March 1.  We’re officially in the heart of winter.  We’ve been eating soup, stews, potatoes and hearty meals for months and there’s no end in sight.

What dishes do you turn to in the middle of winter when you want something local and lovely?

My favorites include preserved fruit, our homemade tomato sauce (as pasta or soup) and our dried goods put over from summer.  I get oddly excited about our recent fermentations and keep planning (without success) to make cabbageroles and perogies.

One of the counter-intuitive things about a project like Well Preserved is that our pattern of posting 7 days a week means that we miss sharing major themes of the lessons we`re learning about food.  By posting about the macro lessons of our kitchen it`s like we post about the trees while sometimes forgetting to share an update about the forest.  This is particularly problematic as we`re more passionate about the metaphorical forest than the individual greenery within it so it`s good to remember to take a step back from time to time.

A few weeks back, Dana ran into something (it may have been a passage from Mark Bittman or Joel Salatin) that explained that eating locally meant making a shift from eating what was available instead of what you wanted.  Although the sentiment was pure common sense, it was also a pretty big moment for us; it`s amazing how the words of others can help cement feelings into fact.

And those facts help informing your kitchen.

I`ve found myself reflecting on that statement a lot in recent weeks.  I wish one could plan the timing of such moments but when inspiration hits, you`ve got two options: answer to the bell or try to ignore her.  I`ve tried to embrace the challenge and can feel how our kitchen is changing just by purposefully searching for the items that I have on hand rather than defaulting to recipes, tricks or ingredients I may know.

This particular influence is easier to pursue because of our pantry full of preserves.  Consider today`s brunch:

• It started with a baguette.  We get a baguette every 2-3 weeks as part of our community shared agriculture program (though this one was bought en route to picking up our CSA today).
• Laid on top of the bread (not visible) is a sweet-potato humus that came from our CSA basket last week.
• On top of that are onions (again, from the CSA) which were caramelized with cider vinegar, maple syrup (from a friend`s tree), hot peppers (that we dehydrated), salted herbs (we preserved) and tossed with cheese that we also received as part of our CSA.

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• The sandwich was then topped with two fried eggs from a local small farm (again part of our CSA)
• and then topped with pickled hot peppers from our pantry.

I would have never mixed all of these things together before – but the focus on using what we have vs. what we want is creating new and delicious combinations in our kitchen that we would have missed before.  And it`s got me that much more excited about exploring what happens when the first thought isn`t `what else do I need?`

What great things do you assemble with the things you have?

We`re going to pick up a rental car shortly and then we`re taking off to farm country.  We haven`t decided which region of the province we`ll visit and there`s farms North, East and West.  If we go far enough West, there`s a bunch of farms South as well.

I love the feeling before taking off in an unplanned direction.  In the early 1990s I was fortunate to take a year off and spend much of that time on a Greyhound Bus.  In a single year I travelled 27,713 kilometers on the bus system with no watch or calendar.  I brought a map to track my distance – but not to look ahead.  It was a time of very much living in the now.

Today I`m excited to disappear into the country and simply see our province.  I am most excited to simply see the fields and to explore the effects of our initially wet summer that`s become relatively hot.

We`re also bringing an empty cooler.  perhaps we`ll fill it, perhaps it will stay empty.  But the potential of filling it is as exciting as the act itself.

Enjoy the wonderful day all – it`s time to explore our foodshed and I`m bouncing off the walls!

As a bit of background – in Canada we have a lot of food labelled as `Product of Canada.`  The legislation is often criticized for confusing the origins of food – i.e food grown on the other side of the world and then shipped here can be labelled `Product of Canada` if the packaging costs more than the actual food.  Other food grown here and shipped to the Southern US or Russia to be produced comes back as this same label.  We also confuse wine purchasers with terms like `cellared in Canada.`  It`s a frequent topic amongst many I know…

I spent a few minutes with a friend today who I find ever-inspiring.  She recently spent hours going through a pile of produce trying to figure out where it`s from. She quoted some of the terms on the packaging that would be so funny if they weren`t actually really on foreign food trying to appear to be more local.

There`s a lot of attention to locally-grown food these days and many people are interested in being included in those conversations.  Perhaps this is why some labeling is confusing.

I thought I`d provide some tongue-in-cheek ideas to help companies who want to make their far-away food seem more local – the comments in the parenthesis are the fine print:

• Grown locally (somewhere else)
• Grown with Love in Canada (only the love part has to be Canadian, technically)
• Contains Canadian Water (that evaporated and fell somewhere else)
• Grown on Canadian Soil (why not just ship some of our soil somewhere else and farm with it)
• 100% Canadian Seeds made these veggies
• Inspired by Canada
• Mae while thinking of Canada
• pollinated by Canadian Bees
• Made in Cda. (Just rename a town somewhere else)
• Made While Thinking of Canada
• Made on (a map of) Canada
• Made Near Canada
• Canadian Bacon (Made somewhere else)

I understand that the truth is that most of our mass-produced food simply can`t tell us where it`s from because of their scale (that`s scary enough) – but I just wish my food would tell me where it was from and then I could make my own decision from there…

Happy Saturday to all!

I stopped by the pub on my home from work.  I was there to pick up our weekly delivery of farm-fresh food and the second delivery of the year from our CSA.  I stopped short of the temptation to grab a pint and enjoy the first day of summer on the patio.

I had started eating my bag of food before I got back to my truck (a mere 30 feet away).  I couldn`t wait to get home and share the bounty – and kept grazing on my way there.

I burst through the door like I had won some form of championship.  I gave Dana one guess to try to figure out what was behind my back (for the record, she guessed onions) before holding my trophy above my head – the first fresh strawberries we`ve had in almost a year.

The concept of eating seasonally and avoiding imported strawberries through the winter is something relatively new to us.  I don`t know exactly when we started it (about 4 or 5 years) and we don`t live 100% to it but it seems that more and more of our food is becoming seasonal.

I also understand this isn`t a lifestyle for everyone and that there are also plenty of people who live this way naturally.  I just want to share our excitement for doing so – though it`s difficult to explain something that comes down to experience.

There`s something magical about eating something you haven`t had in a long time; especially when it`s uncomprimisingly fresh and ripe and full of flavor.  Imported strawberries barely resemble the flavor, texture and even color of their imported cousins.

Dana and I had a bit of a strawberry party last night – we absolutely geeked out gorging on flavors that were barely memories before last night.  It`s remarkably silly but so rewarding and exciting.

Seasonal eating also forces me to use new ingredients, learn new recipes and techniques that I didn`t otherwise know.  It adds a slight challenge – one that can easily be overcome with a recipe book or Google.  It can also be just as economical as buying from a large grocery store (though there`s a whole series of posts in their own right there).

I`m not sure I can quite describe it but I really recommend trying to abstain on one food (berries are great for this as is asparagus) and avoid it when you can`t get it locally and fresh – and enjoy the excitement of it`s return when you see it next year.  The reward is so much richer than anything I can find words to describe.

It`s emotional.

I really considered hitting `POST`there (the temptation to beat our shortest post ever was tough to resist) .  I`m not sure I can add a lot to the statement above but allow me a chance to try.

I sat in a restaurant last night in my hotel.  Some of the menu options:

• Maryland Crabcakes
• Quesadilla
• Thai Chicken
• Crispy Tortillas
• Buffalo wings
• Cobb Salad
• Fettucini

Spelling mistakes are as they appeared.

See, I am in Scotland.  It took me 36 hours to get to my hotel – almost a full day of travel followed by a full day of work and then an exhausted bite in the cafeteria.  My tired body and mind simply wanted something I couldn`t normally get.  Find me a killer steak pie, haggis, local bangers or a winter stew.  I craved a small reward for the return on investment of the journey I had lived in the previous day-and-a-half.  Some sign that my travel was worth it – and a sign that I had actually travelled somewhere else.

I am probably more obsessed with the concept of Terroir (that food has a `somewhereness`) and seasonality (which is linked to the ‘where’ and ‘when’ of what we eat) as I am with being strictly local in my ingredients.  I’m not trying to be a snob about it, not claiming that you should care like I do nor am I saying it’s somehow better.  I am saying that, for me, it’s critically important.

I had the pleasure of meeting Chef David Kinch (Manresa, California) last year.  He, along with many local chefs, have me yearning for a taste of ‘here’ wherever I am.  Just as I enjoy the focussed attention of the people I am with (and give the same in return), connecting with the food of an area is a focussed gift of insight into a region, its people and their lives.

Kinch further challenged me this year when I heard him speak at Terroir V.  “I am not about local for the sake of being local – I am about getting the best flavors possible on the plate” (this is paraphrased).  He only serves food raised by his restaurant and farm.

Perhaps Manresa is a tough example – it’s an extreme example that very few of us could achieve (due to cost, climate, time and our own focus) but it’s no more extreme to me than the concept of some of the food above, especially when served in a Hotel (a destination with a high percentage of travellers of course).  I also find it inspiring.

Here’s a fantastic video of Kinch and a project they were pitching this winter:

Spring is coming – and with her warmth she will also bring a bounty of tastes from ‘here’ – wherever that may be.  What flavors are you excited to return to?

With our winter community-shared agriculture program starting up today (more on that in the next few days), we thought we’d add to the tips we shared in the summer on how to pick a CSA that works for you in the winter.  We’re going to resist repeating tips from June but they very much apply so I’d recommend checking those out if you’re interested in this post.  Some are similar but more specific to winter.

We’re also going to skip some of the fundamentals – i.e. knowing the growing practices used – and share criteria specific to a CSA and not necessarily how the food is produced or where it is from.

• Location of the pickup.  This becomes even more critical in winter – travel times can be increased and getting around can be more difficult.  A single missed pickup drives the costs of your CSA up (especially for us since our pickup is every second week).
• Meat and dairy.  Does your CSA include these things?  Do you eat them?  Meat and Dairy store well through the winter and some CSAs can be “beefier” that others – this can present a challenge to vegetarians.
• How is the food stored in the winter.  Food that has been cellared well, keeps well.  Frozen food is still frozen food.
• Access to grain and beans.  More and more CSAs are offering flour, whole grains, cornmeal, dried beans and more.  These additions provide great staples and diversify your pickup.
• Getting food home.  Related to location but more specific to food from winter.  Squash, potato, cabbage and other root vegetables may store well – they may also weigh a tonne.  Carrying fresh greens home in late spring is easy – 35 pounds of root vegetables might not be so easy.
• Variety of food.  The prospect of 30 pounds of squash actually excites me in December/ January.  Receiving that weekly would scare me.
• Greenhouse availability.  Does your CSA grow anything in the late winter/ early spring that will add variety to your meals?  Our winter CSA runs through May – not a time I’ll want more parsnips.
• Your personal storage capability.  If you have to store the bulkier foods of winter on the empty side of your bed, you may want to consider a lighter program.  And that’s a piece of advice from a house which stores almost all of their pots in the stove and piles the kitchen table high to cook dinner.
• Variety of food offered – often related to the size or number of farms involved in your program.  The options are fewer than summertime so ensuring that you have variety will be a key to satisfaction for many of us.
• Focus of the farm.  Was the Winter CSA an afterthought (in which case your selection may still be great) or was food intentionally grown for winter market (which would hopefully increase the quality and selection).

You don`t need answers to all of these and there`s not a single set of right answers.  I`m hoping they`re a good starting point – would love any other considerations or tips shared in the comments.  In the meantime I had better find some bags to pick up our share tonight!