Alison at Acorn Cottage Artisanry is using the Dark Days to dig deeper into her local resources, an exercise she describes as “an interesting combination of difficult and fun”. She discovers a new cafe/market with a nice selection of local produce, and uses some of her shopping finds to make a wintery potato chowder garnished with crispy pork.
That lucky girl Amy at Amy’s Flock had her entire Dark Days dinner planned and cooked for her! Proving that he’s equally adept on the water or in front of the stove, Paul whipped up sauteed cracker-breaded black rockfish (that he caught himself) with garden veggies and homemade tartar sauce for fish Friday.
At Dropstone Farms, Lauren goes to the larder and comes back with one of my all-time favorite winter rib-stickers: Sausages and sauerkraut. She braised together homemade ‘kraut and Skagit River Ranch Italian links, and served it all on top of homemade rolls from an Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day recipe.
After skipping Week 4, Jessi at Mudrakers comes roaring back to the Dark Days fold with a supper of pasta and meat sauce. She paired home-canned tomatoes with Cascade Range Beef, along with local onions, and served the simmered sauce over noodles from La Pasta, bought at the U-District market, and locally baked rosemary bread.
At long last, Sarah the EcoGeek finds an all-local meal that’s truly crave-worthy, not just acceptable. Her revelation? Pot roast! She put a Thundering Hooves chuck roast in her Crock Pot along with some root veg and broth, and simmerd all day. Her first-ever roasted Brussels sprouts turned out “so good they didn’t even make it onto the plate.”
Over at Hrafinstaad, Roise tells us how Chance brought the boys into the kitchen to help make homemade pasta — lamb and potato ravioli with browned butter garlic sauce to be exact! The menfolk even made extras so that they’ll be able to enjoy this handmade treat later in the winter: a great Dark Days strategy.
Our hostess with the mostest, Laura at (not so) Urban Hennery took a walk on the wild side with grilled moose, the shared bounty of Mike’s recent hunting expedition. After marinating in red wine and garlic, the steaks hit the grill, then teamed up with sauteeed mushrooms, fried homegrown potatoes, and brussels sprouts with bacon.
Erika at Our Kids’ Earth gets into the winter spirit with a good-old meat and potatoes meal. She grilled up some beefalo meat (a hybrid of bison and beef) from Ellensburg, and served it with some homefries and a kale-cabbage saute. The kids love the grilled meat, and even nibbled at the greens — go, Mom!
In the midst of all her Christmas preparations — including making caramel corn with Oregon popcorn — Annette at Sustainable Eats turns in a whole week’s worth of locavore meals: a turkey-cranberry sandwich, smoked turkey-kale soup, and pizza rolls, plus apricot bars and emmer biscotti.
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Didn’t finish my recap until last night, sorry! I made caldo verde soup and popovers: http://culinariaeugenius.wordpress.com/2009/12/21/dark-days-challenge-5-popover-for-some-vegetarian-caldo-verde-soup/
My week 5 dinner was roasted root vegies (Ozette potatoes, carrots, parsnips and onions) with olive oil and fresh rosemary, local sausage made from grass-fed Angus beef, and fresh brussels sprouts. I found everything (except the olive oil) at the Ballard Farmers Market on Sunday. I love that it is open year-round!