October 3, 2007 by Audrey.

School has started up and I thought I would have more time to get to my favorite farmer’s markets, but it hasn’t happened! Waiting for school buses and Saturday morning kid activities has put a damper on that, but what it did was led me to think of new ideas of how to continue getting local foods for my family.

If I do miss the farmer’s markets, I found that by going to Kellie Brook farm on Route 33 for my meat and eggs, and then hitting Barker’s farm stand, which is open all the time, down the road in Stratham for fruits and vegetables, I can get the majority of the food we need. It’s easy and nearby! Barker’s farm stand even has milk and cheese too. Hopefully, next year I’ll be off the waiting list for the CSA, which will make it even easier.

Another time saving tip is the recipes I choose to make. I try my best to pick easy meals and save the long preparation meals for the weekends, like stuffed butternut squash with Kellie Brook farm sausage and Apple Annie apples. Some of our fast favorites are grilled eggplant sandwiches with local tomatoes, lettuce, cheese. I use mayonnaise with fresh garlic and basil and buns made at On the Vine. If I have time, I make homemade french fries. I also usually roast one whole chicken a week for a great family meal and the leftovers always makes a variety of different soups with whatever vegetables I have around. Other family favorites are lots of different variations of pizza, ratatouille and beans and rice, along side with a big piece of locally made or homemade bread with butter. And yes, my kids eat the meals with vegetables.

And can you believe it, a fairly good and informative local and organic foods article is actually on the CNN website. The way we eat is changing for more and more people.

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September 3, 2007 by Audrey.

On September 1st, the first day of the Eat Local Challenge, I did all my shopping at Shaw’s grocery store. After, visiting the farmer’s markets all summer and working very hard on our new lifestyle, my tired body, from all the responsibilities of a family, broke down and did an all in one shopping trip. My guilty conscious was eased when I discovered that their are many options at the grocery store though, ones I missed, since I have been shopping so much elsewhere.

This past month, raising three children developmentally all under the age of three and trying to continue eating locally has posed many difficulties. After juggling schedules around routine appontments for Lexi ranging from Boston to Dartmouth, therapy appointments, birthday parties, and a summer vacation to visit the grandparents in PA (which was great because we stocked up on pretzals and Yeungling beer), I think of ourselves as a fairly typical busy family. On top of that, we experienced numerous car repairs, which left me without a car every Thursday, the day of the Exeter farmers market - very annoying. It causes me to wonder, how did mothers in the past grow their food, and preserve it all, and watch after the little ones? Some hypothesis’s are: lots of family members around, get togethers for canning, maybe more community support. I’d love to hear what others think.

In the meantime, check out some of my favorite things:

• Farmer Kate’s Willow Pond article, in case you missed it.
• Borealis Bread that Sara Zoe mentioned can actually be picked up at Shaw’s grocery store. Very cool!
• Community of people I have met since I started this venture, and I am excited to get to know the people I have met better and meet more farmers!
• Josh’s Zebra tomatoes from Meadow Mirth’s farm. The word devoured, is an understatement when we discovered how good they were when tasted for the first time.
• Feeling good about the products I am buying. Not only because they are healthy, but because, my money is supporting a cause I strongly believe in on a daily basis.
• Lasting Legacy farm for showing us around after getting COMPLETELY lost on the way there. And allowing us to make an order and then picking it up at Willow Pond, since it’s close by.
• Riverlea Farm was also an awesome place to visit, especially with young kids. I just wish my Kousa plant produced more this summer, so I could keep making my favorite recipe with ground lamb.

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August 5, 2007 by Audrey.

I’m addicted. I absolutely love opening my freezer and seeing all the fresh local food waiting to be eaten when the growing season ends. My habits are changing. Granted my family has a long way to go in preservation of food if we want to go year round, but I think every year we will get better and have more food. So far, I have bags of blueberries, containers of raspberries, 1 sad and lonely, but cherished container of strawberry jam, lots of raspberry and blueberry jam, asparagus, squash, and fabulous steak cuts from Lasting Legacy farm.

One of my new habits, is every weekend I head over to Monahan’s Farm and pick fruit for about an hour right when they open. It’s been a really nice time spent with my almost 4 year old, Isabella, who has become a fairly proficient picker. I have also been joined by quite a few friends, and it’s a great time to catch up, especially for moms. We’ve commented on how relaxing it is; maybe it’s our hardwired foraging genes coming to surface.

A motivation for picking fruit, besides blueberry pancakes and the ability to eat raspberries by the handful, a typically expensive task from the grocery store, is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that does not contain corn syrup and is all locally made. For whatever reason, this sandwich is coveted by the under age 10 population and by parents for it’s easy serving. For the bread, I use either homemade bread or pick from one of the many locally made ones, a family favorite, is Mathew’s All Natural from Lowell, MA. It’s easy to get, even at the big grocery stores. The jam is homemade because it is soo easy to make and the most difficult ingredient to buy without breaking the bank or containing corn syrup or substituted other cheap fruit. The natural peanut butter is becoming more popular and easier to find. I have not researched thoroughly yet to find the most local version, but On the Vine has some, and even Shaw’s carries some jars from MA and New York.

So one result from my new healthy addiction is a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich I can feel good about serving. And my most vocal food critic in the house, Isabella, will eat the entire sandwich and ask for more. I think the Grandma bought t-shirt says it best, “I like my grapes in jelly.”

Photo caption from the top: my freezer with no bar codes, raspberry picking with friends at Monahan’s Farm, Chase Stuber blueberry picking, Isabella with McTague family blueberry picking

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July 26, 2007 by Audrey.

Typically going to the dentist is an exciting trip for me these days, because it involves leaving the house by myself. No children in tow or bags of their stuff to keep them happy. So when I was able to attend the Flag Hill Cooking Class, it was a very special event for me.

The menu for the night was Beef fajitas (meat supplied by Lasting Legacy Farm), a marinated bean salad, and a raspberry mousse parfait, which we all went back for seconds and thirds for after cooking it. I learned a few new cooking skills, tasted a really great meal, and met some very nice new people. Chef McCormack was very skilled at answering questions, keeping us on task, and organizing the meal all at once. I also felt good knowing that my money spent for the class was going back into the eating locally cause, for the Willow Pond CSA.

The August class is already booked up, but September and October still have openings. Hope to see you there!

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July 22, 2007 by Audrey.

My favorite squash is starting to come in my home garden and I also see it at the farmer’s market. It’s called Kousa or Kusa and it’s a Lebanese version of the zuchinni. It’s about the same shape, but it’s a very light green in color. And I can’t get enough of it because of this recipe I am going to share with you. It was given to me by some close friends of our family that are of Lebenese descent.

We even just call the meal “Kousa”. And there is a hard version to make and an easy version. And of course I pick the easy version unless I want to turn some guests on to it. And sorry, you won’t get exact measurements for this recipe. It’s a family recipe that’s been handed down by watching people cook in the kitchen. I can’t think of a better recipe for success than that.

Ingredients:

1lb Ground meat, preferably lamb (Riverslea lamb is very good)
2-3 medium Kousas, seeds removed and chopped into 1 inch pieces

fresh tomatoes chopped or 2 cans of chunky tomatoes

a handful of freshly chopped mint or dried mint to taste

2-3 small handfuls of rice

About 1-2 cups of water, however you might like the consistency, more stew like or soup like.

Boullion cube if you like.

Saute the meat, toss in the rest of the ingredients and simmer until the kousa is soft, about 45 min. The liquid ingredients should just cover the meat and kousa.

The more difficult version involves coring out the kousa and stuffing them with the tomato/meat/rice mixture and then cooking them in a tomato sauce. It is soo good.

And waste not, the Lebanese take the Kousa insides/seeds and saute it up with onions and eggs for a delicious breakfast. Also, the insides and the kousa can be blanched and frozen, so you can eat this yummy warm your insides meal in the winter time as well.

If you are not into trying to cook as much, try out Martha’s restaurant in Hampton Falls. When Kousa is in season, you can have the meal made for you here. Click the link for a great review.

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July 19, 2007 by Audrey.

I have found so many great local foods, but I wanted to share about the local eggs I found for our family. And, as always, time plays a large part of the decisions I make for hunting and purchasing local foods.

There was more to learn about chicken eggs than I ever imagined. I personally now think the best eggs to get are free range (really free range, not a little grassy yard attached to a large holding building), and local. On the Vine, has Hannah and Sammy’s Magical Eggs from Stuart Farm in Stratham. They are very easy to get and my kids love the different colors and shapes.

I also discovered a neighbor that has free range chickens in her backyard and with a production of a dozen eggs a day, likes to give away the extras. This is another great benefit of eating local foods. You get to know a community and share your lives with many people close by.

But my favorite eggs, are from Riverview Farm in Madbury, picked up at the Exeter farmer’s market. The chickens are fed the best quality of corn with extra vitamin A. The egg yolks are a very dark golden color and they taste so rich. I was told they are possibly fertilized eggs which, they swear do not contain baby chickens inside, but makes them taste better. I think they were the reason our homemade waffles tasted so good for our Father’s Day brunch.

And by the way, there is an egg missing from the dozen in the picture because it was eaten.

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July 10, 2007 by Audrey.

My mom used to make homemade strawberry jam when I was a kid, and I have fond memories of being yelled at for attempting to place half a container of jam on one piece of buttered toast. I decided this would be a great place to dive into local foods by picking and making my own jam and maybe giving me the ability to place as much on my toast as I want to now.

Well, strawberry season, as I have learned, only really lasts a good 2 weeks and as anyone with 3 kids knows, if you blink, you will miss it. One of the most difficult habit changes I am going through right now is, if you see something good, BUY IT!! I can’t keep thinking, “Oh, I’ll get it next time I go to the store.” I saw strawberries at the Farmer’s Market the first week they were in season, but because of swim lessons, hippotherapy/horseback riding, and relative’s visiting, I wrongly thought I didn’t want to make time to make the jam yet. I figured I still had time to figure out a good place to pick them or I would just buy them next week. Another week passed and by the time I could get the kids over to the farmer’s market that week (only 2 hours after it opened) all the strawberries were sold. I spoke with Farmer Kate from Willow Pond Community Farm and word on the street at the Farmer’s Market was that Monahan’s Farm had a bumper crop.

Isabella and I were able to make it to Monahan’s Farm at 8:00am on Sunday morning. And in true 3 year old fashion, as soon as we’d walked our way up to the strawberry field, she asked, “Can I go to the bathroom?” Luckily, Monahan’s has a port-a-potty at the farmstand, in case you are wondering. I was starting to think, that local strawberry picking is a cutthroat business, especially after having to climb the shelves at the grocery store for the last remaining fruit pectin box laying down at the very back top shelf. Needless to say, we picked about 4 quarts of strawberries between the two of us.

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June 29, 2007 by Audrey.

My seventeen pound, 4 month old, Shayla, is strapped in her baby bjorn on my front and is making swipes at my 5 year old’s ponytail, while I am holding both her hands helping her walk. Meanwhile, my precocious 3 year old, Isabella, has already run over to Riverslea Farm’s booth and is talking to the owner, touching all the wool products in sight. I am walking through the Exeter Farmer’s Market looking for some fresh strawberries with my three girls. My oldest, Alexandra, has an undiagnosed genetic disorder which includes developmental delay (non-verbal, not walking independently yet), a swallowing disorder, and a seizure disorder. She is just one of the many reasons why my family has decided to start eating locally and dive head first into the post-industrial era.
I am increasingly reading about the growing number of autistic cases, the increase of obesity, diabeties, genetic disorders, and learning disablities, to name a few. I am also reading about the links of these increases to the amount of chemicals that are found in our bodies. The statement, “You are what you eat,” is taking on more meaning than ever before. Now, I may never know what the cause of Alexandra’s disability may be, but I feel like something is terribly wrong when there are so many children (1 in 6 have a developmental disability) with health issues. There are also studies that show eating organically for just a short period of time, significantly reduces the chemicals and pesticides that are found in our bodies. Also, by eating locally grown and organic foods, the foods themselves are more nutritious, than the food grown and processed by the industrial food industry. This knowledge is highly motivating for me to change my shopping and cooking habits.
Outside of my children, my husband and I spend a lot of time talking about the environment and the impending future energy crisis. We are very concerned about the future and what it holds for our children’s lives and families. We have brainstormed how our one income middle class family could make a difference. Yes, we changed our light bulbs, and insulated our house beyond what the contractor thought was okay. We would love to own a house like George W. Bush’s ironic environmental Texas ranch, or purchase a brand new hybrid car, or some innovative solar panels that look like roof tiles, but that takes money. So when I recently read about eating locally and the enormous benefits it provides the environment for a fairly low cost, I was all ears.
So beyond all the depressing future outlooks and political statements, the bottom line is local foods taste really really good! How can you argue with about which tomato to choose for your July picnic salad? One from California that tastes like cardboard or a juicy rich tasting one just picked from the vine. And who doesn’t love the smell of fresh baked bread from the oven? One of my recent favorites is a slice smothered in local butter and honey.
Now in reality, this is a time consuming effort to change my habits, to figure out not only what is available near our family, but where too. And who has time to drive to 5 different locations to complete the food shopping for the week? Well, I am going to do my best to try and figure out how to make it work. I also hope to make it easier for other busy families who share similar concerns and would like to feel like they are making a difference.

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