Since beginning the transition toward eating as a locavore (a person who eats only locally grown food whenever possible), I’ve learned to make a lot of things myself that I used to buy ready to eat. In the process I’ve made four simple discoveries which have revolutionized my overall approach to eating and feeding my family. Here they are: Continue Reading
Category : Main Dishes, Make It Yourself, March, Recipes
“Corning” beef is actually a method of pickling. The raw beef is soaked in a salty brine for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the recipe you use. (I opted for a few days, because that’s the way I am.) Continue Reading
Whatcom Locavore Holiday Dinner Menu Plans have been created to help make it easier for you to serve local foods to your family and friends this year. Three five-course menus are available, one with a beef entree, one with salmon, and one vegetarian (lacto-ovo-vegetarian to be precise, since eggs and dairy are used).
The five courses include an appetizer, soup, salad, main dish with side, and dessert. (The vegetarian entree needs no side dish.) Serve them formally one at a time, or family style with some courses combined.
You won’t find “turkey with all the fixin’s” on any of these menus. Instead, the recipes have been selected to help you discover exciting new holiday flavor combinations using familiar, locally grown, seasonal ingredients. Continue Reading
In honor of the 2013 Wild Mushroom Show, hosted every October in Bellingham by the Northwest Mushroomers Association, I wanted to create a mushroom recipe. The main question in my mind was about which type of mushroom to use. The list wasn’t as long as you might imagine. While there are multitudes of edible mushroom varieties that grow wild in this area, and I love hunting for them and looking at them, I have zero skills at identifying them. I sadly crossed all wild mushrooms off my list. Continue Reading
Category : Make It Yourself, October, Recipes, Snacks
When our family takes driving trips, we like to have snacks to munch on along the way when fueling stops and hunger pangs don’t align. Beef jerky is a snack I grew up eating, and it’s perfect for traveling. It doesn’t require refrigeration, is loaded with flavor, needs no preparation, and provides a long-lasting energy boost because it’s mostly protein. Jerky also takes a lot of chewing, so a little lasts a long time.
Jerky is a good snack choice for hikers, skiiers, backpackers, people who fish, and other outdoor enthusiasts. Since it’s dried, it weighs relatively little and takes only a small amount of space. It can be broken into bits and used almost like dehydrated bacon in campfire or cookstove dishes, such as pasta. It punches up the flavor, and adds protein and salt at the same time. Continue Reading
Category : Breakfast, Main Dishes, Recipes, September
Here’s a beef sausage recipe I created as a substitute for chorizo in a recipe for Caldo Verde from the Winter Harvest Cookbook (see my review of the book). While this does not make chorizo, the spicy flavor makes a good alternative. It’s really quick and easy to make from locally grown grassfed beef. Continue Reading
Category : December, November, October, Seasonal Menu Ideas, Whatcom Locavore Products
We’re so excited! The first Whatcom Locavore Kindle book was just published last night! We took one of our Holiday Menu Plans (the beef version), removed some of the specific geographical information, and formatted it for the Kindle reader. As of this morning, if you search the Kindle Store for “holiday menus” we’re coming up first! The salmon and vegetarian versions will be coming next!
The book appears to be the only one available that is a complete plan for preparing a holiday dinner. Most holiday meal books are collections of recipes, but our book not only has recipes but a complete menu with shopping list and recommended preparation schedule. It’s the details for a stress-free holiday dinner, all in one package.
Purchases from Amazon by clicking here. These small books are a great gift idea, too!
Recipes have been fully tested and are guaranteed to deliver the “wow” factor in flavor, especially if you start with farm fresh locally grown ingredients. Cooking methods used are easy, and the suggested preparation schedule leaves plenty of time to visit and enjoy your guests.
Best of all, these recipes can be used together or individually anytime during the fall and winter when the ingredients used are readily available from Whatcom farmers at the Farmers Market.
Happy holidays and a ho ho ho from our home to yours!
Holiday Dinner Menu Plans for 2012 have been created to help make it easier for you to serve local foods to your family and friends this year. Three five-course menus are available, one with a beef entree, one with salmon, and one vegetarian (lacto-ovo-vegetarian to be precise, since eggs and dairy are used).
The five courses include an appetizer, soup, salad, main dish with side, and dessert. (The vegetarian entree needs no side dish.) Serve them formally one at a time, or family style with some courses combined.
You won’t find “turkey with all the fixin’s” on any of these menus. Instead, the recipes have been selected to help you discover exciting new holiday flavor combinations using locally grown, seasonal ingredients. Continue Reading
“Organic” is a term used to describe some food and farming techniques, but the meaning can be confusing. Let’s try to sort out some fact from fiction. Continue Reading
Category : Appetizers, Holidays, Recipes
A lot of appetizers are served cold, but sometimes it’s nice to have warmer options, especially during winter holiday entertaining. These meatballs with a creamy wine sauce make a heartier offering, but still are bite-sized to keep them easy for your guests to eat. It’s also a simple recipe to prepare. Continue Reading
Colorful leaves, a chilly bite in the air, howling gales and horizontal rain–ah! Fall in Whatcom County, just the way we like it! And at the Farmers Market and farms all around the County, what says “Fall is here and winter holidays are coming!” more than beautiful orange pumpkins? Continue Reading
Category : About Food Sources, CSAs, January, Main Dishes, Recipes, Seasonal Menu Ideas
When I think of classic comfort food, I think of meatloaf. When I was a child, meatloaf was my favorite main dish. Top with a little Worcestershire sauce and ketchup, serve mashed potatoes and green beans on the side, and I was a happy kid.
Others must feel the same way. “Meatloaf” is one of the top five recipes people search for on the Food Network web site, and it’s categorized there as a “Comfort Food.” Continue Reading
Category : Main Dishes, Recipes
One of the advantages of buying beef by the “side” (half a beef cow) is that you can get cuts that would be difficult to find (or afford) in a retail grocery store. The cow’s tail, or “oxtail”, is one of those parts that are typically missing from the store’s meat case. Continue Reading
