One Local Summer 2007, Week 3, Potluck Dinner

Posted on | July 15, 2007 | 6 Comments

We had friends to dinner last night, nine of us including Lila. Some of the dishes weren’t entirely local, but a bunch of them were, and delicious to boot. Once everyone arrived, things happened so fast that I forgot to break out the camera! Too bad, the food was all so beautiful, and the front porch set up with colored lights and candles, with the two card tables pushed together and chairs and benches crammed all around. Tight, but in a good way.

Playing by the rules:

Amish chicken from Lake County, grilled with a balsamic and herb marinade (30 miles).
Sausage (mix of sweet and hot Italian) from Lake County, grilled (30 miles).
New Potatoes, steamed and tossed with Amish butter and fresh parsley and dill (potatoes and herbs-0 miles, butter-30 miles).
Asian Cole Slaw (green cabbage-20 miles, red cabbage-CA—it needed the color and it was use it or lose it, carrots-10 miles, cilantro-0 miles, rice vinegar, ginger and sugar concessions).
2 different green bean salads from friend’s gardens. Yum! (1/2 mile and 4 miles respectively).
Sautéed mix of Chard, two varieties of Kale (Russian Red and Nero de Toscana) and Beet greens in a bit of olive oil and my fresh garlic (Red Kale 10 miles, everything else 0 miles except for the EVOO).

I had picked greens for a big salad, but tasted some while washing it and discovered that the lettuce has officially gone off and is now today’s green scavenge for the chickens. Bitter. Bitter. Bitter. (0 miles but not consumed).

Wild cards:

Starters of fresh mozzarella, hummus, crackers and marinated olives. Was supposed to be Zucchini fritters made total local, but I ran out of time. That’s tonight’s dinner!
Shrimp on the grill. Delicious, but obviously not local.
Cornbread, made 3 miles away, but not sure of the sources.
White bean salad with green olives. Who knows. But yum!
Dessert was actually partly local…Zucchini Chocolate Cake with local ice cream. I know the zucchini was local, not sure about the rest of the cake.
Margaritas and wine (a dry Rosé). The local wines I saw all seemed too sweet.

So really, if we extract the bottom list from bunch, the top one is a meal and a half on its own. I’d say we did pretty well.

Also, I learned something today. I’m in the process of collecting info from the market vendors to write their profiles for the market guide. The local bakery owner sent hers back and said she uses flour that’s milled right here in Kent from locally grown wheat. I knew about the Star of the North mill and grain elevator, but it never even occurred to me that it might be a resource. I have to find out if they sell to individuals. It’s probably not organic though. I can still order from Frankferd Farm, at the end of the month. It’s within my 100 miles and organic.

I’d been feeling tired and cranky and at loose ends with myself, but as one of our guests so wisely pointed out, a social gathering with the right mix of people, good food, a light breeze and a starry night can be a most healing happening. I feel like myself again.

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