Sunday, April 13, 2008

April eat local potluck

Tonight was the April potluck with the Syracuse-area Eat Local crowd, down at Stone's Throw Farm in South Onondaga. Did we ever feast! It's hard to find locally grown vegetables this time of year in this part of the world, but somehow they did: a fresh beet and carrot salad with a lovely vinaigrette; fresh kale with a dollop of feta-garlic dressing; a spinach quiche with just the right "spinachy" flavor; a sausage and cabbage dish made from the farmer's own hogs.

And there was more to nibble on: Hors d'oeuvres included Lively Run goat cheese, homemade raspberry and "blackcap" (wild black raspberry) jams, and a selection of crackers. H- brought one of her legendary breads, a mix of white, whole wheat and rye that she whipped up ... someone brought garlic & cheese biscuits (divine!) ...

I brought a turkey casserole, using Plainville Farms turkey, garlic & herb raw milk Cheddar cheese from Meadow Creek Farm and topped with crisped bread cubes from Liberty St. Bakery's WW bread (the Mennonite grandpa from the Regional Market). I also brought dessert, in the form of 10x sugar-dusted lemon-rosemary cookies (using egg yolks from Meadow Creek Farm eggs and rosemary snipped off my own plant in the living room).

Lots of good conversation, lots of reconnecting with people I haven't seen since summer. It was so good to come out of the winter doldrums, the stress I was under all winter, and have a good time and share laughs with good people. I'm really looking forward to the next potluck!

The idea came up of putting together a cookbook ... something featuring not only the potluck dishes, but listing the farmers who set up shop at the Regional Market and the products they offer (veggies, meats, dairy, etc.). Apparently there are business grants for this sort of promotional venture. Plus I have experience in putting together cookbooks. Altogether, I'm considering it.

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