Sustainable Eats

Phew! My stomach is full and my heart is happy. We finished this Thanksgiving’s feast with a dear friend and did a bang-up job of keeping it local. In fact, not a single item for this meal with the exception of the spices came from a store. Even the flour (with the exception of the cheese puffs) I purchased in bulk as whole grains from Bluebird Grain or Lentz Spelt Farm and ground it myself. The rest of the food we grew, I purchased at the UW farmer’s market (where I buy virtually all our food), or I purchased it directly from a local farmer. This centerpiece is a cardoon with various greenery from my backyard.

But wouldn’t you know it, my camera was on the wrong setting for the first few pictures. And once you’ve eaten the food you can’t really re-photograph it so I’ll just have to make some of these things again and add some stunt pictures…

Bluebird Grain winter wheat and emmer rosemary cracker breads with Mt. Townsend Cirrus camembert, tomato jam with tomatoes from Billy’s at UW farmer’s market or apricot/jalapeno jelly from Rama Farm and Tonnemaker Farm respectively with Rockridge Orchards apple cider vinegar in place of the white vinegar.

Cheese Puffs with Pleasant Valley Dairy gouda and Samish Bay Montasio, milk from Dungeness Valley Creamery & our backyard eggs

Roasted chestnuts from Rockridge Orchards

Salad of our Arugula and fresh picked greens, our pickled beets, Estrella Wynoochie Blue and Holmquist hazelnuts

Rockridge Orchards apple cider and Tahuya Aviary honey brined smoked turkey from Pastured Sensations

Smoky speckled gravy made from turkey drippings, Golden Glen Creamery butter, Rockridge Orchards apple cider vinegar and freshly ground, browned Lentz spelt

Tom Douglas’ Mushroom and cherry stuffing with my bread made from freshly ground Lentz spelt, Bluebird Grain winter wheat and home cultured buttermilk from Dungeness Valley Creamery milk, fresh chantrelles and dried porcinis from Foraged and Found, home canned chicken stock from a Stokesberry Sustainable Farm stock kit, dried cherries from Rob Storey’s orchard, fresh cranberries from Mt. Rainier in Eatonville, onion from Nature’s Last Stand, our garden-fresh celery and Holmquist hazelnuts, our rosemary, sage, parsley seeds and thyme.

Roasted garlic mashed potatoes both from Skeeter Pilarski’s farm with Dungeness Valley Creamery milk and Golden Glen Creamery butter

Mt. Rainier cranberry relish from Eatonville cranberries and One Storey Farm cherries.

Savory squash gratin from our own acorn squash with Samish Bay Montasio,, Golden Glen Creamery butter, and our rosemary.

Garden fresh roasted brussel sprouts picked just before dinner and braised gently in Golden Glen Creamery butter.

Tonnemaker akane apple and quince tall tart with Bluebird Grain & Golden Glen Creamery butter shortbread crust.

Eggnog ice cream from Golden Glen Creamery cream and our backyard eggs. It’s really my recipe for snickerdoodle ice cream with an extra 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg.

Pumpkin creme brulee from our homegrown pumpkins, Golden Glen Creamery cream and our backyard eggs made by my friends Chris & Kari.

Local tea from Rockridge Orchards.

Homemade apple cider from Tonnemaker apples

Quince soda made bubbly with ginger bug

Hard cider from Rockridge Orchards

Local wine from Chateau Ste. Michelle, Columbia Crest, and Vashon Winery.

Cast of Characters:

Rockridge Orchards Apple cider vinegar (for almost every dish!), hard cider and regular cider for the brine, tea and chestnuts. Thanks Wade!!!

Samish Bay Montasio for the squash gratin and cheese puffs.

Mt. Townsend Cirrus camembert for the rosemary crisp breads. Oh so good!

Estrella Family Creamery for the Wynoochie Blue – easily one of my all time favorite cheeses. Others are good but this one is the bomb, either in a salad, on a lamb burger or on a cheese plate. A must have in my house.

Golden Glen Creamery – cream for the creme brulee, ice cream and butter for the shortbread tart crust, the stuffing and the gravy.

Foraged and Found – dried porcinis and fresh chantrelles for the rustic stuffing.

Nature’s Last Stand – onions for the stuffing. They also have a nice looking CSA program that delivers to YOU and not to a drop point in Seattle.

Stokesberry Sustainable Farm – the stock kit for the chicken broth in the stuffing. I’ve bought many a fine chicken and eggs from them this year.

Tonnemakers Farm – peppers for the apricot/jalapeno jelly, apples for homemade cider experiment and the tall tart (plus about 200 pounds of apples for sauce since January 1, peppers for countless jars of hot sauce and pickled peppers of all kinds)

Tahuya River Apiaries – honey for the brine as well as countless honey sticks this year to placate the kids while I shopped. The farmer’s market version of candy at the checkout aisle – I’ll take it anytime!

Our lovely ladies of immaculate eggs. It’s such a nice treat to roll out of bed every morning and go collect eggs!

Holmquist Hazelnuts, Blue Bird Grains, Lentz Spelt Farm, Rama Farm, One Storey Farm, Friends of the Trees, Mt. Rainier Cranberry Farm, Pastured Sensations, Mt. Pleasant Cheese, and Billy’s who I either forged relationships with this year and ended up buying food directly from them, or are no longer at the UW Farmer’s market in the winter season.

My garden, my hands and my sturdy back. Believe me, it was no small feat making everything from scratch for a meal of this magnitude!

The Eat Local Crew for sponsoring this contest in support of small farmers.

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