kain said...

Well call you Barbara Kingsolver! You're doing really amazing with this challenge.
I heard from some "local-vore" friends that coffee is usually everyone's "luxury item" -- something that isn't grown locally.
And you'll have to tell me your favorite Paris eateries! Can I special-request a post thereto?

 
At 5/8/07, 7:29 PM, Blogger Lisa said...

That all looks and sounds wonderful! I liked the part about the coffee and milk. I've been buying Horizon organic milk, but will have to look for a local vendor. I want that milk!

A friend ordered me that Kingsolver book that your other commenter mentions, by the way. I can't wait to get it.

 
At 5/8/07, 10:34 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Hey CM, oh shucks. The only things standing in my way of doing the Kingsolver by growning my own veggies and raising my own chickens are 1. I have lots of shade trees, aka no sun, and can't grow much, and 2. there is a city ordinance for no livestock. Plus my neighbors dog would probably eat chickens for lunch. I should be calling you Ms Kingsolver with your lovely garden!

Hi Lisa, Thank you so much for your support! It is really going to help me with my experiment and not to cheat with non-local foods, and luxury items. I too want to get the Kingsolver book! And the milk that is pasturized, but not homogenized from local free range high milk fat cows is the ticket. I am thinking that I just cannot go back to Horizon anymore.

 

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