Well, there are several reasons, actually, but one in particular warrants a look. How does this sound for dinner:
+ Skillet-roasted edamame
+ Deviled cucumber cups
+ Corn soup with roasted poblanos and zucchini blossoms
+ Tomato and herb salad (with fresh chive cheese)
+ Rosemary potatoes Anna
+ Pattypan squash with eggs
+ Watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon sorbets
And to drink: Peppermint lemongrass tisane, summer wheat beer, Chardonnay, Syrah
I don't know about you, but it sounds pretty tasty to me. I am a meat lover (sorry, vegetarian readers), so I would have liked to see a chop or steak or something on the menu. But here's the catch: it was all made using ingredients grown or hand-produced in a small plot of land over one year. ALL of it. They pressed their own olives to make olive oil for cooking, made their own honey and cheese and wine and beer, grew the ingredients...
Granted, they had teams devoted to each major category ("Team Cheese", por ejemplo), and a single guy with two lads and two careers does not have the time to do all the work they did, but still. This is something I have wanted to do for a very long time--since way before "carbon footprint" became a vogue phrase. I have longed to have a place where I could make my own foodstuffs, including preserving meats and fruits, and canning and brewing. I would love to make my own soap, candles, woven fabrics and the like. Few things appeal to me as much as living off my labor and the land.
Go read the article online. I don't think it is quite as good as the print version, in terms of layout and such, but the information is there, and you can learn all about the various things they had to learn and do to make the feast happen.
I wonder what their little plot looks like now?
5 years ago
3 comments:
Word o' the day: foodstuffs. :) David, this is fascinating. I, too, have always felt a pull toward the pioneer lifestyle. Maybe it was early exposure to this...?
http://classicgaming.gamespy.com/View.php?view=GameMuseum.Detail&id=266
I finally remembered the name of that Canadian TV show I was telling you about, Pioneer Quest: A Year in the Real West:
http://www.history.ca/ontv/titledetails.aspx?titleid=22016
I was all inspired to make my own soap/candles upon walking into Rosemary's Garden in downtown Sebastopol. Something very Dicken's Fair about that, too. :)
That's how I grew up. I miss it. Everything tastes and feels better...not only can it NOT be fresher, it is satisfying to know your own energy and sweat went into it (anything grown/made/crafted).
Gee whiz, I sound like a good midwesterner....
Denise: ah, yes--ninjas attack: lose 8 days.
Sam: nah, not a midwesterner--just someone who has it on straight.
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