Y’all have been very patient as I’ve been procrastinating putting up the invitation and details for the 4th Annual Dark Days Challenge. We’re doing things a bit differently this year so that I can keep my sanity. So, even if you’ve done this before, please be sure to read the recap details below.
I hope you’ll join me in eating locally, sustainably and fantastically well this winter!
Dates
The challenge runs from December 1, 2010 – April 15, 2011.
What’s the Challenge?
Cook four meals each month (1 per week) focused on SOLE (sustainable, organic, local, ethical) ingredients, write about it on your blog and email the links to your posts. It’s really that simple, but at the same time, it can really be that hard. Need more details? See the links in the right side bar to the past Challenges.
What does local mean?
Traditionally, local food challenges call for a 100 mile radius. Winter time is more difficult in many climates, especially if you’re new to eating locally, so my default definition is 150 miles. You can choose to make your radius smaller or slightly larger as you need. Typical exceptions are oils, coffee, chocolate and spices. If you’re making fewer or more exceptions, please note that on your first post.
What if I can’t find every ingredient locally?
That’s why this is called a challenge! If you can’t find every ingredient, or heck even most ingredients, please still write about your attempts. This is just as much about what we learn, the obstacles we find and the decisions we make as it is about cooking with SOLE ingredients.
What if I don’t have a ‘good’ camera or I’m not a great photographer?
Take pictures with what you’ve got and do your best – for this challenge, taste and creativity are what counts, not looks. If you don’t have a camera, no worries, just tell us the story and we’ll use our imaginations.
What if I don’t have a blog?
You are still welcome to play along, you just won’t be included in the weekly recaps. Instead, I ask that you come by each week and add your meal/experiences as a comment.
Are there deadlines for posts? When will recaps go up?
We’re doing this differently this year. Instead of weekly or bi-weekly recaps there will be 2 recaps per month covering 2 meals each. Recaps will be posted on the 19th and 4th of every month, right here at the Hennery. Full details will be emailed to participants once the sign-up period ends.
How do I sign up?
The sign up period closed on November 21st. Although you can’t formally join the Challenge anymore, we’d be happy to have you cooking along with us and sharing your experiences in the comments of the bi-monthly recaps!
The full list of the 2010-2011 Dark Days participants can be found here.
If you’d like the code to add the Dark Days button and a link to your site, here you go:
<a href=”http://urbanhennery.com/2010/11/4th-annual-dark-days-challenge/”><img src=”http://urbanhennery.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/DarkDays10-11.jpg” /></a>
Do you mind if I use the 4th Annual DDC art on my blog with credit?
You are more than welcome to use the art. Please include a link back to this post. I’ll try to get the code up for everyone tonight.
Sounds like a great idea! I’m onboard and really looking forward to reading people’s posts. Thanks for running the challenge.
Yay! I heard about this near the end of last year’s challenge, and I’m looking forward to participating this year.
I am in! I loved reading people’s posts last year before I started up my own blog, I can’t wait to get started. I’ll post a quick write up along with the art linking back here in the coming days!
I am so happy you’re doing this again–I’ve really enjoyed each year. Thank you!
yay! Looking forward to this. Hoping to keep going longer than last year
Hi! I can hardly wait to participate in the challenge
Looking forward to trying this challenge. I have already posted a link on my blog!
OK…I’m really going to do it this time. Last year I signed up and then fell into a dark days challenge of my own. I’m ready this year though…my blue light is charged and we’ve already become reacquainted. Our freezer is full of locally raised goodies so I’m ready for the the challenge!
I think this is a great idea! I’ll be leaving comments biweekly on my progress. If I don’t have a blog or website, how can I send photos?
Do we include recipes?
I am excited to try this challenge. I will be on vacation the first two weeks of December but will start up as soon as I get back. What a great way to become more aware of SOLE eating. Thank you!
We are so excited for this challenge. We are a group blog, made up of 5 women, so we will be on a 5 week rotation! We already focus on local, sustainable and seasonal but having the challenge of trying to make as “local” a meal as possible, and writing about the challenges and successes, will be excited! thank you!
Has anyone been able to get the badge code to work?
Well, I have since I pulled it from my own code.
For those having problems, here’s a link to the graphic:
http://urbanhennery.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/DarkDays10-11.jpg
And then link it to this post:
http://urbanhennery.com/2010/11/4th-annual-dark-days-challenge
Great- I got the links to work! Thank You!
I guess it’s too late to sign up – but I’m linking it and will be following!
I don’t have a blog, so will be contributing here in the comment section. We have a large garden, 6 sugar maples, fruit trees, 10 chickens, 5 hives of bees in a large suburban yard. I also forage.
I made an easy-as-pie breakfast this morning for the two of us. Squash fritters: 2 cups fine grated homegrown zucchetta trompicanto squash, 2 of our own eggs and our own herbs (dill, thyme), fried in a well seasoned cast iron pan, topped with (a restrained amount of) our own maple syrup. I make these fritters often, sometimes serving with our own apple or pear sauce, sometimes putting in (our own) onions and peppers, sometimes serving with (store) soy sauce and sesame oil for a savory asian slant.
This is in response to another challenge I’m facing: going low fat, low sugar and low calorie to reduce weight and cholesterol levels. I’ve had to restrain my use of eggs, cheese, butter …all dairy, refined starches and other fats. So, I’ll be reporting very very simple meals using my produce in a heart healthy way to conform to my diet.
I missed the deadline, so I won’t be official, but I have put the button on my blog, and I will be trying hard to complete the challenge.
Good luck to all!
Hello! I only just found out about this today … can I still participate?
Thanks
Natasha
How did I miss this?!? I’m so bummed…I was really looking forward to participating!
Is there a pre-registration for next year? If so, PLEASE put us on it!
Save Our Farms is in it’s infancy but would really like to participate in this next year. great idea!
I’m too late to join for this year, but I’ll be actively reading. I’m definitely going to try to be ready for next year. I’m just starting in looking for local food sources. The problem I see is that I can’t afford to pay double or triple the grocery store price and that seems to be what it ends up costing. How on earth do folks work around that???
A lot of us buy in bulk – for example we buy a 1/2 pig and a 1/4 steer each year and store it in a chest freezer. That get’s our costs down around $6/lb for pork and $4.25/lb for beef. We also buy whole fresh salmon in bulk and fillet it out ourselves for the freezer. Another option is to eat local without the meat for some or all of your local meals – there’s a lot of protein to be had in eggs, beans, etc at significantly lower cost.
I just couldnt leave your internet site prior to saying that I truly enjoyed the quality details you provide to your visitors..
. Will be back generally to check up on new stuff you post!
Please checkout our Dark Days Christmas Dinner!
http://simplifywithalmostparadisefarm.blogspot.com/2010/12/dark-days-christmas-dinner.html
[...] – we aim for 75% and one full meal a week will consist of strictly local ingredients, as part of the 4th Annual Dark Days Challenge. [...]
[...] 4th Annual Dark Days Challenge [...]
[...] and networking one can find many and diverse recipes for these dormant days. One great resource is this site’s annual challenge. And I’ll be posting seasonal meals as I make them and winter preservation [...]
[...] the purposes of the Dark Days Challenge, I am going to work on minimizing the non-local ingredients used in my cooking. The challenge is [...]
[...] here was a great way to kick off The Dark Days Challenge for us! We hosted a family local foods Thanksgiving Supper the day after Thanksgiving. [...]
[...] SOLE Food, take 1 As part of an international challenge this year among the blogosphere (meaning mostly Americans and one Australian, that I know of) I [...]
[...] can come from your freezer, pantry, cold storage or local sources like farmers and other producers. Full details on the ’10-’11 Challenge can be found [...]
[...] year I signed up for Urban Hennery’s Dark Days Challenge where you commit to eat at least one meal a week from SOLE (Sustainable Organic Local Ethical) [...]
[...] EatLocal365 is participating in Urban Hennery’s Dark Days Challenge. [...]
[...] (I thought this would be a contender for a recipe for the Dark Days Challenge – but I have since decided to try harder than sweet potatoes from CALIFORNIA! My sources [...]
[...] friend Julie and I recently decided to participate in the fourth annual Dark Days Challenge – which calls for us to prepare one fully locally derived meal per week from now until mid-April. [...]
[...] decided to take the plunge this year and rock out the 4th annual Dark Days Challenge–a blog challenge that pushes each blogger to make as close to all-locally sourced meals at [...]
[...] participating, along with a whole lot of other bloggers, in (not so) Urban Hennery’s Dark Days Challenge again this year: the challenge being to eat one meal a week that is made exclusively from SOLE [...]
[...] taking part in Laura’s 4th Annual Dark Days Challenge again, from December 1 through April 15. Laura dreamed this challenge up as a way to draw attention [...]
[...] make it entirely from locally sourced ingredients, making it a perfect candidate for our first Dark Days Eat Local Challenge meal of the [...]
[...] this blog – but I am thinking that the Dark Days Challenge might be kind of fun too! The rules say that basically you need to eat four SOLE (sustainable, organic, local and ethical) meals a [...]
[...] – I am in need of a brainstorming session for my next meal for the Dark Days of Winter Eat Local Challenge. Here is a list of readily available local items to cook with this [...]
[...] wendy| 1 Comment As I posted on my Gluten Free Greenie Blog I’ve unofficially taken on the 4th Annual Dark Days Challenge from the(not so) Urban Hennery. The challenge is to make a meal a week during the winter using SOLE [...]
[...] Dark Days – week #3 – Turkey tortilla soup December 24, 2010 tags: soup, turkey by Karen This is a delicious soup to make on a cold fall or winter evening. I made it as part of the Dark Days Challenge. [...]
[...] This is part of the meal I made for the Dark Days Challenge put out my the (not so) Urban Hennery to produce one meal a week during the winter made from primarily from S.O.L.E. (Sustainable, [...]
[...] I am a bit late to the party to join the 4th Annual Dark Days Challenge, I am going to post anyway. I really like the idea of focusing on SOLE (sustainable, organic, [...]
[...] warm, filling & comforting. I adapted my Easy Chicken Stew recipe to be suitable for a Dark Days meal: swapping bacon grease for olive oil and local honey for molasses, eliminating garbanzo beans [...]
[...] favorite inspired by another blog challenge, this one the Dark Days Challenge, hosted by Laura at (not so) Urban Hennery, and now in its fourth year. I love this post because I [...]
[...] holiday hoopla and delicious cocktail parties to attend – my meals for week 3 and 4 for the Dark Days Challenge were good but not great. I knew with my packed schedule and travel plans I had to keep it easy, [...]
[...] wendy| 1 Comment As I posted on my Gluten Free Greenie Blog I’ve unofficially taken on the 4th Annual Dark Days Challenge from the(not so) Urban Hennery. The challenge is to make a meal a week during the winter using SOLE [...]
[...] planning during the summer as I have a lofty goal of being at least more seasonally conscious, so this challenge is a wonderful vehicle to test my work I did over the summer. Along with Sarah, I learned how to [...]
[...] Butternut squash soup – DDC week #5 January 14, 2011 tags: butternut squash, soup by Karen Yet another dish that is delicious, easy to prepare, and straight from our garden! I made this for week 5 of the Dark Days Challenge. [...]
[...] actually got started a little late with the Dark Days Challenge, so this can be my make up recipe. : [...]
[...] I’ve mentioned before, I’ve unofficially taken on the 4th Annual Dark Days Challenge from the (not so) Urban Hennery. The challenge is to make a meal a week during the winter using [...]
[...] how to, local, recipes, tortillas, vegetarian by local kitchen I think next month’s Dark Days goal is going to be post two meals at least a week apart. Or maybe at least a post apart. Never let [...]
[...] I were officially doing the Dark Days Challenge this would be my 5th [...]
[...] 19, 2011 tags: leeks, potato, soup by Karen I am up against the wire here for my week #6 Dark Day Challenge recap! I decided on a delicious, hearty potato leek soup posted by Deb at Smitten Kitchen. [...]
[...] I were officially participating in (not so) Urban Hennery’s Dark Days Challenge (to create a meal a week during the week from Dec. 1- April 15 from S.O.L.E. ingredients) this would [...]
[...] unofficially taken on the 4th Annual Dark Days Challenge from the (not so) Urban Hennery. The challenge is to make a meal a week during the winter using [...]
[...] I saw a challenge on (Not so) Urban Hennery‘s site. The challenge is called Dark Days Challenge. The Challenge is to create one meal a week from Dec. 1, 2010 – April 15th 2011 that focus [...]
[...] Dark Days Challenge, well, yes I have found this to be quite the challenge. At our last From Scratch meeting Alexis [...]
[...] This menu fits the Dark Days Challenge. [...]
[...] happened upon this daring challenge while perusing From Scratch Club, a blog I recently started following. The Dark Days Challenge [...]