Pasta Making

Well, a few nights ago I experimented by making pasta from scratch from all local ingredients. It's a trial run to see how this whole going local thing will work into our lives for the next year. The eggs were from a farm in Granite Falls, all pastel colors and different sizes. They worked beautifully into the fresh flour from Nash's Organic Produce, and all in all created a pasta that was tender and delicious. Here is the process...

Eggs & Flour...

'

Knead for a lonnnnng time...



Divide accordingly...



Flatten...



Flatten Again...



And Again, until it starts looking a little something like this...



After all of this, you run it through the pasta cutter, and voila! Fresh Pasta.

Soybeans, Soybeans, where are you from?

So, Dan and I are on the pursuit for local tofu. At first glance, this doesn't really seem like a big deal, right? Local tofu-just pop down to the local PCC or other health food store, and pick up Island Springs Tofu tofu, which is locally made in the San Juan Islands. Oh, but wait! Where are those *soybeans* from?? Who knows. And after watching Food, Inc (also available on Netflix On Demand right now! Watch it!), we know that soybeans are one of the most controversial crops out there.

Now we are trying to figure out...do we forgo tofu for a year? Do we need to eat a strong protein *every* day? Or will we be living on Lentil's for a year?

In other news, we (and by we, I mean my mom) found jars that are not terribly expensive, and after calling around to local farms, are planning a trip to Eastern Washington to search out tomatoes for canning. I feel like an urban homesteader!

More Guides

Here are a few more guides for what's seasonal in the fall months in Seattle. I'll do this for every season, so check back for winter months, too!

Autumn - What's in Season: Fruits

It does occur to me that we are in the middle of summer, and I'm providing guides for fall season. I suppose I'm getting a jump start, as our plan begins at the start of the Autumn Equinox, or September 22nd. From now until then? Prepare, prepare, prepare!

Going Local.

My husband Dan and I have been in a quandary as of late. We love food, so much in fact, it's starting to show on our waistlines, but we also realize that we have no idea where most of our food comes from.

What's worse is that we recently realized we have no concept of what is even in season in Seattle throughout the year. We both have the grocery-store mentality: anything we want is available whenever we want it, 24/7.

We cook stir-fry's and pasta dishes brimming with "fresh" spinach, tomatoes and bell peppers year round, but are starting to wonder--is that really normal?

Now, something to note: we are both cheap. This becomes abundantly clear when we are eying our selection of produce, trying to rationalize organic versus non organic. The price difference is staggering, and normally we both opt for the non organic.

Even if we had chosen the organic selection, is that necessarily better for us, or for the environment? Driving a tomato 2,000 miles to my grocery aisle isn't the most helpful for the world, I'm guessing. And when we think about eating local, it seems illogical and expensive. Doesn't that seem strange? To think of eating something from a nearby farm as illogical? We think so.

So we've decided to put ourselves through a little experiment. We are going to eat locally, seasonally and as organically as possible for the next year. We are going to start in the fall, at the beginning of "Autumn", and go from there.

Now, we realize there have been a lot of these experiments--"No Impact Man" being one of the most recent and most pervasive. But one thing that these experiments haven't factored in is this--can you do it on a budget? Can you eat locally and still save money? We plan on finding out.