Wow, are we ever off to a riotous start with this year’s challenge! As of right now, there are 77 families, mostly bloggers, participating. I’m thrilled with the response and excited to see where the challenge takes us this year. There are new faces and old faces, locavores that have been at this for years and people who are brand new to local eating. I foresee much learning and exchanging of ideas this winter, and I can hardly wait!
As I read each and every post from this week I was struck by how already so many meals feature kale, potatoes, onions and squash. Hopefully we’re all able to add some variety to that line-up as the winter goes on. If not, Mike may just boycott dinner around here (not a kale or squash fan).
I’d like to wish you all a fantastic holiday weekend! Next week Kimberly and The Raven will be doing the weekly recaps, look for them to go up Monday or Tuesday. If I somehow missed you this week, please add a comment and a link to this post. If you don’t have a blog, but you’re participating, please also tell us about your meal in the comments.
In case you missed it, Sarah Jackson wrote a delightful article about Mike and I and the Dark Days Challenge in the Herald on November 15th. It was disconcerting, to say the least, to find a photo of myself on the front page of the “Good Life” section when I picked up my copy that morning. Thank you Sarah, what fun!
The East ::
Chicken scarpariella was on the menu at Sophie‘s house. She’s in the process of perfecting this dish made with chicken thighs and served it with pan roasted potatoes, hot cherry peppers and sauteed spinach. Mmmm.
Mangochild has a surplus of turnips from her CSA pickup, leading her to use them for her spotlight meal this week. She combined them with carrots, white and orange sweet potatoes, onion, garlic and black beans into a root veg stew. Just the thing at the end of a stressful day.
Before her first visit to the Dupont Circle farmer’s market with the kids, Stacey had a local breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs and toast. Now that’s how you start a busy Sunday!
Diane made a pear and cranberry sauce with pears she found while dumpster diving! They enjoyed it with a roast roast chicken with stuffing, home grown lima beans and corn. Yum.
For last week’s Eco-Shabbat, The Raven and family pulled out their only successful spaghetti squash and baked it up. Served with red pepper sauce and sauteed mixed greens it was enjoyed by candle light. A side of homemade bread-and-butter pickles and Rhubarb Liqueur for the adults finished out a lovely evening.
Faced with a time crunch, Jennie still managed to find a locally raised veal to use for veal meatballs. The meatballs were served with spinach over spelt pasta from a top-secret Amish farm. All of that deliciousness was topped with a creamy tomato sauce featuring the last jar of home-canned tomatoes (blight shortage).
Colleen honored her fabulous local winter markets with a stir-fry of broccoli, leeks and garlic. With the stir-fry they enjoyed baked sweet potatoes (I just bought some yesterday, cannot wait!).
With beans they grew themselves, Peg made a dinner of three bean soup with local bread and butter on the side. Not only are their tips on finding bean seeds, growing your own and making the soup, there’s an adorable photo of Max the dog!
Pressed for time and eating alone, Mia had a meal of fried egg, sauteed broccoli rabe and rosemary sweet potatoes. Sometimes breakfast is the best option, no matter what time of day it is!
Kaela adjusted a recipe to fit to the seasonal local ingredients on hand and made a dinner of apple cider chicken with sage mashed potatoes. She points out that the Dark Days Challenge is more about thinking about what you’re eating than doing without. She’s got a fantastic looking recipe posted.
Taking a break from foods in jars, Marisa leveraged their meat CSA to make a dinner of slow cooked pork, pan crisped potatoes and brussels sprouts. I keep hoping that someone in Puget Sound will start a meat CSA so that everyone without a huge freezer can still easily find local meats without driving down to Seattle in the dead of winter – jealous.
Heather went British for their first meal, using a Jamie Oliver recipe for toad in the hole (something I’ve always meant to make). Sausage, rosemary, onion and garlic all wrapped up in an egg dough – sounds like a fun winter meal!
After visiting the first winter market of the year, Amy made a dinner of broiled cod with smokey apple salt, fried fingerling potatoes, steamed broccoli and apple cider. Not a bad way to start off the winter!
The South ::
Joyce joins us with a dinner, made by her mother-in-law, of country ham, roasted potatoes, green beans and tomatoes. Lucky lady! Someone else to cook and access to year-round local tomatoes!
Recovering from a sinus infection, Lynn still managed to find all the ingredients for a local dinner of goat cheese, steaks, roasted sweet potatoes, sauteed kale and a Meritage for the adults. The kale was not a hit (we’re not huge fans here either) but hopefully she’ll give it another try!
With the wonders of year round gardening still fresh, Monika made a dinner of thyme and garlic beer bread, sweet potato fries, chickpea cutlets, roasted carrots and whole wheat pasta. And yes, restaurants dedicated to seasonal local ingredients count.
Rose is all stocked up after a weekend sweating over pots of chicken and vegetable stock and pumpkin chunks. I’m impressed by her skill with the pressure canner, and her stock of stock. Bring on winter!
The Middle ::
El , who I’ve finally talked into joining us, puts us all to shame with a local dinner for 50! The meal was in celebration of all of the volunteers that make the school snack program possible. I’ve watched all summer as they’ve picked, packed, canned, pickled and frozen enough food for the kids to have a mid-morning snack every day. It’s truly an inspiration and the spread for this dinner was impressive!
My mom, Linda, is formally joining us this year. She may have forgotten the camera, but I can visualize this entire meal in my head – they were sending my brother Danny off to his winter gig in Vail with a pre-Thanksgiving dinner. On the menu was baked chicken stuffed with rosemary, garlic and lemon, mashed potatoes and gravy, romanesco broccoli, danish pastry and ice cream and cookies. Mmmmm.
Dinner at Angela’s house was roast cornish game hen stuffed with thyme and garlic. The side were roasted red skin potatoes, salad and bread.
Before she headed out of town, Wendy and family dug into a dinner of pork chops, homegrown baked potatoes and salad with a local wine. They finished it off with a mostly local “chocolate yummy” frozen treat in honor of her son’s birthday – sounds good to me!
While it goes by another name around here (a dirty one at that!) creamed chip beef on toast is a winter favorite at Anne‘s house. She’s lucky enough to have a local source for chipped beef. The meal was finished off with smoked chocolate ice cream and homemade marshmallows.
Proving that people that plan ahead are smarter than I, Sara was able to make a meal of eggplant parmesan in about 5 minutes using eggplant she prepped and froze this summer. It sounds delicious and I’m super envious of her planning skills!
The West ::
In between gallivanting all over California, Anita and Cameron still found time to make a dinner that began with baguette, cheese and radishes and finished with poulet au riesling and vegetables. See her post for more photos and the recipe (really want to try this soon).
In the midst of a busy week with her little one, Einat still managed a mostly local meal of beef spare ribs, roasted broccoli, pasta and tomato. Einat, pasta is easy. It has two ingredients and the only skill required is patience. 
Jen has shocked me almost into silence with her unprecedented post for the challenge. 
Her lunch of roasted chicken, scalloped potatoes and pickled fennel puts all of my recent lunches to shame. If she’s going to cook like that, I hope she stays with us (love you Jen).
With enthusiastic friends in from San Francisco, Julianne made a mostly homegrown take on Alice Water’s Winter Minestrone with Turnips, Potatoes and Cabbage. With chard substituting for celery, a variety of carrots, blue potatoes, dry beans and slug free cabbage.
Meg combined grass fed ground beef with homegrown tomato sauce for a red sauce over pasta. On the side was a salad of homegrown greens and pecans with local apples and pomegranates and homemade bread.
Finding that water buffalo filet mignon is a less expensive substitute for beef, Kathleen used it for her first challenge meal. It was grilled with a bit of homemade barbeque sauce. On the side were broccoli, potatoes and a glass of TJ’s wine. Now I want to try water buffalo!
Ellen started the winter off with one of my favorite comfort meals, chili. This vegetarian version with chickpeas and red beans looks hearty enough to make any carnivore happy. Roasted beets and sauteed tut soi made an appearance on the side.
The Pacific Northwest ::
Eugenia found time in her busy week to make a dinner of pork chops with quince paste. On the plate as well were her chioggia squash whip and a salad with dried cranberry vinegar dressing plus a bit of “illegal” (ha!) rice with fresh chanterelles.
In the midst of a move and cleaning out her pantry and cupboards, Donna still managed breakfast for dinner to kick off the winter. Egg scramble with potatoes, leeks, peppers and bacon – mmmm, we’re big fans of breakfast around here. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out her children’s book, The Purple Elephant.
Giving this intentionally local thing a first try, Joanna used a Martha Stewart recipe as a takeoff for sausage and kale soup. Homegrown kale and potatoes joined local onion, celery and chicken sausage for a simple dinner.
Lexa just gave me an idea for using the Delicata squash hiding in the pumphouse, fill it with sausage stuffing! She makes it sound so simple, but it sounds delicious. Thanks Lexa.
The very last of the eggplant was the basis for Alison’s dinner. She turned it into a side dish of Melanzane al Funghetto and used it to top spaghetti squash noodles. A cheese omelet and some mashed potatoes made for a very nice dinner.
With a freshly dead ~9 lb rooster in hand, Aimee decided to roast him with carrots and almond rice pilaf. Dessert was local ice cream. Afterwards the carcass joined onions, garlic, celery and carrots to simmer into a pot of stock.
Having cured their own pork jowl into Guanciale, Rois and Chance made spaghetti carbonara the way the Romans did. The pasta was homemade and the veggies and cheese were as local as they could find. Their exploration of the local grocery store is interesting and highlights the challenges of eating locally.
Kimberly may not remember having pot roast as a kid, but she sure did make a mean version this week. Good thing too, since she’s got more roasts where that one came from. Smart lady, she made it one weeknight to eat the next.
With spaghetti squash in hand, Carly set out to make Moroccan spiced squash. It was accompanied by lamb sausage and roasted beets. The squash recipe might not have been a winner, but it seems to have sparked new ideas.
If there were bonus points for raising and killing your first duck for your first Dark Days post, Lauren and Garth would get them. The roasted duck made it to the plate with pan-roasted potatoes and leeks and a side of garlic kale. He was delicious, and likely his friends will be too…
Maya
might call it leftovers, but I call it strategic use of the freezer contents. Her lasagna used up bits and parts of local foods tucked into the freezer combined with homemade lasagna noodles a few quick minutes of work for an easy local meal.
Week 1 and Annette is feeling good. Meals included steak with fries, squash and creamed kale; beef burritos and salad; fettucini with garlicky alfredo sauce; pulled pork sandwiches and cheddar bacon scones. Wow, I know who’s house I want to invite myself to for dinner!
Tamara leveraged her garden and the local natural foods grocery for a simple yet scrumptious dinner of scalloped potatoes, grilled Brussels sprouts, beets with spinach and sprouts and chanterelle mushrooms with garlic.
Sarah decided to join the Challenge and is blogging about it at the Herald’s website. Her first week was a bit rough with no chance to get to the farmer’s market and having to rely on local stores and her produce box for everything she needed. That said, she still managed a delicious looking potato-bacon soup using her mother’s recipe. She’ll be chronicling her search for local ingredients (and discoveries) in Snohomish County – and probably be more thorough about sharing the information than I ever am.
With friends she met in Antarctica over for dinner, Brittney made penne pasta and homegrown/made tomato sauce and roasted garlic green beans from a mix of local and organic ingredients.
After reading Sarah’s article in the Herald, Erika decided to join us for the challenge with no preparation and in the midst of trying to write a novel in a month. Go Erika! Her first meal is her morning fruit and milk smoothie. Yum.
Jessi at the Herald (also my beekeeping partner) is joining us as well. Her first meal was a simple, quiet affair featuring a baked potato topped with homegrown pesto and a side of ham. She finished it off with a cup of soothing lemon (hand carried from Texas) and honey tea.
While her rice and cashews might not have been local, Beth‘s curried vegetable dish sounds divine. Beth, it gets easier, and if you’re looking for local dairy, Haggen’s, Top Foods and the Sno-Isle co-op in Everett are all good sources. QFC usually has some as well.
*****
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Wow! Great job on the recap, Laura, and a great collection of meals!
Laura, you’ve just set the recap bar very, very high! I only hope that when it’s my turn to help with them, I can live up to this.
Nice job!
Also, I must add that I’m completely thrilled that so many people are participating (and cooking such wonderful meals).
heh, my goal is to keep surprising you.
we’ll see.
Wow–we are in for one heck of a year! Wonderful meals all the way around. We sure do eat well.
Great job on the recap and I loved the article in the Herald! This is going to be fun.
Wow! It is a big year
And a great recap too Laura. So many bloggers, and I can’t wait to see more from them and visit their blogs. That’s the other thing I love about DDC – it opens a window into blogs I’ve not seen before, but am glad to meet.
So I am commenting and my name should link to my “blog”, it’s not really a blog but a group that I started on facebook. I will be journaling my challenge there. I have not yet made this weeks meal, but last week we kept it simple I made a Kabocha Squash soup with a side of toasted olive bread topped with sun dried heirloom tomatoes. Everything was local except the vegetable stock which I was just too busy and sick to make myself. Even the recipe came from a local gal who sells food to eat at the farmers market. I am so excited of the things to come in this challenge! Thanks to all who are inspiring!