MIA.

Whatever happened to that "Seasonally Seattle?" you may be wondering. Did she disappear? Did she lose her computer? Did she...give up?

I'm happy to say that I'm still alive and still in Seattle. And I haven't given up...exactly. But it's been an interesting journey in the last month since our 100% local Turkey Day.

First, I got a job. I'm now working at the American Lung Association, managing two large events...a 5K that happens in May, and a stair climb event that happens in October. I'm so excited to be back in the work force again, but with my weeks filling up with appointments and logistical planning, my blog has suffered...as has Seasonally Seattle, slightly.

We are still locally focused eaters. All of our dairy, meat, eggs and flour are still local. Our tomatoes are still local. I'm still burning through our back stock of dehydrated fruits. And our greens and most of our veggies and fruits are still local. But here's where our journey has taken a turn, and here's why.

Dan and I reached a point where we began questioning the healthiness of this little experiment.  While we were eating nearly 100% local, most of our dinners consisted of meat and potatoes. I had originally romanticized the concept of doing this, thinking about how connected I was to my forefathers. The thing is, my forefathers actually worked the land 10 hours a day, affording them a 1500 calorie dinner. Me, not so much. Dan and I both gained even more weight, despite going to the gym or running regularly. 

We found that we were missing things like salmon (from Alaska) and tofu (with soybeans from the midwest). Our dinners were so heavy that all we wanted was a little Quinoa (from Bolivia) with veggies. And the fact that I now have a job makes my spare time so much more valuable... and baking bread every weekend, soaking beans and defrosting meat was nearly a full time job. Being able to buy a loaf of whole wheat bread for $2.99 is a God send when you have a jam packed schedule. And we missed cereal, the simplest breakfast ever.

And so here are. About 60% local. Still decent, but not really what I set out to do. Though I will say, the whole point of this experiment was just that--to see if it was a feasible lifestyle change for an urban couple. Here is what I've come up with.

It is feasible, in the spring, summer and fall. While I think it's possible to do 100% local, there are things I must have in my life to feel healthy. I will continue to eat locally, and shop locally, and there are other things I've picked up in the last 6 months that I will continue to do as well.

I'll still can my own tomatoes. I'll still dehydrate fruit for the winter months. And I'll still make pasta from scratch on occasion.

And most importantly, I'll still keep this blog. While I'll be scaling it back from a few times a week to probably once a week, I'll still give recipes and how-to's that I think are important to eating as locally as possible (and logical).

In the mean time, I hope all you Seattleites will come to my 5K on May 1st at Magnuson Park. You can become a fan on Facebook to learn more about it. And I hope you will all stop by once in awhile to read Seasonally Seattle.

Day 37: Sheep In Wolves Clothing

Since discovering the wonders of PCC as a viable option for local products, we've been relying more and more on their convenience and hours. You will still find us on a weekly basis at the farmer's markets, but the convenience of popping into PCC is hard to ignore.

Granted, we are pretty dedicated locavores. We keep to our exception list (I am proud to announce that I have not had a single piece of Halloween candy, even though we have plenty awaiting trick-or-treaters), and have completely deleted normal things like Quinoa, Rice, and Chocolate from our diet.

Still, it's starting to feel...too easy. 


But isn't that the goal? To show the world that the average urban couple can go local, and that it doesn't suck? Or that it won't bleed your bank account dry? I know I'm only a month in, but I'm surprised to say... it's not as hard as I expected.

Yes, the leg work involved to get us to this point was definitely time consuming. We spent the entire summer canning and planning and getting us ready for this exact moment. Since securing our meat, bean and tomato needs, everything else has actually been pretty easy.

I still bake any bread we consume, and I make all of our meals from scratch. But I've also discovered some shortcuts, so cooking isn't as time consuming as it was before. Lunch is always a challenge, as I'm still hard-pressed to find local shaved meat for sandwiches, but this is more of a hiccup than a road block, and with a little creativity, we're still eating lunch on a daily basis.

Once you add in the big PCC stores, it feels even easier. Now that we've found "local" products from big name companies, it not only feels easy, it feels......... WRONG.

For instance, yogurt and cheese. I love my local dairy farmers, Golden Glen being my favorite for milk and butter. However, I have yet to find a dairy that produces a yogurt that doesn't taste like... the barn.

In that vain, I have contacted nearly a half dozen big name yogurt companies that claim the Pacific Northwest as their stomping ground to find out where their dairy actually comes from. This search has led to some surprising discoveries.

For instance, "Greek Gods" yogurt gets most of their milk from Washington State, but they do get some of it from Wisconsin, and there is no way to tell what batch comes from what. "Cascade Fresh", the yogurt company that brags about being a local "Northwest" company, gets their dairy from a plant in Southern California.

When a savvy tipster (thanks Jen!) left me a comment that Yami was locally based, I was skeptical at first. And so I did what I always do--I called Yami directly. (It amazes me that all of these dairies answer on the first ring and are more than happy to tell you where their stuff comes from). My tipster was RIGHT...it turns out their dairy comes from a co-op, all of which comes from Washington cows. Their dairy is Organic to boot, which is a nice bonus. The best part? It doesn't taste like the farm. 

This led me to start researching other big names like Tillamook (230 miles from Seattle!) . Turns out, all of their dairy comes from cows in the Tillamook Valley. In addition to being growth hormone free and getting their milk from small, family owned farms, they have stringent regulations on antibiotics. If a batch of milk shows up and has any trace of antibiotics in it, they will dispose of it, rather than put it into their product. Pretty awesome.

While I'm selfishly happy to have a few more yogurt options, I can't help but be torn. On the one hand, I really want to support big companies doing good things, especially when they are supporting small farmers. On the other hand, I feel like I'm cheating, even though these products fall within our guidelines.

And relying on PCC is both good and bad. We're still shopping at the farmer's market on a weekly basis (supporting the little guy), and getting only a few things at PCC (supporting the bigger guy). And I'm sure that my constant pestering of the PCC employees is having some impact ("where is THIS from? And this?"), because the more we demand local products, the more local products we'll see in our stores. 

Even PCC has a ways to go. There are rows and rows of tea on the shelf, and none are from Washington, even though there is a local Green Tea grower here. Thanks to another tipster (thanks, Paula!), turns out there is also local popcorn to be had. It'd be pretty awesome if this was an option at most stores.

PCC is still a great resource, and it's nice to know there are options for those of us who don't have the time or need something in a pinch. It's also pretty nice to know that going local can actually be quite accessible, even for those who haven't made this year long commitment. 

Days 1, 2 and 3

Planning ahead only works when life doesn't throw curve balls at you.

The first week of this project, we planned on taking it easy. We imagined quiet dinners at home with plenty of leftovers for quick lunches. We had also planned on the arrival of a very special baby September 12th, but this little boy had other plans.

Instead he came on September 23rd, meaning the first night of Seasonally Seattle we were at the hospital and watching his older sister. Plus, my dad came into town on short notice, meaning a house full of guests and lots of running around.

Going local isn't all that hard if you have time to prepare meals, but when you run out of time / entertain / run errands all day and return to a fridge full of raw ingredients, most of which are vegetables, frustration is sure to set in.

So was the case the first day of this well thought out adventure, when my dad and I returned after a morning of driving lots of miles and running a bunch of errands. I arrived home famished, with nothing to serve outside of some kale, eggs, flour and dehydrated beans.

In my desperation, I served my dad and I some large slabs of defrosted zucchini bread, then quickly moved onto my dinner plans, knowing that if this continued into dinner, our next year would begin looking really bleak.

I decided we needed something special to mark the start of this journey. And so I made my very first rack of lamb. I quickly learned that "Frenching" the lamb is an important step that you should ask your butcher to do for you. I didn't know that. And so I unwrapped the racks and found two large slabs of fat, of which I had NO idea what to do with. So after a quick search and watching a You Tube video in French , I earned my merits in Frenching.



Along with the lamb, I made yukon gold mashed potatoes and wilted rainbow chard, and the meal was paired wonderfully with some delicious wine my dad had brought from the Okanogan county.





Day one was a marginal success, but I had another plan to contend with as well...Dan's surprise birthday party on the 24th.

Friday came around, and I prepared chili from scratch, filled with fresh, local veggies, beans from our stash, tomatoes I had canned over the summer, and polenta from Bluebird Grains to thicken it up a bit. I also baked two loaves of bread, my first for this experiment, and set out cheese from local farmers.

I thought I had all my bases covered on the local front, until I remembered one key element to birthday celebrations: cake.

I ran all of the options through my head. I could make a crisp. I could make a pie. But could I make pie without sugar? What about cake? Suddenly, I felt very foolish. There is no replacement for sugar. Honey will do as a reasonable substitution in many cases, but there is no substitution for birthday cake.

And so another exception was added to the list. Sugar. Call me a chicken, call me a cheater, but I think it's pretty reasonable. I'll still use honey instead of sugar when possible, but I refuse to check out of birthdays and celebrations for a year. I'm only human. Besides, all of our core ingredients are local, and everything that you can get local, we will. We are still under our 10 exceptions we slotted for ourselves, and sugar seems pretty reasonable.

With everything that was going on with the babies arrival and my dad visiting, I decided to call on other resources. Cupcake Royale, an amazing cupcake shop, was happy to oblige, and I rested easy knowing that all of their eggs, milk, flour (!!!), and berries come from local farms.

The party went off without a hitch. I admit, I indulged on a lovely gift of whiskey from Japan, but otherwise, the night remained local and mighty delicious, if I do say so myself.

Playing in the dirt

No rest for the weary! After three full days of moving, hauling, lifting, unpacking, breaking down boxes, climbing stairs and more lifting, the home we moved into is really starting to feel like home.

With the main level complete, cooking and relaxing are now feasible. Relaxing was the furthest thing from my mind when the sun came out today, when I took advantage of the fall air and the warm sunshine to plant my first two "winter crops", which really breaks down to a cauliflower plant, a lettuce plant, rosemary, thyme and sage. It seems very small scale compared to that of my mom, who has the most natural green thumb of anyone I've ever met, but still... it was just another way to "move in" and bank on eating some of the local-est lettuce I can find this winter.



Of course, nothing in our new home compares to our pantry, where jars upon jars of tomatoes are lined up like little soldiers, waiting for their call to service. Three giant bags of beans are lined up next to the tomatoes, and next to that my dried fruit. For some reason, it feels so gratifying to have everything stockpiled in my pantry. I feel like I've prepped for winter, and all I have to do is hold on.

What exactly is..."Local"

Yesterday we were in the thick of moving, and decided to stop off at Whole Foods for lunch. We were discussing our Thanksgiving plans when we realized this was shaping up to be the easiest local meal we'll make this year.

Local turkey, apple pie (from the apples I lovingly peeled and sliced a few weeks ago), pumpkin pie (not canned--the real deal from a local pumpkin patch), some root veggies and probably a crisp Kale salad. And let's not forget fresh baked bread from local flour we get from Nash's Organic Produce!

There is a tradition, however, that I feared wouldn't be the same. That tradition is simple: sitting on the couch while the turkey is cooking, watching football and eating...chips. That's right. Chips. The saltiest, greasiest chips that provide a great amount of crunch and crumb.

When I mentioned this to Dan, we started brainstorming...We could make our own! We could make them out of sweet potatoes! We could try baked versus fried! Yes!

But that also sounded like a whole lotta work, and so while at Whole Foods, I wandered through the chip aisle, just to see what is already out there.

Stickers lined the shelves - "LOCAL!" - pointing out local products. I picked up a bag. "Organic Corn Tortilla chips, made with loving care in Washington..."

Yes...

"...with Organic Corn from the American Southwest". Damn.

I turned over bag after bag labeled by Whole Foods as "LOCAL", and couldn't find a single product actually from Washington.

Now, I appreciate local businesses. I think supporting local businesses is important. But Washington has lots of corn. Why couldn't they get their corn from a grower in Washington State?

I guess when it comes down to it, to truly support the little guy, or support the local farmers, you need to do just that. There is only one way to truly know where your food is coming from.

Buy direct.

Shalom

It's hard to believe we've been in Tel Aviv for 4 days already. There is no easier place to eat locally than Israel, I've found, and this was only emphasized today after a walk through Ha Carmel market.

The market lifts your senses to new levels. Crowded and chaotic, people shove through the aisles, shouting niceties to vendors and wishing each other L'Shana Tova, or a happy new year, which is fast approaching.

Locals pull their two wheeled grocery carts behind them, loading up on local eggs, cheeses and vegetables for the coming Sabbath dinner. Sweet, warm bread smells linger in the air, so rich you can almost taste the honey.

A small woman in a turban uses what seems to be a steel drum and a large, hard pillow to hammer out long sheets of lavash. Deep purple eggplants entice, and herb stands tout piles of locally grown, locally ground herbs, the colors vibrant and stunning.



Fresh fruit stands overflow with bunches giant, hard grapes, and beautiful lavender figs line the whole of the market. Giant heaps of olives of different sizes and colors glisten in the breaks of sunlight. I asked a woman if the olive oil she was selling was from Israel, and she looked at me like I was a fool. "Of course ees frum Eesrael...everything eees."




I stocked up only on olives and grapes for our drive tomorrow, wishing I had more time to actually cook a meal with ingredients from this very market. But we're heading to Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, and soon we'll be leaving Israel, so there is no time to cook. While I'm excited to be out of the humidity and heat, and back to my kitchen in Seattle, I know part of me will miss Israel. The noise, the commotion, and all of those fresh, fresh ingredients.

Our Last Stand.

As natural planners, we thought it would be easier to have some lead time before making the 100% local leap. In some ways, it has been. And while I'm glad I get the chance to can my own tomatoes and freeze fresh berries for the winter months, I'm really ready to start.

Partly why I'm chomping at the bit is our eating habits lately have gone to pot. Usually, a dinner consists of Quinoa, veggies and tofu or maybe chicken, with dessert being a Skinny Cow Ice Cream Bar. Nothing crazy.

Occasionally, a fine dining experience with a few glasses of wine.

Lately, it's like we're squirrels burying nuts for the winter, only instead of nuts, we're burying saturated fats. Burgers. Fries. Milk Shakes. Our desperation knows no bounds. And when we confront our eating habits, we always fall back on "well, starting in September, we won't be able to do this sort of thing...."

Dangerous.

But all of this prep time has been eye opening, and pretty helpful.

I spent all day around Seattle and the East Side yesterday, a full "car day" complete with shopping excursions, business meetings and lots of time in traffic. Now, I like to eat. I eat when I'm stressed, I eat when I'm bored, and I definitely like to grab quick snacks when I'm out and about. I realized quickly yesterday this could pose a problem heading into the winter months. What am I going to snack on? I nearly had a panic attack, until I consulted the Locavore Book I've been reading. She suggested dried fruits, which again, I hadn't even really thought of.

So, this weekend we're off to make our first purchase for our year long journey. A food dehydrator. Nothing special, just the 5 tray variety you can get at BB&B. Still, I think having good snacks around will end up saving us from ourselves, not to mention, keep us healthy.

Now, if I can find local popcorn...I'm set...

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.

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!

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.