I’m already contemplating what I’m rearranging and what we are and are not planting again. At the same time I’m dreaming of planting dry beans, celery, eggplant and more.

Catalogs like Seed Savers Exchange are going to be particularly dangerous to our checking account! Now that I’ve got a year of mostly success, and some lessons learned, under my belt, I’m contemplating choosing more open pollinated and heirloom options and putting in more varieties instead of the somewhat mono-species planting I did in 2008.

I have a feeling that the time to order seeds, start seeds and start working dirt won’t come soon enough at the same time that it comes much too fast…

I will admit right now that the first time I did an eat local challenge I was a bit embarrassed at the simplicity of our meals. But you know what? That’s the way we eat and that’s the way we cook. It might not always be sophisticated or gourmet but it almost always tastes really freakin good. Really good.

Some of that is my growing skill and confidence in the kitchen (modesty aside), but most of it is creditable to the high quality ingredients we use.

This week has included several complicated meals, one that I’m trying to write up dirtied an insane number of pots/pans for a seemingly simple meal. But the one that I’m choosing to feature first is what I ate while home alone tonight.

Homegrown potatoes diced and pan fried with bacon and a bit of salt. Local bread toasted with homemade raspberry jam. A two-egg scallion and cheddar omelet. And a glass of Washington Chardonnay left from the cooking extravaganza alluded to above.

Might not be fancy, but it’s one of our go-to lazy night dinners around here. We both like it and I’m extremely proud of the fact that I’ve finally mastered the pan fried potato. In fact, mine might be better than Mike’s these days Not to mention the fact that I’ve only recently learned to make an omelet without making a mess in the pan.

As the host of this challenge I’m here to tell you that what you cook doesn’t matter. Whether you enjoy finding the ingredients, preparing the meal and eating it does. So cook what you’ve got and be proud of it, we’re all just here to cheer you on.

Stay tuned for Sunday night when Kimberly will be filling in for me on the recap. I’m visiting my family in MN for a long weekend while Mike stays here and holds down the fort.

Is there a moment when you realize that you are maybe just a bit insane?

Is it when you pull multiple chicken carcasses, plus a couple more, out of the freezer to make stock? Is it when you realize that you have too many for your BIG stockpot and decide to split it up and make a second batch in the even bigger pressure canner pot?

Or is it when you realize that perhaps you don’t really have enough quart jars for the volume of stock you just made? Or a plan for how to store it - is there room in the freezer? Is it when you wish you’d gotten a new O-ring for Denise’s loaned canner and had the gauge checked?

Or is it when you’ve got 20 quarts (that’s 5 gallons!) of stock in your freezer and you realize that that’s likely a 6 to 12 month supply?

Yep, that’s pretty much the moment you realize that you might be just a bit insane.

And I’m just enough sheepish about it that I couldn’t bring myself to take a picture of the little soldiers lined up on the island before they went in the freezer.

What insane preserving or cooking ahead have you done lately?

This week’s recap brings tales of turkey, stuffing, squash, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and variations on the theme. It’s fascinating to me that so many of us celebrated the same holiday with the same meal, but featured such different takes on the themes.

You’ll note that our Thanksgiving post this year did not feature our meal, that’s because we joined family for dinner and while many of the ingredients were local and fabulous, I utterly forgot to take any pictures. The highlights for me included my mom’s famous “Danish” pastry - I’m sure it’s not Danish at all, but that’s what we call it around here. So good!

The lard that I rendered Tuesday night has been put to quick use in pies, apple tart, beans and more. I already can’t believe that I lived this long without it! Home alone this weekend, I ate simply and mostly from the garden - so relaxing.

I can’t wait to see what we all come up with next! Check your email tomorrow night for the themes for the rest of the challenge.

*****

The Midwest:
Kim joins us this week with two meals. The first, Red Flannel Hash, is so pretty that I could almost see myself cooking something with beets. Almost. The second, a mostly local Thanksgiving dinner shared with family. The sweet potato dish sounds divine and the sour cream pumpkin pie sounds like a good use for the extra pumpkin puree now hiding in my freezer. Welcome Kim!

Using ingredients that each have their own story, Anne made a dinner of Asian pork chops, kabocha squash and carrots with a soy/ginger/honey glaze and daikon radish pickles. The pickles sound really interesting - I’m always stumped about what to do with daikon radishes, so pretty but so hard to use!

Karen not only made fries with sweet potatoes she grew herself, she served them with an onion and potato frittata, homemade dill pickles and acorn muffins. To top it all off, dessert was homemade apple pie. Mmmmm.

*****

The South:
Proving that the south is a completely different climate than the PNW, Laurel found tomatoes, basil and zucchini at the farmers market this week. She combined it into a simple ratatouille over spaghetti squash. Wow! Check out her post for the recipe and instructions.

Lacking enough stock to make local sides for the FIVE Thanksgiving dinners she attended, Caitlin instead made a local brunch for her boyfriend. After tenderizing the crap out of a round cut of beef, she grilled it and served it topped with a fried egg and a side of simple vinegar coleslaw (recipe included).

Jennifer offers up a recipe for two bean pumpkin chili that sounds delicious. If you’re wondering what to do with your your leftover pumpkin, this seems like the way to go.

*****

The West:
Choosing to keep her cornbread stuffing in deference to tradition, Kimberly created a local Thanksgiving feast for two. The menu included not only the traditional turkey, potatoes and stuffing, but also roasted kabocha squash and Brussels sprouts. Mmmm, that is a beautiful turkey.

Still pregnant and still cooking, Einat’s featured meal this week was a simple dinner of tortellini in a ham, mushroom and onion white sauce. Mmmm, great minds must think alike as this is almost identical to the pasta that I made myself this week.

Maya tried her hand at making sausage this week, not only grinding and stuffing her own pork, but even finding local sausage casings! She served them over braised leeks with sweetmeat sausage mash and sauerkraut on the side and a simple green salad. The sauerkraut was also homemade - I’ll have to compare notes with her as mine decidedly did not turn out this year…

Jack hosted his second meal for charity, a five course Thanksgiving meal to benefit Northwest Harvest (go Jack!). Breaking with tradition a bit, the meal featured their favorite dishes from the year and included mostly local ingredients. I absolutely adore this idea and am trying hard to figure out how to do my own version serving less sophisticated fair (if I only I cooked as well as Jack). If you’d like to replicate the idea, he’d love to fill you in on how it works.

Taking a break from family obligations, Anita and Cameron also enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner just for two. Simplifying the menu from last year’s extraordinary effort, they enjoyed a meal of turkey, potatoes, stuffing, corn and Pinot Noir. Dessert was pumpkin pie (I used her recipe this year - delicious!). This weekend, they also got their new raised garden beds built and are now contemplating what crops to plant first.

Joan roasted a delicata squash with morels and shitakes with a bit of thyme, salt and pepper. Served with sustainably caught Alaskan salmon it sounds like an excellent way to spend a Saturday night!

Turning in an impressive list of local meals, Amy ate well this week! Highlights included Alsatian seared duck breasts with black truffle butter sauce, pumpkin enchiladas, Thanksgiving dinner, carnitas and Shepard’s pie. I know whose house I wish I’d been at this week!

Cat’s meal this week as a breakfast of fried potato and eggs with toast. Seems she has the same gene mutation as me, the one that makes us incapable of frying potato rounds and requiring that we use cubes. Her version sounds excellent as does her recipe for Early Colonial Bread.

Joining us via email, Melissa sent this update. “For our second week of the Dark Days Challenge we ate a very simple, local meal. The only truly unique thing about it was it all came from Whistling Train Farm in Kent. We had picked up our CSA box on Wednesday and they had carrots, broccoli, potatoes and Italian pork sausage. I steamed the carrots and broccoli together, then the potatoes and just cooked up the sausage. Simple and good.”

*****

The East:
Splitting the Thanksgiving meal into two, The Purloined Letter served a lunch of arugula salad and spicy pumpkin soup. For dinner, there was turkey, cornbread casserole, roasted Brussels sprouts, cherry relish and homemade pickles. They topped it all off with sweet potato pie and maple whipped cream.

Spending quality time prepping for her holiday meal, Nicole took time out to share the menu. Turkey with ginger butter; apple cider gravy; pumpkin chestnut stuffing; mashed potatoes with caramelized shallots; sherry vinegar and molasses glazed carrots; cauliflower and prosciutto gratin, cranberry quince sauce; cranberry orange pavlovas and apple cake. Wow - how do I get invited?

Making a last minute family dinner, Mia combined chicken sausage with butternut and carnival squash, salad and wine. Mmmm. Plus, after talking up her CSA to family, they came through with a Thanksgiving dinner that was 90% local!

Sophie’s year of locavoring (nice term!) culminated in a local Thanksgiving feast to make my jaw drop! Dishes came from the freezer, jars, vacuum-sealed packages and farmers. The meal was a true celebration of the bounty of the area she lives in. Check out her post for all the details and photos.

With her mamma in town, Mangochild had a very thankful week. Her featured meals this week included a meal of roasted squash with maple syrup and roasted Brussels sprouts and homemade wholemeal corn bread. The second was a simple meal of kale and red onion with flatbread and beans. Both drove home to her that quality ingredients are usually more important than complex recipes.

With a 20 pound turkey and four pies for four people, Kim’s family will be eating Thanksgiving leftovers for a while! Also on the table was sausage cranberry and apple stuffing, turnip gratin, butternut squash and honey spiced cranberry sauce. The turkey cutout in the pie makes me smile.

Pam found time in a busy week of projects to make a simple lunch of a cheese sandwich featuring goat cheese, homemade bread, lettuce and homemade mayo with eggs from her chickens.

Her local cornbread pudding went over well with relatives, even without a mention of where the ingredients came from. Then Matriarchy made her own local Thanksgiving feast and served it leftover style. The second holiday dinner even included sweet potato and egg custard pies. Yum!

With a busy week of travel and family, Peg still found time for a local lunch of yam and yogurt. How’d the caulking turn out Peg? And how did you cook that yam?

Jenn’s post is currently under construction, but be sure to check back tomorrow night for all the details.

Wanting to expand her featured meals, Zoa made a meal of chicken salad, homemade pita bread and a green salad.

*****

Canada:
After stocking up on homemade stock, Late Bloomer used it to make a chicken stew and ginger squash soup. The stew looks fabulous but he squash soup sounds like something that would make even Mike like squash - I can’t wait to give it a try!

It’s been a whirlwind fall full of chickens, gardens, family, friends and travel and having a weekend to do exactly what I want (or don’t) is exactly what this introvert needed. I’ve accomplished not very much since Mike left yesterday morning. Mostly just small things that needed doing like finishing the painting in the living room, buying chicken feed, cleaning my kitchen top to bottom and doing a bit of knitting.

Last night I made myself a very simple bacon and leek pasta sauce over fresh pasta and followed it up with a sliced apple.

Tonight I went even more minimalist, satisfying my love of squash (Mike is NOT a fan) with homegrown roasted spaghetti squash with a dab of local butter and a bit of salt and pepper. The second course was simple boiled potatoes (homegrown fingerlings) with a dollop of sour cream. The final course was a sliced local bartlett pear. Mmmm. Definitely not gourmet, but oh so good.

*****

In other news, we dropped off a full two bags of goodies to Northwest Harvest just in time for Thanksgiving. I forgot to take a photo, but it included homegrown potatoes and squash, local dried beans, assorted cans of regional organic tomatoes and fruit. We also threw in a few other things including pasta, crackers, cookies and more.

Have you made a donation for the Dark Days Harvest Drive yet? Be sure to let me know when you do and I’ll get you entered for the drawing taking place on December 24.

Around here, no holiday is complete without Danish Pastry. Other dishes can come and go, traditions can shift and change, as long as there’s Danish Pastry. Mine is never quite as good as my mother’s, something to do with the filling I think. But even so, the ritual of making it, baking it and enjoying it with a cup of coffee is what makes the day complete.

*****

Danish Pastry*
makes 4 pastries

mix together:
1 C very cold butter
1/4 C sugar
4 C flour

blend together:
3 egg yolks
1 C sour cream
pinch of salt

Add to flour and butter mixture. Sprinkle 1 T yeast over the top and mix it into the dough.

Form the dough into two balls, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before baking.

To bake, cut a ball in half, spread it length wise on a cookie roll sheet. Fill the middle with a mixture of brown sugar, butter and cinammon, cut and braid the edges to fill. Repeat with the other half of the ball. Bake 425 for 18 minutes.

* My mother’s recipe, exactly as sent to me. Let me know if any step isn’t clear.

Easier because following the directions made it hard to screw up. If you get the heat right it really does just happen. It melts, it cooks, the cracklings brown and sink, it goes in the jars and the next morning you have gorgeous white lard.

Harder because I am not, by nature, a patient cook. I do okay with things that need constant attention and those that you start and walk away from. Things that need regular, periodic attention are harder for me. As a result, I probably declared my lard rendered a bit too soon. It turned out fine, but I might have gotten another 1/2 cup or so by waiting another 30 minutes. But at 10:30 pm I was ready to be done.

Cracklings? I’m not so sure. I know they’re supposed to be great, but I wasn’t that impressed and ended up giving them to the dogs as a treat with their dinner tonight. Oh well.

We used a bit of the lard tonight and it was amazing, it melts so nicely and doesn’t really leave a distinct taste behind. The true test will be in the pumpkin pie and apple tart crusts tomorrow - I’ll report back later.

Now, for the picture show!

Tonight the fog rolled in as darkness arrived. I beat Mike home, a rare occurrence, and took the dogs for a run through the back pasture. With the fog, and the neighbors’ lights, the dark was eerily light. They romped and frolicked and then we stopped by the chicken coop to say “hi” to the chooks (and steal their eggs :)).

As we got back to the house we heard the coyotes start up their yipping and calling. They’ll be loud tonight. We wandered by the garden, hard to tell in the dark but everything seemed okay.

Then back to the house to start the lard and figure out dinner. In the end we improvised local sloppy joes. We didn’t have everything we needed for Anita’s recipe, so I used a bit of this and a bit of that and in the end they were pretty good. The real star of dinner though was an impromptu apple/cabbage slaw. Yum. I highly, highly recommend it.

*****

Impromptu Apple Cabbage Slaw

- 1 Arkansas Black apple; peeled and sliced into matchsticks
- 1/4 green cabbage, shredded (it was about 2 pounds)
- 1 very small leek, sliced thinly
- Apple cider vinegar, maybe 3 Tbs
- a bit of salt and pepper

Mix it all up and let it rest 30 minutes or so. Enjoy. Mike liked his on his sloppy joe, I liked mine on the side.

The feet came complete with fuzzy hair as our butcher skins, not scalds. Nothing prepared me for that fact and so there are currently 4 little white feet in our freezer waiting for me to figure out what to do with them

The leaf lard is also in the freezer in large chunks. Tonight I think I’m going to render down the first of it in preparation for making Risotta and Cranberry Beans with Pancetta on Wed night (my first try from Steve’s book) and pies on Thursday morning.

Wish me luck as I’ve never in my life rendered lard, and really never thought I would. Hopefully I won’t screw this up…

*****

Update: I realized after I posted that I really didn’t have time to do this tonight as the lard had to thaw first. Stay tuned as it’s thawing in the fridge. I’ll likely be rendering all night Wednesday in hopes to still use it Thursday in pies.

Anyone have a recommendation of doing it in the oven vs. the crockpot vs. on the stove? I’ve now read about all 3 methods and I’m not sure which way to go.

Here we are, the first recap of the 08/09 Dark Days Challenge. I can’t believe it! I had grand plans of writing a big inspiring intro, but I find myself at 11:06 pm without a lot to say. So I’ll keep it short and sweet by saying that I’m so impressed already by all the meals the people came up with! We’re off to a rollicking good start and I can hardly wait to see what else ya’ll come up with.

I never got around to writing up the couple of excellent meals we cooked at home this week, oh well. Suffice it to say that the garden continues to feed us, both with fresh ingredients and with those stored away in the pantry, freezer and barn. I’ll have to get more creative starting this week!

I’m pretty sure I’ve already seen the highlight of my challenge, my trip to San Francisco where Anita and Cameron graciously hosted me for both a place to stay and as personal tour guides while we ate our way through the city. For all the details, check out my posts here, here and here and the photos here. Also check out Anita’s posts here, here and here for more details on what we ate and how we found and cooked it - her Flickr photos are even better!

On a housekeeping note, we’re still lacking for theme ideas. If you’ve got any, leave ‘em in comments this week!

*****

The East:
Heather brought light to a rainy, dreary day with Toad in the Hole for dinner. The name alone sounds hilarious, but it’s actually an English standard. Her version was made with venison sausage. It sounds funny, but looks delish!

While debating canned vs homemade cranberries is like it’s own version of West Side Story at Nicole’s house, the good news is she’s on the homemade side. This week she made Cranberry Quince Pinot Noir sauce in preparation for the upcoming festivities. Mmmm, it sounds good.

Mia got her post up early this week, writing about a dinner of kielbasa, potato and kale soup. Ingredients were a mixture of supplies from the union square market, her CSA, the freezer and the last grape tomatoes from the fire escape. And Mia, I’ve got no answer for you on the wine question - I find myself wondering the same thing all the time.

Braving the farmer’s market in 24F weather, Sophie not only secured ingredients for the holiday, but also for dinner tonight. Her ribeye steak, purple mashers and sauteed kale were accompanied by a local red wine. Hope the food was warmer than the weather!

Pam’s potatoes might be lost in the garage, but everything else was ready and waiting for dinner. She combined collards and beets from the freezer with homemade bread and “fake” chicken with spices. Pam, does that fake chicken have a happier name?

“It’s the effort that matters, and the things I learn from it, not whether I get it exactly right every time.” Matriarchy is staring the challenge off with exactly the right attitude. Joining the British bandwagon, her dinner last week was bangers and mash with sauteed cabbage and apples, giving this British classic a German twist. Yum.

Peg not only grew the beans and the spinach for her dinner of beans and greens, but the carrots came from a friend. I’m very impressed with her beans as I was too chicken to grow them myself. And I have to agree with her, spinach that froze in the garden can’t be that much different than spinach you froze yourself. Same same I say!

Kicking off the challenge in true Dark Days style, The Purloined Letter made a dinner of breakfast. And not just any breakfast, sourdough pancakes from home ground wheat and starter, with fried eggs and sausage. I may have to try this just to play around with the sourdough / soda volcano effect.

Jenn found dinner at the last Tarrytown market of the year. She roasted an acorn squash and stuffed it with roasted broccoli, cauliflower, purple potatoes, leeks, carrots and fennel. Like a small bouquet of veggies!

Looking forward to the inspiration of what other’s are making, Kim started off the challenge with two dinners. The first was corn, bacon and shrimp chowder that made use of both the slow cooker and the rice cooker. The second was a spicy lentil chili featuring italian sausage and homemade beef stock.

Zoa has set herself an aggressive 25 mile radius for this year’s challenge! Her first meals included butternut and leek soup with homemade mozzarella and roasted chicken with baked sweet potato and swiss chard. It might not have all made the milage cut-off, but it sounds pretty good to me.

Mangochild managed to eat almost every meal this week using local ingredients! Her list of meals and ingredients was massively impressive when she emailed it to me. I can’t wait to see what else she conjures up this winter!

*****

The Midwest:
Anne joins us with a dinner of apple and maple sausage crumbled over braised lacinato kale. On the side was a slice or two of white acorn squash with a bit of maple sugar. I’d say she’s off to a good start on her new and interesting recipe goal - I don’t like kale and even I’d be willing to give this a try!

A breakfast of whole grain pumpkin pancakes, local hame and homemade applesauce made a fantastic breakfast at Karen’s house. With a pantry and freezer full of local goodies I can’t wait to see what else she cooks up this winter.

*****

The South:
While it’s not that dark in Texas and the garden is still producing, Donna’s meal still looks like winter. Dinner included a baby green salad, sauteed chard, sliced red potatoes and roasted egg plant. I’m delighted to see that even in Texas winter food includes chard!

Lucky enough to find a winter farmer’s market, Caitlin had her pick of local winter produce and meat. This week she features a breakfast of wilted arugula and scrambled eggs. She topped her eggs with a bit of tomato. On the side was a slice of toast with local clover honey. My kind of meal!

Having a bit of difficulty finding local ingredients, Rose starts the challenge off with a meal of sauteed yellow squash, roasted tomatoes and pasta. A bit of salad on the side and some stout. Mmmm, that would certainly pass muster around here!

Jennifer made a meal of honey chipotle glazed delicata squash and kidney bean burritos. She posted the recipes (look fab) but also wonders how to gauge if a meal is “local enough”. My rule of thumb is that if the primary ingredients, the ones that define the meal, are local, then it probably counts.

Finding herself 1500 miles from her cookbooks and CSA share, Laurel still managed an impressive first meal. Her cream of mushroom soup, romanesco broccoli and spinach salad all sound divine. I’m impressed she was able to wing the soup (I couldn’t) not to mention she remembered what she did - check out the recipe for details.

*****

The West:

Taking inspiration from a favorite late night meal spot, Jack made a dinner of parsley pesto broth, pasta and mussels. If the original is half as good as his version looks, it must be heaven. Check out his post for more photos and the recipe.

Maya’s meal of ribeye steaks, roasted kabocha squash and preserved green beans is a classic. The pumpkin seed and parsley pesto is a new one to me - recipe please? The green beans, grown and canned by Maya, were lacking in the texture department. The only cure for that I’ve found is to cook them even longer with some spices and stock.

Sometimes you just have to make do with what you’ve got. Taking stock of what she had, Einat made a garlic bread soup with using polish sausage, garlic, chicken stock, bacon and garlic bread. Sounds and looks yum to me.

After her husband forgot to pick up the CSA box, Nicole Rene found herself searching for a local meal. Not to be undone she combined late season cherry tomatoes and basil from her deck (so jealous) with whole wheat pasta and garlic. Not to worry Nicole Rene, you’ve got plenty of week’s left and I say that your dinner sounds quite delicious.

Chessa started off this year with the same meal as last year’s challenge, I think symmetry is great! The honeybaked lentils sound just as good now as they did then - I might finally have to try them. On the side was homemade wheat bread. other local meals last week included chile-cornmeal crusted tofu po boys and sloppeh joes with smokey collard greens.

With fresh ricotta almost straight from the cow, Kimberly decided to make scrambled eggs with red onion and ricotta. She enjoyed it on local toast with a bit of sliced apple to finish it off. I’m always so happy to see we’re not the only ones that enjoy breakfast the way it’s intended!

Joan started the week off with a mix of fast and fabulous meals. Included in the week were a savory egg custard and tonight’s roast pork shoulder with wilted chard and Anita’s beans. Mmmm, meals after my own heart. Joan, I hope your beans were as good as the night Anita made them for me!

Joining us by email, Melissa lucked into a fresh caught steelhead from her mother-in-law. She added lemon and garlic to the steelhead and combined it with swiss chard and bok choy in balsamic vinegar and steamed delicata squash. The biggest challenge wasn’t finding the ingredients, but rather figuring out what to make with them.

Amy launched the challenge, and her blog, with a meal of braised mixed greens and garlicky beans on toast. Pretty impressive on both counts. Meals later in the week included pasta with pesto and a few nights out to locally committed restaurants - check her post for details.

Anita’s meals were a combination of those we shared and those she and Cam enjoyed on their own. First up was that fabulous dinner of spare ribs, sauteed Brussels sprouts and beans with pancetta and sage. I’m so looking forward to recreating that meal later this winter. Then there was the fantastic breakfast of poached eggs and has that Cameron made us. That night, after I’d left, they enjoyed a Hennery chicken on the rotisserie. They wrapped up their weekly posts with celeriac bisque and a selection of leftover based meals such as their own version of chicken pot pie and firjoles refritos with skirt-steak tacos.