I am so behind!!!

I can't believe it's December already! I didn't get a chance to blog about my first Thanksgiving ever at my house. Every year I have begged my mom to let me host the holiday, but every year the family had other plans. This year, however, my mom was outnumbered.
Although our holiday meal was not entirely local, a great bit of it came from nearby farms. We had a yummy Mashed Potato and Root Veggie Puree which featured local turnips and potatoes. We also had sweet potatoe puree made with local sweet potatoes and our turkey was from within 200 miles of home. Lastly, the pumpkin pie was made with pumpkins from one of my co-workers gardens!
All in all, it was very successful and delicious, if I do say so myself.
But that's enough talk about Thanksgiving...sorry I am so behind. Let's talk about this week's answer to the Dark Days Challenge.
This week we made two meals which featured local ingrediants; zucchini quiche and pork ribs with greens. My boyfriend made the zucchini quiche last night and it featured zucchini grown in our garden and frozen many months ago, eggs from the local egg ranch, milk from Strauss Creamery (not local but not far either), and parmesan cheese (definately not local). It was to die for! I have written about my quiche recipe before, but David's version was much better than me...must have been the cheesy top crust!
Tonight, David and I collaberated on ribs and greens. He made his own rub, consisting of cumin, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and something else he would not divulge. He then rubbed it onto Sonoma Co. Ribs and seared them in a pan of local garlic and Napa Co Olive Oil. He then broiled them to finish them off. Yumm! I wilted down some mustard greens, kale, and swiss chard from our CSA box along with some local garlic and homemade chicken stock. We had some toasted wheat bread (from Safeway's bakery....I know, shame on me) on the side. The ingrediants aren't local, but at least it's baked nearby.

Dark Days Challenge 08/09

I was really excited to join the Dark Days Challenge with (not so) Urban Hennery (http://urbanhennery.com/2008/10/14/dark-days-challenge-0809/) and couldn't wait to get started on my first local meal of the challenge.
Unfortunately, I was out of town the last couple of weeks and my honey forgot to pick up our CSA Veggie box. I do have some things canned from summer, but short of creating a meal out of syrupy nectarines and strawberry jam, it's slim pickins in the pantry.
As a result, I had to make due with some late season cherry tomatoes and basil from a pot on my deck....yes I am still getting tomatos and basil. What can I say? It's California.
I ended up cooking up some whole wheat pasta (not local), added my own tomatoes (homegrown), basil (homegrown), olive oil (Napa Co.- 40 miles), and garlic (local- 2 miles). It was tolerable considering the circumstances, but I am stlightly disapointed in my first attempt.
We shall have to see what tomorrow's veggie box holds in store for us......stay tuned.