Hello, Urban Hennery readers! Since Laura is putting her house back together after a big holiday shindig last night, I’m rounding up the posts for the week. My house isn’t being invaded by rabbel rousers until Christmas Eve, so I’ve got some time. Anywho, the round-up was a blast! Things sure look tasty ’round your houses, that’s all I can say.
Canada:
Late Bloomer enjoyed big heaping bowls—and pots and tureens and vats—of delectable-sounding soups from local ingredients. French onion, potato leek, and even her mom’s borscht recipe made it on the table this week. Check out her post for details!
The Midwest
In a stroke of the kind of inspiration born of desperation (when the hour grows late and the table is empty), Anne pulled together her very first patty melt for this week’s challenge, using local beef and local cheddar from grass-fed cows. With sides of squash and homemade potato chips, it was an easy and tasty meal.
Karen also kept things simple, since she’s managing both a new puppy and the winter storms over in her neck of the woods. Her family dined on bison dogs (They make bison dogs? Who knew?) from a nearby buffalo ranch, served on buns from a local bakers. However, Karen’s favorite part of the meal was the simple and satisfying side of roasted root vegetables from her CSA.
The South
Meanwhile, Laurel (that’s me!) was also feeling the time crunch of the days before December, so she put together a sweet-potato-with-brie-and-caramelized-onion-stuffed omelet using eggs from pastured hens. Mild and filling, it hit the spot, though she does admit that she usually prefers food that bites back (jalapeños, chiltepines, and cayenne do a body good).
I wish I had been invited to dinner over at The Garden Life, where salad with sunflower sprouts and a dressing of Valencia orange juice and olive oil joined cabbage cups filled with roasted beets and a sweet potato “soufflé” with sautéed beet greens. Oh, and did I mention that this scrumptious-sounding feast was put together by Donna’s youngest daughter?
I may have a soul connection with Jennifer, considering that we have the same perspective on Alfredo sauce. Although she used a vegan version with chestnut cream that seemed to be well-executed, the Alfredo-like flavor just didn’t do it for her. I hear you, Jennifer. I want to like it, but no matter how much I try…I just can’t. Jennifer couldn’t either, not even when it smothered some scrumptious-sounding herbed pumpkin gnocchi. The gnocchi itself, however, received rave reviews! Couple that with a tasty-sounding roasted buttercup squash and garlic soup with leeks, rosemary, and basil, and it sounds like a very successful local foods week.
The West
With a chard and bacon au gratin dish, lamb chops, and an apple coffee cake for dessert, Einat made her baby-to-be-born a little too comfortable. Although her recipes sound delicious, the REALLY big news is that she headed to the hospital this morning to induce labor and get that new little one out into the world!
Robin‘s family enjoyed an old favorite of eggs with goat cheese, tomato pesto, and chives. Yum! Her recipe has evolved over the years to become more and more local; by next year, she hopes to see it at 100%. Although those eggs sounded awfully tasty to me, she claims the real showpiece is the pumpkin pie she made from scratch.
“The Lazy Woman’s Enchiladas” were on the menu at Maya‘s. Regardless of how much work was involved, her casserole of tortillas, green tomato sauce, chicken, squash, and pepperjack sounded delicious! Not to mention the blueberry sourdough pancakes she whipped up this morning.
Cleaning the fridge with some serious style before a trip to London, Anita and Cameron wound up with flavorful potatoes O’Brien and sumptuous cider-brined pork chops. It’s enough to make you want to have to clean out the fridge every week!
More hot, filling dishes were on hand at Joan‘s, with a delicious lentil soup and a warming chili featuring sausage and the last of the garden tomatoes. Joan did something I benefit from a lot at this time of year; she made a couple big batches and ate off them for the rest of the week. Smart!
Even buried under the snow and unable to go pick up groceries, Denise put leftovers to use along with a stash of local onions for a lovely French Onion Soup. Also on the menu for the meals coming up before they dig out: smoked salmon and leek quiche, pork chops, latkes, and home-canned applesauce. With canned and frozen goods aplenty, her family is ready to weather the winter!
On a quest for the perfect omelet, Jack tried out one with caramelized shallots, bacon, cheddar and slices of crisped mushroom. Combined with sides of baby arugula dressed in Meyer lemon juice and olive oil, and some crusty bread, it sounds like an outstanding meal.
The East
Although the texture of her frozen asparagus made Nicole remember the cold, hard truth that asparagus is really only good when it’s fresh, she still enjoyed some local mushrooms along with broiled lamb chops. During the week, she hit her food stash, enjoying a whole bunch of soup she’d been saving for Armageddon, as well as more of the duck eggs and local bacon she enjoyed last week.
Omelets seem to have been popular this week, with Food on the Balcony also making one, but with rainbow chard. Is anyone else in love with the colors of rainbow chard like I am?
It was a very happy food week over at Late Bloomers Farm, says Sophie. It definitely sounds like it: roasted chicken with sage, rosemary, and thyme and local white wine, roasted root vegetables, ratatouille with smoked sausages, and a pan-seared veal chop with maitake mushrooms and sauteed broccoli rabe.
Mangochild decided to do up local waffles and top them with cranberry preserves for a dynamite winter breakfast. Best of all, by making extra and freezing them, there will be delicious local waffles for the dark mornings ahead!
Even with holiday parties and friends popping by, Pam squeaked in time to post about her meal. She enjoyed pasta with a sweet potato sauce, Georgia collard greens, and a savory sweet potato bread. Although she didn’t have time to make her own pasta this week, it sounds like she did a great job!
Using what she had in the house, and taking inspiration from Ali, Peg made a delicious sounding pot pie. Now I want pot pie too! Her version included blue potatoes, carrots, onions and yams all topped with pizza dough and a bit of vegetarian gravy. So much better than the Swanson’s she remembers (totally agreed).
Pam was able to find almost everything she needed to make local Wish bread. I love this idea of making dough (with sweet potatoes) and making a wish as you put each ball into the pan. Plus, you just can’t go wrong with cinnamon and sugar…
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Hey there, this is Laura. I finished the last couple blogs so that Laurel could call it a night. No photos this week as I’m absolutely bushed. Check in next week for pics, post in comments if we missed you, and come by tomorrow night for recipes and photos from our holiday shindig last night – not as local as planned but with 14″ of snow and limited driving, we do what we can and we thank god California is still shipping produce our direction 
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Sorry, I was late getting my post up tonight. Here it is: http://musicandcats.com/2008/12/dinner-for-the-darkest-day/
Nice job with the recap, Laurel! Thanks!
Great writeup, Laurel! Lots of good stuff in there this week, too. Can’t wait to have a lazy afternoon to click through on all of those.
Thank you, Laurel and Laura. That is quite a bit to read through and digest for us. It’s very motivating to read the summaries and get new ideas. I get what you mean about driving difficulties complicating the local eating efforts. What a crazy winter here in the Northwest!