The East:
Jenny (Daftly Smitten) used up her monster head of cabbage to make dishes that will feed them for weeks to come (some went in the freezer). First up was a rustic cabbage soup with carrots, rutabagas, onion, garlic and sweet Italian sausage. Next was a recipe for braised cabbage with apple and mustard.
It was breakfast over at Stacey’s house (Fessenden Farmstead), with sausage and buttermilk pancakes made with stone ground flour. It really is okay to repeat meals – this isn’t a cooking contest, just a local eating effort. 
Marisa (Food in Jars) made breakfast too, with bacon-grease-fried elderly potatoes, scrambled eggs and toast with a bit of plum jam. Then they headed off for a cooking demo and a busy weekend.
Sometimes the simplest thing can be so much more. Sophie (Late Bloomers Farm) made hot chocolate this week using her new Taza Chocolate. Using her batch number she found out all she needed to know to feel good about where it came from.
Pink and green may be the classic prepster’s color palette, but over at Kaela’s (Local Kitchen) they represent spring. She made a crunch pink and green salad with radishes, new shallots, homemade wild raspberry vinegar, baby spinach, scallions, parsley and a bit of lime juice. Spring is coming!
We’re catching Margo (Thrift at Home) for week 15 and 16. The first was Aunt Linda’s potato salad adjusted to be mostly local. This recipe is going in my file for this summer – it looks delish and my potato salad notoriously sucks. The second was borsch with homemade beef stock and vegetables topped with yogurt and a side of onion cheese loaf bread.
Amy and Sharon (What Did She Do Today) made a dark days dinner for 9 that included pesto and ricotta filled tartlets, scallops with bacon and veggies, sausage and cheese lasagna and an autumn olie, pumpkin and apple pie.
The Midwest:
Norah (Aagaard Farms)has a number of butt steaks that she wasn’t sure what to do with. Turns out that slow roasted in BBQ sauce they are delicious. They enjoyed them with homegrown scalloped Sangria potatoes as well as carrots and broccoli.
They might be busy, but El (Fast Grow the Weeds) and family still found time for a dinner of savory bread pudding, herb-encrusted roast chicken, crunch kale salad and vanilla pouring custards. And she used the biggest leek I’ve ever seen!
Just could resist including this photo of El's "kids"
The cupboards are getting bare and meat is the most likely go-to local ingredient, but Wendy’s (Midwest Green) husband still managed a dark days meal of bratwurst with homemade pickled peppers on homemade rolls with pickled greenbeans on the side. Hmmm, sounds like something we’d eat around here…
Finding a local spaghetti squash in the pantry, my mom (Nordic Walking Queen) cooked it and enjoyed it with pork chops on the grill, strawberries from the freezer (favorite treat as a girl) and rolls from a local bakery. Yum.
First up at Angela’s (Notes from a Country Girl) house was a breakfast with the first of her home raised scrambled eggs, plus bacon, french toast and hashbrowns. Then she pressure cooked a rooster with vegetables (great idea) and they enjoyed him with homemade biscuits, broccoli, yukon gold potatoes, and home canned cranberry sauce.
In amongst a lot of local foods, Sara (Put Your Shovel…) made a dinner using leftover cabbage stuffing from the freezer tossed with fresh egg noodles and local parmesan. On the side was a home canned pear. It might not have been her favorite, but the hubby liked it anyway…
*****
Possibly Related posts (newest to oldest):
