Outpost 505

SB and I awoke at 2am this morning to the dulcet tones of someone puking over the side of their balcony.  I would say ‘vomiting’, but that sounds more, um, polite than this actually was.  Good lord, I can’t wait to get out of this janky building.

The most ardent supporter of our local eating efforts?

Miss Mina, who is very interested in everything that we eat, but especially local meats and veggies.  If the local food movement needs a spokescat, I’d happily volunteer her services, as it’s really time she earns her keep.

Eating:

Our OLS meal for the week was salad with lettuce, tomatoes, and carrots from the farmers’ market, a Meritage from Rappahannock Cellars (67 mi.), and local pasta with homemade spaghetti sauce from local seconds tomatoes, ground buffalo, and herbs from our garden.  The spaghetti sauce was a big disappointment, but we froze a jar of it, which will be excellent later in the year reconstituted with some goat cheese.

Tuesday night was a different story.

We got a big hunk of prosciutto from Cheesetique for 99c, so I cubed about half of it, then sauteed it with local onion, garlic scapes, and peas, then tossed it all together with local aged cheddar and non-local macaroni.  So, so, so, so good.   I also roasted little local carrots with some maple syrup - they were like candy.  Too bad SB wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t enjoy it when it was hot. 

Our farmers’ market haul this week: pork sausage, ground pork, a little poussin, eggs, chocolate milk, squash blossoms, tomatoes, nectarines, onions, dinner rolls, carrots, green beans, and garlic.  Very exciting!

Growing:

• Our tomatoes look sad and droopy, so yesterday we bought a big just of Terracycle and are hoping they’ll perk up with the introduction of quality worm poop.
• I thinned the lettuce again, resulting in big salads for both of us.
• We have OMG peppers growing!  I’m trying to resist the urge to pick them small so that they have a chance to turn red.
• We have kept basil alive for two months.  This is kind of a big deal.

Seen on Kasia’s blog:

Entertainment Weekly’s 100 New Classics:
1. Pulp Fiction (1994)
2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-03)
3. Titanic (1997)
4. Blue Velvet (1986)
5. Toy Story (1995)
6. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
7. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
8. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
9. Die Hard (1988)
10. Moulin Rouge (2001)
11. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
12. The Matrix (1999)
13. GoodFellas (1990)
14. Crumb (1995)
15. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
16. Boogie Nights (1997)
17. Jerry Maguire (1996)
18. Do the Right Thing (1989)
19. Casino Royale (2006)
20. The Lion King (1994)
21. Schindler’s List (1993)
22. Rushmore (1998)
23. Memento (2001)
24. A Room With a View (1986)
25. Shrek (2001)
26. Hoop Dreams (1994)
27. Aliens (1986)
28. Wings of Desire (1988)
29. The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
30. When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
31. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
32. Fight Club (1999)
33. The Breakfast Club (1985)
34. Fargo (1996)
35. The Incredibles (2004)
36. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
37. Pretty Woman (1990)
38. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
39. The Sixth Sense (1999)
40. Speed (1994)
41. Dazed and Confused (1993)
42. Clueless (1995)
43. Gladiator (2000)
44. The Player (1992)
45. Rain Man (1988)
46. Children of Men (2006)
47. Men in Black (1997)
48. Scarface (1983)
49. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
50. The Piano (1993)
51. There Will Be Blood (2007)
52. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (1988)
53. The Truman Show (1998)
54. Fatal Attraction (1987)
55. Risky Business (1983)
56. The Lives of Others (2006)
57. There’s Something About Mary (1998)
58. Ghostbusters (1984)
59. L.A. Confidential (1997)
60. Scream (1996)
61. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
62. sex, lies and videotape (1989)
63. Big (1988)
64. No Country For Old Men (2007)
65. Dirty Dancing (1987)
66. Natural Born Killers (1994)
67. Donnie Brasco (1997)
68. Witness (1985)
69. All About My Mother (1999)
70. Broadcast News (1987)
71. Unforgiven (1992)
72. Thelma & Louise (1991)
73. Office Space (1999)
74. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
75. Out of Africa (1985)
76. The Departed (2006)
77. Sid and Nancy (1986)
78. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
79. Waiting for Guffman (1996)
80. Michael Clayton (2007)
81. Moonstruck (1987)
82. Lost in Translation (2003)
83. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)
84. Sideways (2004)
85. The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005)
86. Y Tu Mamá También (2002)
87. Swingers (1996)
88. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
89. Breaking the Waves (1996)
90. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
91. Back to the Future (1985)
92. Menace II Society (1993)
93. Ed Wood (1994)
94. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
95. In the Mood for Love (2001)
96. Far From Heaven (2002)
97. Glory (1989)
98. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
99. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
100. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999)

The fact that I’ve seen 56 of these surprises me, to be honest.

Look! I can use Google to make charts and graphs!

Am I sure how we spent $428.43 on groceries and other household-y stuff last month? Not really. I mean, we have the numbers, but I’m not sure what they mean, exactly. There were a few splurges on alcohol, lots of cheese and meats for a fancy picnic, and things like that which put us over our budget for the month. On the whole, though, I think we’re coming out about the same as we were previously - we’re just buying better things, and eating better meals at home. Last night I was trying to remember exactly what it was that we ate prior to two months ago. I think a lot more frozen things.

On Sunday, I attented the Northern Virginia Summer Brewfest, which I had found out about from my friend Mark. He and his roommate were volunteering, so I filled out the form and volunteered as well. Volunteering got me entry, 4 drink tickets (entry and tickets was $25 normally), and a t-shirt. The morning began slightly stressful, as Mark wasn’t aware it was 50 minutes away. Luckily the festival didn’t start until 11am, so even though we got their technically late and 11:45 or so, we were set up in time for the opening. While Mark had volunteered early enough to be a pourer, his roommate Bill and I were given the task of handing out glasses, tickets, and programs to the attendees. It was pretty sunny and hot, so we were glad to have the shade, bottles of water, and our sample glasses in hand.

I actually worked surprisingly hard, but the time went fast. It was fun to greet people and hand them their glasses - it’s hard to be in a bad mood at a beer festival. Other volunteers at our area went on beer runs, and we swapped out a few times to grab a beer or some festival food. I was already fairly tipsy by the end of my 1030-3pm shift, and we stuck around until about 430 or so. I had to taper off a bit towards the end and grab some bootleg Cinci-style chili to make me able to drive us home.

The highlights of the festival were the sheer number of good breweries in attendance, but in particular, I enjoyed a 90-minute IPA from Dogfish Head (which I hadn’t had in some time), a Gordon. from Oskar Blues, and a really nice Summer Ale from St. George Brewing Company, who is local! It was very summery but also quite hoppy, which made for a refreshing and unique Summer beer.

Oh, also the Super Burger.

I missed the farmers’ market so much when we were at Bonnaroo.  It seems like a weird thing to miss, but that’s what I got.  After two months of doing most of our shopping at the market or individual stores, going to the grocery store just seems weird.

Growing:

Eating:

Pork and Broccoli Stir-fry

• Pork from Cibola Farms, sliced to 1/4″ thickness
• Broccoli from the FB market, roughly cut up
• A whole head of green garlic from the Courthouse market, roughly chopped
• Soy sauce and peanut oil (non-local)

Combine the pork, garlic, and enough soy sauce to marinate in a bowl.  Set aside.  Heat some oil in your wok or non-stick skillet.  Saute the broccoli stems until soft-ish, then add the pork, garlic, and soy sauce.  If you have other veggies, great.  I was going to include zucchini, but there wasn’t enough room.  Saute until everything’s delicious and tender - I think I left it all in too long, but I was waiting for SB to get home.  It was delicious nonetheless.  It would be fantastic on top of rice, but rice doesn’t grow in the DC metro area, so that’ll have to wait for a non-local meal.

Grilled Zucchini Salad - bonus meal!

• One small eight-ball zucchini, sliced about 1/4″ thick (but any summer squash will work)
• Fresh tomato, cut into bite-sized chunks
• Mixed greens
• Olive oil (non-local) for drizzling, salt & pepper to taste

Using our trusty grill pan, I dry-grilled the slices of zucchini quickly until tender, then tossed them on top of the tomato and other salad fixings.  One eight-ball zucchini made enough for two salads, or for me to have a salad AND a bowl of yummy zucchini.  Drizzle with a little olive oil before serving to really bring out the buttery awesomeness of the zucchini.

Not a whole lot to report this week as we were gone to Bonnaroo from Wednesday through Monday.  Our pet sitter kindly took care of our garden in our absence.  We have tomatoes growing on the vine, but both the parsley and cilantro are definitely gone.  Time to dig ‘em up and plant something new!  Lots of lettuce, beans getting taller, and one little strawberry.  Nom nom nom.

In addition to our OLS meal,  we had some failed zucchini pancakes, awesome awesome bison burgers, and munched on local peas and cherries in the car while waiting in line outside the ‘Roo festival grounds.  While the food we had at Roo was fantastic, we’re both glad to be home and back to eating good things - well, in theory at least.

I was totally brain-dead after work last night but, knowing that we’d be out of town for a few days for Bonnaroo, I managed to pull together our all-local meal anyway. Let’s call it “eggs in a nest”.

What I really wanted was zucchini pancakes, but lacking local flour, that was out of the question. Instead, I shredded 1 zucchini, 1 beet, and a bunch of garlic scapes, tossed them with some egg (in an attempt to bind the pancakes, which failed), and made a brightly-colored hash. I tossed it all around with some butter, salt, and pepper until everything was tender and flavorful, then threw in a handful of chopped herbs from our garden (parsley, basil, and chives). Next, I wiped out the pan, melted some butter, and scrambled a few eggs, including one giant one that had a double yolk. We’ve definitely had double yolk eggs before - but I can’t remember ever having an egg that was clearly a different size than the rest, thus predicting the double yolk. Some of the eggs had straw still stuck to them. I love it!
When all put together, it was incredibly flavorful and delicious, and we’d definitely make it again.
We washed it down with a hefeweizen from Blue & Gray Brewing Co.

Shane approves! Mina did, too.

For the sake of argument, our definition of local is ‘produced within 150 miles of our home’, as that’s the definition used by one of the three farmers’ markets we frequent (Foggy Bottom).  The Courthouse market’s range is slightly more restricted - 125 miles - but still generous.  Within that range there are wineries, breweries, u-picks, and the Atlantic Ocean!

On a related note, does anyone have recommendations for good regional/seasonal cookbooks?  I’ve been poring over my Jamie Olivers, my Moosewoods and vegetarian tomes, my vintage Joy of Cookings, but am consistently finding recipes that contain my local ingredient plus two or more things not even remotely from here.  Tonight I picked up Serving Up the Harvest after long and careful scrutiny at Borders, and I’m desperately waiting for Blue Eggs, Yellow Tomatoes to come in at the library (I have to wait til at least July 11!).  Any suggestions are welcome!