Sunday 4 October 2009

Buying Local and Loving It

One of the benefits of buying local produce is that you're never quite sure beforehand about what might happen in your kitchen that week. It keeps things from being routine and boring and surely that's a good thing!

Yesterday morning, my darling man and I went to the local Farmer's Markets, which set off a chain of culinary events ....

Finding some beautiful strawberries at good prices not only meant fresh strawbs to eat (yum!), but four pots of strawberry jam, which should last us several months.

Purchasing fresh, sweet, juicy oranges gave rise to me juicing the old ones and cooking up six pots of passionfruit butter, something nearly-teen-boy loves on hot oat cakes. The recipe also used a dozen fresh local hens' eggs.

Duck eggs reminded me of the moist coconut cake that a neighbour used to make from my brother's spare duck eggs when we were teenagers, so of course, that had to be made as well.



Fresh fennel, artichokes and sweet potatoes were roasted and added to fresh fish to produce a lovely meal.










And another meal of a thick vegetable soup was graced by the addition of locally produced chorizo sausages sliced on top (which, incidentally, gave off no fat while cooking and tasted amazing) and slices of toasted gluten free Crunch bread (a seedy concoction held together with a bit of gluten free flour).

OK, some of the supplemental ingredients were not local, but the majority of ingredients were. My point is that by shopping this way, you eat with the seasons, stock the cupboard with the seasons, and generally eat much tastier and healthier food (well, except maybe for the added sugar.... ;)).

I hadn't planned on making jam or a cake this weekend, but it sure was fun. And the fresh produce - simply delicious!

love and light
naturewitch

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nothing like the local markets to stock up on produce, WTG NW!

Cheryl said...

Lovely naturewitch....you are a woman after my own heart.
I buy my produce from a local organic farm....all seasonal all fresh....it is the way to go....

That jam looks delicious........I can almost taste it......

naturewitch said...

Hi Molly
Yes, we have our "grocery shop" visit down to about once a month now, with the majority of our food coming from the garden, the co-op or the markets. Even though we've a long way to go yet, we are definitely getting there. xx

Hi Cheryl
Welcome back! Hope your holiday was a good one. Yes, I think eating in season is important and i'm also starting to think that maybe we should use our herbs seasonally, as well. After all, Mother Nature knows what is good for us when; we've just got to learn to pick up her signals. xx

amummy said...

That Company's bread is so nice - I have tried the banana bread and the fruit loaf both were great. I really need to get organised and back to the markets now it is warmer.

Sage said...

Haven't ever tried passionfruit butter, only ever heard of apple butter or lemon curd.. any chance of getting a recipe or pointing me in the right direction?

naturewitch said...

Hi amummy
Maybe we could try going out there together - leave the fellows at home with the children, perhaps? Only trouble is that they are great for carrying things LOL!xx

Hi Sage
Yes, will do a post with the recipe. It is seriously yummy and what I do is basically modify a lemon curd recipe. xx

marmee said...

i just did a post on buying local...it is great and you help your own economy. it also taste the best.
thanks for coming by "things i love."
happy autumn.

Gourmet Gifts said...

Hi,
It is good verity of food category that all type of people preferable most.
That looks good. It is so delicious and good for health.
………………. Thanks for the great recipes………….