I’m very pleased to announce that there will be a 5th annual Dark Days challenge. The wonderful writers at Not Dabbling in Normal have graciously volunteered to help me organize and run it this year.
What does that mean to you? It means that you’ll use the form below to join by December 4th, and I’ll post announcements and help with recaps, but recaps will be done by the Not Dabbling contributers and will appear on the Not Dabbling in Normal blog.
With all this fresh enthusiasm (and help!) we’re going to recruit far and wide and try to make this the biggest and best year of the challenge to date! We’re still finalizing all the details, but there are likely to be THEME WEEKS and PRIZES and a whole lot of other reasons that this will be the best challenge ever.
So what are you waiting for? Sign up! Join in! Cook the winter blahs away with fabulous local food all winter! But seriously, I hope you’ll join us in eating locally, sustainably and fantastically well this year!
Dates
The challenge runs from Sunday, November 27th, 2011 to Saturday, March 31st, 2012.
What’s the Challenge?
Cook one meal each week featuring SOLE (sustainable, organic, local, ethical) ingredients, write about it on your blog and email your happy recapper a link to your post. 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 winter definition is 150 miles. You can choose to make your radius smaller or slightly larger as you need. Typical exceptions to the local requirement 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, we ask that you come by each week and add your meal/experiences as a comment to one of the recap posts.
Are there deadlines for posts? When will recaps go up?
We haven’t yet decided if there will be weekly or bi-weekly recaps – it depends largely on how many participants we get. But generally, you’ll need to have your posts up by Sunday evening and recaps will go up Monday or Tuesday. Full details will be emailed to participants as soon as we figure it out.
How do I sign up?
Registration for the 5th Dark Days Challenge is now closed. Please join us over at Not Dabbling in Normal for photos, recaps and more! If you missed the sign-up, you’re welcome to cook along, just add a link to your meals in the appropriate region’s recap each time.
Can’t wait to get started! And, is it okay if I use your graphic on my blog? I’ll be sure and credit it to your site, I just wanted to ask first. Thanks!
Of course you can use the graphic. I’ll get a smaller, side bar sized one, posted tonight. Or feel free to resize yourself if you have the tools.
Can’t wait for DDC again this year! I signed up last night using my phone, so I’m not 100% sure it went through. Can you please confirm that I signed up?
Also, will there be a blog post announcing this over at NDiN’s site sometime soon?
We’ll be putting up our NDiN announcement this Sunday with our Sunday photos post.
Last year was a bummer for me as life went haywire & I couldn’t keep up with the posts. Looking forward to committing this year!!
any rules regarding staples like salt and various spices?
Lizette, all of us gals are compiling a list of FAQs like this for easy access at Not Dabbling in Normal. We should have it up by the start day, and hopefully sooner.
This looks like it will be very enlightening. I’m looking forward to participating.
-the redhead-
This will be a fabulous challenge…glad I dried lots of herbs and canned like a mad woman this year!
Is it fair to take part if I live in North Florida and my CSA starts shares now (Nov.) and continue thru 1st week or so of May, depending on weather? It’s the summer here that is like your winter, not good for tomatoes or some other normal summer veggies. I must say that since living here, I have found out that tomatoes that are grown in states with only a summer growing season are far superior to Florida tomatoes – no comparison.
Of course – the more the merrier! It just may be a little easier for you than those that live in more nothern climes!
Jennifer
Not Dabbling in Normal
I love the idea of hearing how sustainable eating happens where there really aren’t “dark days.” Learning about other cultural practices is part of the wonder of the web.
i am participating in a winter CSA, and i have a great farmers market that runs all year. we are trying to eat locally and organically as much as we can already, but i am hoping that making a commitment like this will only help us! yay!
I’m very much looking forward to year 5! Thanks!
I’m a first time participant and have been trying to be more conscious about where my food comes from, so this will only help. I’m a little nervous too..I’m not a great cook, so I hope I can last through to the end. Looking forward to the challenge!
I followed along but didn’t actively participate last year, but looking forward to getting on board now, and hopefully increasing my motivation to get out to the market and focus more closely on what we’re eating. Perhaps this is also a good time to get in on the local organic food delivery service.
Very excited to join in this year’s challenge!
did I miss my email? should things be starting up now? I don’t want to miss the fun!
You didn’t miss it. There’s a bit of info up at NDiN today and your email should come in the next 48 hrs.
What fun! I just learned about this challenge, and I can’t wait. I’ve got a freezer full of locally harvested venison and some fall veggies sprouting in the green house. I’ve been looking for something to motivate me to experiment with more local foods. Thanks.
hmmm, i haven’t seen an e-mail?
Did you get your email yet? If not, send an email with all your info to notdabbling@gmail.com and we’ll make sure you’re in.
If you joined after Sunday the 27th, you may not have been on the master email list yet. We’ll be updating our participant list by tomorrow morning after signups close tonight. If you’re listed here: http://notdabblinginnormal.wordpress.com/dark-days-challenge/
then you should receive an email with updates from all of us by Tuesday.
The From Scratch Club ladies can’t wait to take on the challenge again this year- woo hoo!
I have a good size co-op in Clackamas Oregon if anyone is anywhere close to me and needs access to lots local and sustainable farm fresh food. We are called “I Dig Worms Buying Club” on Facebook. Or you can email at thomasandchristin@yahoo.com.
This is going to be so much fun!
Thought I was signed up, but found out I’m not on the page (http://notdabblinginnormal.wordpress.com/dark-days-challenge/) I had been getting the Google group discussion, so I thought I was all set! Will definitely be participating.
Kate, if you haven’t gotten an email yet, please send your info to notdabbling@gmail.com and we’ll make sure you’re included.
We are mostly local meal eaters, we just got a Co-op started very closed to home called Company Shops Market and it will help so much during this time of the year with this local challenge. All our family is so excited!!!!