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BANG FOR THE BITE
If 10,000 Biter households spend their Thanksgiving meal dollars on local food, we'll invest about $381,000 into our own communities.
COCKTAIL FACT
Frustrated with grain prices, a ND farmer carved a giant message, crop circle-style, across his 160-acre plot of barley that read Grain Prices Suck.
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home › tip library › 100-mi Thanksgiving
Are you ready for a Turkey Day challenge?
The Bite
Thanksgiving-dinner glory is fewer than 100 miles away. This year, try serving only food (condiments and spices excluded) produced within a 100-mi radius of your house - it'll tap your competitive spirit, and help save the planet while you prep for your feast.The Benefits
- Lower emissions. An Iowa State University study found that people who switched to buying 10% of their produce from local sources produced 5-17 times less CO2 overall than if they'd bought nonlocal.
- Community connections. Sociologists estimate that people who skip the supermarket in favor of farmers markets have about 10 times the number of conversations while shopping...that's 10 more chances to get lucky.
- Supporting family farms. Most conventional foods travel an average of 1,500 mi before ending up on your plate. Buying in your own backyard saves a lotta energy.
- Triumphing in the face of adversity. Amid supermarket aisles full of canned stuffing made in China, a 100-mi Thanksgiving can take some creativity, but that makes it all the more satisfying...and tasty.
Personally Speaking
Show us whatcha got: Post your local Thanksgiving menus in the blog - the first 25 Biters to do so will win a copy of Paul Hawken's latest book, Blessed Unrest.Wanna Try?
- 100 Mile Diet - read other peoples' stories, and learn how to get started.
- Local Harvest - find local farms and farmers markets.
Nov 14,2007
Sponsor
All editorial suggestions in this tip are the result of testing and a preference for the tip topic. No advertiser has paid to have its company referenced in the tip. For more information, please read our Editorial Policy.
A New Way
Biters:
The time has come for a new generation of Thanksgiving dinners. A local generation that is light on the pesticides and heavy on deliciousness.
Submit your local Thanksgiving menus, reap the rewards (a copy of Paul Hawken's latest book), and if you ever falter, let this training montage from Wet Hot American Summer help you get your booty back on track.
-Toshio...off to drop and give you 20...
Biter Comments...
Local Thanksgiving menu:
1)Turkey from a local farm
2)Butternut Squash, Apple, Onion Gratin - squash, onions and apples from our garden, local cheese purchased at Whole Foods
3) Mashed potatoes - our garden
4) Kale and turnips - our garden and the CSA next door
5) Sweet potato pie - sweet potatoes from our garden
1) Turkey from a local farm
2) Wild mushroom pie
3) Mashed potatoes
4) Salad, Bread, and what everyone else contributes to the pot-luck style feast!
We live in the Southeast and are vegetarians... so local dinner includes a roasted root vegetable dish with soy protein, a sweet potato casserole, greens, corn bread, homemade cranberry dish (ok, I confess, the cranberries have to be shipped in), pumpkin pie. All served with a decent local wine.
the menu:
pancetta-sage turkey with
pancetta-sage gravy
wild rice dressing with
grapes and walnuts
sweet potato mash
horseradish mashed potatoes
brussel sprouts with carmelized onions
apple of her eye pie
I'm from Virginia...
Here's my Thanksgiving dinner menu:
Snacks:
-Cucumber & tomato salad (basically with vinegar & herbs)
-Crackers with cheese & Smithfield ham (As in Virginia ham)
-Olives
Dinner:
-Turkey (locally acquired if possible)
-Smithfield ham
-Homemade herbal bread
-Sweet Potatoes
-Roasted Potatoes
-Corn
Dessert:
-Pumpkin Pie with vanilla ice cream
Beverages:
-Sparkling apple cider (from Virginia)
-Virginia wine
-Fresh Brewed iced tea
** All veggies would be acquired from the farmers market (pending availability). **
Thanksgiving Menu:
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans
Pumpkin Pie
Homemade Noodle Soup
Tofurkey
Salad
*all supplies purchased from local farmers market, if possible*
I live outside Washington DC - here's the bulk of our Thanksgiving menu:
heritage, free-range turkey from Springfield Farm, about 35 miles away
sweet potatoes from my CSA, about 10 miles away
collard and kale greens, from my Dad's garden (1/2 mile away) and the CSA
cornbread from Colvin Run Mill in Virgina, maybe 20 miles away
milk and butter comes from Trickling Springs Dairy in nearby PA, and eggs also come from Springfield Farm
a local Maryland or Virginia wine too!
One of our family's favorites are turkey rolls. We but sliced turkey from our local deli and roll the slices around already prepared cornbread stuffing. We then put them in a baking sheet and pour turkey gravy over them. We then bake in the oven just long enough to warm them up good right before dinner. No mess, no waste.
All local and organic. . .
turkey
stuffing with celery and herbs from the summer garden and homemade bread
spinach dip with crudite
pumpkin bisque
raw cacao bark with ginger and cranberries
local sparkling cider and wine
I've been planning Thanksgiving since March! All of the veggies are from my garden - potatoes, squash, beans, turnips etc. We're having a turkey from a local farm, mashed potatoes and creamed carrots made with raw milk from a friend who has a dairy farm, and sweet potatoes glazed with honey from a local source. The wine is from Long Island, which is not within 100 miles, but was procured on vacation from the wineries - so the extra miles are really negligible since we were driving there anyway. And sometimes you have to break the rules to keep the peace - I'm including Ocean Spray cranberry sauce so there isn't a mass revolt.
I live in Panama so Thanksgiving takes on a new meaning as it is generally a time that our family gets to come visit us in our new home. Almost all of our meals come from within a 100 mile radius, the exceptions are the turkey (not a Panamanian delicacy) and the pecans. Given that we come from the south, a Thanksgiving without pecan pie wouldn't be Thanksgiving. Here is the menu:
Bruschetta
Green Salad
Smoked Turkey
Corn Casserole
Pixbae Casserole (pixbae is a local starchy vegetable that is similar to sweet potatoes or pumpkin in taste and texture)
Broccoli
Tortilla Cornbread Dressing
Creamed Onions
Pixbae Pie
Pecan Pie
We are members of a the oldest (continuously operating) food coop in the country, in Park Slope, Brooklyn, which prides itself on buying from farmers in New York and New Jersey. We buy all our food there, and it's all organic -- but I confess it still takes a lot of effort to buy mostly local.
What about the cranberries? And the butter and cream are from Organic Valley farmers coop in Vermont. And where's the flour from? And what about the wine?
Our free-range heritage turkey will be brined. Lots of sides using locally grown vegies, like my aunt's famous sweet potato dish with Grand Marnier (not organic, not local!). My daughter and her friends will bake a lot of pies for our local soup kitchen, and I'll make a few for us. But where do the pecans come from?
I'm still trying to figure out a great dish for the vegetarians. I personally no longer eat turkey and want something fabulous to look forward to, not tofu. Any ideas?
I am so fortunate that we were able to get our organic turkey from a local farm this year. In addition, I have a winter CSA farm share and will prepare the fixings from whatever is harvested the day before Thanksgiving. Some possibilites:
roasted fingerling potatoes, acorn or butternut squash, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, turnip mashed potatoes, carrot and kale salad. Pumpkin pie, and wheat-free/gluten free stuffing for the turkey will round it out.
I'm looking forward to a local (vegetarian) Thanksgiving with ingredients from a radius around my home near Washington DC as well as contributions from my parents, who'll be visiting from northern Michigan. The plan:
*Roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes from my garden and CSA share
* Olive bread brought from my favorite local bakery in Michigan
* Butternut squash stuffed with mushrooms from the farmer's market
Swiss chard and mustard greens from garden and CSA
* Pumpkin pie made from CSA pumpkins and Michigan maple syrup
Yum!
My Kansas City Thanksgiving Feast will be somewhat local.
Turkey (ordered from the local City Market)
Stuffing made with homeade bread with flour milled in Missouri. Ideally I would have put some fresh local apples in there too, but we'll see.
Cranberry sauce and cranberry tarts...I know, it's not local, but it's not Thanksgiving without it. For the crust I will use the semi-local flour.
Walnuts from Missouri for the stuffing.
Sweet potatoes and turnips from the city market.
Green Beans(local only if I can find some by next week)
Happy Thanksgiving!
We're having a salad from late crop of lettuces, a venison roast cooked with a local Virginia wine, roasted sweet potatoes from the farmers market, and a pumpkin pie made with the fruits of my first attempt at growing pumpkins! All the food will be supplemented with herbs from the garden and some awesome mulled Virginia wine.
Organic, locally raised turkey with sage and rosemary
Baked organic corn
Homemade stuffing with apples & celery
Cranberry Cherry Compote
Mashed potatoes (can't skip those)
Homemade Pumpkin Pie
Homemade Chocolate Pecan Pie
Sunflower Pate
3 cups sunflower seeds, soaked 8-12 hours. Sprouted for 2-4 hours
1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1/4-1/2 cup raw tahini
1/4 cup liquid amino's, or
2 tablespoons nama shoyu, or pinch of sea salt
2-4 slices red onion, cut in chunks
4-6 tablespoons parsley,coarsely chopped
2-3 medium cloves garlic, coarsley chopped
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
Soak sunflower seeds 8-12 hours, drain, allow to sprout for 3-4 hours (leave out on counter) then thoroughly rinse and drain removing as many of the thin inner husks that float to the top as possible. In a food
processor, process the sunflower seeds, lemon juice,scallions, tahini, liquid amino's, onion, parsley, garlic and cayenne until the mixture is a smooth paste. When thoroughly blended taste and adjust the seasoning. The pate will develop a stronger garlic taste in a few hours. Yields a large mixing bowl of pate. (approximately
8 cups)
Pumpkin Seed “Cheese”
2 cups Pumpkin Seeds (raw)
Soak in Filtered Water x 15 minutes
1 bunch Parsley
1 Tbs. Garlic, minced
1 Tbs. Ginger, minced
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
1/3 cup Olive Oil
Salt
1/8 Tsp. Jalapeno Pepper
Blend in food processor. Spread on large lettuce leaves,
roll up & enjoy !!
Carrot Juice Soup
By Frederic Patenaude
1 cup celery juice
2 cups carrot juice
1 cup carrot pulp
1/2 avocado
small handful dill, or cilantro
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 cup vegetables of your choice (cucumbers, peppers,
zucchini, etc.)
1/2 avocado, pieces (optional)
When juicing the carrots, save 1 cup of carrot pulp. Blend the juice with the avocado and herb (dill or cilantro) together. Add in, without blending, the remaining ingredients.
Hummus
2- 14 oz. Cans Garbanzos (chickpeas) or equivalent made fresh
1/4 cup water (use water from Garbanzos)
1 clove garlic
2 tsps.- Tahini (Sesame)
2 Lemons (Juiced)
1 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 tsp. Cumin (Ground Fine)
1/2 tsp. dried red pepper (Ground Fine)
Mix all ingredients in a food processor and puree. Fabulous dip for carrot sticks, zucchini strips.
Note: can be served warm or cool. Add one or more of your own spices like cayenne or tumeric or curry to make it more interesting
Jalapeno Cheese
by Jackie Graff
2 cups macadamia nuts, soaked for 8 hrs./drain
2 cups filtered water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tsp. tumeric
2 sun-dried tomatoes
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup pine nuts, soaked for 8 hrs./drain
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped very fine
Place macadamia nuts, filtered water, salt, tumeric, sun-dried tomatoes and lemon juice in blender - blend till smooth. Add pine nuts & blend until smooth. Stir in
jalapeno peppers. Great on dehydrated crackers!
Mango Cranberry Salsa
by Alex Malinsky
1 cup fresh mango (diced)
4 tbs. sun dried or fresh cranberries
2 tbs. red bell peppers, (diced)
2 tbs. red onion (diced)
1 jalapeno pepper (minced)
2 tbs. fresh mint (chopped)
1 tbs. lime or lemon juice
1 tbs. agave nectar or honey
1 tbs. avocado oil
How to: Mix everything together in a bowl
and let marinate for 1 hour before serving.
VEGGIE “CHIPS”
from Wellthy Choices FOOD DEHYDRATION book (see below) by Jan Jenson
Fresh veggies - sliced THIN with a madolin or other slicer. Slice whole or cube and slice. Try any of these veggies:
Zucchini
Carrots
Sweet Potatoes
Butternut or Acorn squash
Pumpkin
Beets
Radishes
Herbamare (sea salt with organic herbs)
For yellow veggies try these seasonings:
Cinnamon or nutmeg
Curry and/or Tumeric
Graham Marsalla
Salad seasonings
Dry in the dehydrator till they are “crunchy” or slightly soft... you will develop your own taste and methods, the more you experiment. Get the kids involved too. They will LOVE these tasty, healthy treats!! Make sure you make LOTS - and share with friends and co-workers... they will be chasing you down (literally!) for more...!
ALMOND NOG
1 cup soaked almonds
3 cups water
2 bananas
2 Tbs. agave nectar
1 tsp. alcohol free vanilla
1 tsp. nutmeg
Blend soaked almonds and water until pureed. Strain almond milk to remove pulp, use either a strainer or a nut bag. Pour milk back into blender, add bananas, agave, vanilla, and nutmeg. Blend completely. Serve with a sprinkle of nutmeg on top. Makes two glasses.
MAIN DISHES
Sweet and Sour Neatballs
(Serves 8-10)
1 Cup Walnuts
1 Cup Sunflower Seeds, soaked overnight
1 Cup Almonds, soaked overnight
1 Tbsp. Fresh Garlic, pressed
1 Cup Cilantro Leaves
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1 Tsp. Celtic Sea Salt,
1 Tbsp. Nama Shoyu, or Wheat-free Tamari
1 Bunch Green Onions, chopped finely
2 Tbsp. Freshly Grated Ginger
1 Cup Red Bell Pepper, chopped finely
1 Tsp. Chinese Five-Spice Powder
Finely chop the walnuts, sunflower seeds, and almonds in a food processor. Add the garlic. Process the seed, nut, and garlic mixture through a heavyduty juicer, such as Champion, to make a dough.
Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the sea salt, cilantro, green onions, ginger, bell pepper, spice powder,
and olive oil by hand. Mix well and adjust seasoning to taste.
Place uniform balls, like mini balls of ice cream, directly on a meat dehydrator tray. Dehydrate 2 to 3 hours or until set.
Dip in Sweet and Sour Sauce (above) and continue to dehydrate until dry on the outside, but still moist on the inside (2 to 3 hours more). Serve with extra Sweet and
Sour Sauce on the side.
Faux Salmon (or Mock Tuna)
This attractive dish resembles salmon casserole. But we know it's not! Adding more kelp, dulse or any other sea veggies that you have on hand will increase the seafood flavor. For fun, press into a mold and unmold onto a platter, surrounded with kale and parsley, topped with almonds or olives. This dish is elegant served with warmed Mushroom Gravy. For a luncheon
or brunch this recipe is lovely served in a scooped out tomato.
2 cups almonds, soaked 8-10 hours
2 whole carrots
1/2 cup coarsely chopped red onion
1 1/2 cups finely minced celery
1/2 cup minced parsley
1/4 cup minced shallot or scallion
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons kelp powder
1 teaspoon dulse powder or granules
1 tablespoon liquid amino's
2 teaspoons nama shoyu or
1 teaspoon sea salt
Soak almonds 8-12 hours, drain, rinse and drain again. Put the almonds, carrots and onions through the heavy-duty juicer, using the blank screen. Place mixture in a large bowl, add celery, parsley, shallots, lemon juice, kelp, dulse, liquid amino's or sea salt and stir thoroughly.
Shape into a mold or place in a pie crust. Or shape free hand like a fish. Keeps several days, covered, in the refrigerator. Serves 4-6.
Mock Turkey Dinner
6 cups of walnuts
5 stalks of celery
2 lg. carrots
1 med. yellow onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup flaxseed oil
1/4 cup dry sage
2 Tbs. thyme
2 Tbs. rosemary
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1/4 cup of miso
2 tsp. sea salt
1 Tbs. poultry seasoning
1 Avocado
In a food processor or in a Champion
juicer - homogenize walnuts, miso, flaxseed oil. Place in a separate bowl.
In a food processor chop celery, then carrots, then onion and add to bowl. Add chopped garlic, sage, thyme, rosemary, chopped parsley, and poultry seasoning.
Add mashed avocado and mix everything together by hand. Mold onto a nice platter and garnish with rosemary and thyme sprigs.
Mock Mashed Potatoes
1 head of cauliflower
3 cups of macadamia nuts
Salt and pepper to taste
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Candied Yams
6 sweet potatoes (yams)
1/2 cup raw honey
1/2 cup coconut butter
Soak sweet potatoes overnight. Pour off water. Place all ingredients in a Vita Mixer with as little water as possible and blend into a cream. Spread in a rectangular 2” deep Pyrex dish.
Whipped Topping for Yams
2 cups macadamia nuts
10 dates
2 Tbs. vanilla extract
2 tsp. ginger powder 2
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cardamom
A pinch of cloves and allspice
Blend in a Vita Mixer with as little water as possible to make a cream. Spread on the top of the sweet potatoes. Refrigerate. The Gobblers will attack often... better make a double batch!
Cauliflower Loaf
from Living Foods for Optimal Health by Brian Clement.
1 cup shelled dried almonds, soaked for 6 hours in 2 cups pure water
1 1/2 cups grated cauliflower
4 to 5 reishi mushrooms, grated
1/2 celery stalk, chopped
1/4 green onion, diced
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried ground sage
Grind almonds as finely as possible. Mix all ingredients well and shape into a loaf. Serve on a bed of lettuce with salad or soup. Garnish with parsley sprigs, if desired. Makes 6 servings.
More desserts and goodies coming later - as I gather them!
These will all be in my new Raw Harvest & Holiday Recipes book!
wild alsakan salmon (not local, unfortunately)
sweet potatoe casserole
steamed green beans and rosemary (from our garden)
tossed salad
cranberry salad
coconut cream pie
iced tea
Oh, and P.S. I meant to add that I too belong to the Park Slope Food Co-Op and will be getting all my supplies from there. The only things that can't come locally are the cranberries & possibly pecans for the pie, depending.
Our Thanksgiving dinner consists of:
1. turey ~ from local farm
2. mashed potatoes
3. stuffing
4. green beans and/or corn
5. banana bread
6. salad
7. pumpkin or apple crisp pie
8. and whatever else is contributed
small turkey, there are only 5 of us
fried apples
carrots, onions, celery, fresh herbs (from the garden)
small ham (yum)
local veggies from the co-op
cake and cookies baked by me!
I'm posting again, because nothing is showing up by my name.
Our Thanksgiving consists of:
1. turkey ~ from local farm
2. mashed pototoes
3. stuffing
4. green beans and/or corn
5. salad
6. banana bread
7. pumpkin or apple crisp pie
8. whatever else is brought to dinner
Our Thanksgiving this year will be from 50 miles away or less:
1. Turkey from a local farm--a 16-year-old raises them to make money, all grown organically!
All the vegetables were grown by us at our farm:
2. Sweet potatoes
3. Mashed potatoes
4. Green beans
5. Butternut squash/Lakota squash with swiss chard
6. Pumpkin pie made from a candy roaster squash from a local orchard 20 miles away
7. applesauce (made from same orchard mentioned above)
8. stuffing (made with bread from local bakery)
We will have local turkey. A salad and green beans from our garden. We will also have use local sugar, eggs, milk and coconut to make dessert. I found local sweet potatoes and pumpkins last week, so I hope to use those.
Unfortunately, we need to get unlocal cranberries and flour. We will also have to go futher for wine and tea. But about 70% of the meal will be local.
We live in Florida, so we are going to try a slightly non-traditional Thanksgiving Menu.
Meets:
Fresh Caught Mahi Mahi (Purchased from a local market)
Turkey (pre-cooked from the local gas station...sounds scary but really good)
Sides:
Sweet Potato Cas. -- I make mine with apples and pecans. And we already have some local pecans in the house. I will run to veg. stand to get the rest the week of.
Greens and Beans
Dessert
- Key lime pie made with local limes....I home make these.
Any one have any ideas on local teas?
K
We live in New Jersey and found several farms where you can reserve a turkey. We have tons of squash from our CSA and I plan on making a butternut soup and possibly spaghetti squash. We will also have fresh baked bread, local cheese and the rest will depend on what's available at our next two CSA pick ups!
I'll shop at the farmer's market on Saturday, so somewhat depends what's there, but here's the plan:
Turkey, ordered from local farm
Stuffing made from locally baked bread, locally grown onions, homegrown sage and thyme
Cranberry relish from secret family recipe that will use local pecans (if I can find them) and apples
Sweet potatoes, locally grown (no marshmallows!)
Bread baked by my father-in-law (he won't give a toss about using local ingredients, but it will be baked locally)
Pumpkin pie with cream from local dairy, and OK, OK, I might bake my own local pumpkin instead of using the canned stuff. Crust made with black walnuts from our backyard and butter from local dairy
Local beer and wine
So it won't be all local, but as much as possible
I live in Wisconsin, so we have lots of great Thanksgiving day fixings around. This will be my menu
Turkey from in the state (purchased our local co-op)
Last night we got our last bag from the farm we are members of so we'll make the following from this:
mashed potatoes with real Wisconsin
butter and garlic
roasted red beets (I cube them, put on some olive oil and salt and bake then to get them extra crispy on the edges finish them in a hot cast iron skillet)
To the beets we'll add sweet potatoes from the local co-op.
Of course some squash will be a great veggie
My mom will bring a wonderful cranberry dish also a great thing from Wisconsin
We'll finish it off with some of the local microbrew!
Every year the University of Virginia Student Planners Association has a large Thanksgiving Dinner for students, faculty, staff, and family. The past two years we've challenged ourselves (and deliciously rose to the occasion) to hold a 100 mile Thanksgiving. This year our focus is a 'glocal' thanksgiving...telling stories from around the world with food using local ingredients. We usually have 40+ dishes, plus no party is complete without local beer and wine!
Standard Thanksgiving:
Turkey with all the trimmings
Mushroom Stuffing
Corn Casserole
Green Beans
Mac & Cheese
Pumpkin Pie
Wine
GrandParents Turkey Dinner
Butterball Turkey topped with bacon
Jimmy Dean sausage apple stuffing
Homemade Turkey Gravy
Mashed carrot and turnip mixed together with butter (Mom's favorite)
Mashed Butternut squash with butter, cinnamon & nutmeg
Cranberry jellied mold made in bundt pan with walnuts (Aunt's specialty)
Boiled baby onions
Homemade Apple Pie
I live in N. Central Montana, where we have numerous Hutterite colonies. I go to one near me the day before THanksgiving and pick up my locally grown turkey, corn, and green beans, sometimes onions and homemade rolls. My menu this year includes the following:
Roast Turkey with Sage (homegrown) stuffing
Sauteed Green Beans with corn
Mashed Potatoes (locally grown)
Sweet Potatoes
Cranberry Orange Relish
Homemade Whole Wheat Rolls and ORganic butter
Roasted Vegetables
Pumpkin Pie from Organic, Fresh Pumpkin
Yum! Thanks, Pilgrims.
As I'm hosting the Dark Days of Winter Eat Local Challenge, we're very committed to having a local Thanksgiving. So far we've sourced everything we need from producers within a 100 miles for:
- Heritage free-range turkey
- stuffing
- mashed potatoes
- cheese broccoli souffle
- salad
- appetizers
- pies
- ice cream
Leg of lamb raised by a local 4H kid. Veggies will be whatever I get in my bag from the local CSA...probably squash and greens! Dessert will be apple crisp made with apples from the apple farm about 5 miles away.
Squash soup w/ local squash + onions/veggies.
Apples + cheese from local farms
Mixed salad from wherever mixed salad at the co-op comes from.
Local wine.
Whatever the rest of the family shows up with, but I'll challenge them to do this too!
Thanksgiving menu from the Finger Lakes Region in Ithaca, NY!
Locally raised turkey with garden herbs
Ithaca Stuffing
(Ithaca Bakery breads, garden sage, farm fresh eggs)
Arugula Salad with Local Goat Cheese & Candied Walnuts
(Lively Run goat cheese, NY maple syrup)
Farmer’s Market Roasted Fall Vegetables with Herbs
(butternut squash, carrots, parsnips, thyme, rosemary, NY maple syrup)
Cranberry Pear Crisp
(both grown in NY!)
NY Apple Pie
(with local heirloom apples)
NY Wines, Champagne, & Apple Cider
(Six Mile Creek 2005 Riesling, Montezuma Winery Cranberry Bog, Bully Hill Champagne, Bellwether Hard Cider, Littletree Orchard Apple Cider)
What fun to read other's menus and how they source their food! In Denver, we'll be having mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, salad and squash from our local CSA (Monroe Organic Farms), dressing will be made with bread from a local bakery (Pajama Baking Company) and eggs from Monroe, turkey and baking is not my forte, but an apple tart with Colorado apples (Forte Farms on the Western Slope). YUM!
I am soooo lucky to live where I do this time of year. Here in the midwest my turkey comes from a local farm, many turkeys in the local markets are raised in this county.
With the Amish about, there's an abundance of locally made breads, rolls, pies and other deserts. You couldn't ask for better!
Same with the veggies, the beans, brocolli and cauliflower were canned or frozen after being bought at area family owned farm-markets.
One of the blessings of growing up in the country, this is all I know, canning/freezing fruits and veggies we either grew or bought from nearby family markets. If it wasn't from here, we didn't have it and didn't miss it. There was always an abundance. :-)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Local Menu:
-Roasted Heritage Chicken
-Garlicky Kale
-Roasted Roots: Purple Potatoes, Carrots, Turnips
-Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Honey
-Cranberry Apple Sauce with Maple Syrup
-Oneida Heirllom White Cornbread
-Pumpkin Pie (local eggs, milk, whole wheat flour)
-New Glarus Dancing Man (local wheat) Beer
Our Thanksgiving menu is as follows:
Homemade stuffing-onions, garlic, celery & carrots from the farmers' market (FM), sage & oregano from my back yard, and artisian bread from my local baker, green beans, frozen from my garden, potatoes from the FM, mashed, squash pie-squash bought at a local pumpkin farm, apple pie, apples from my tree, cranberry relish-local cranberries & apples, oranges & candied ginger & sugar from a long way off. Yum.
After living overseas for 15 years, Thanksgiving will be special this year as we will be with family (& I have two little guys 1 1/2 & 5). I helped my mother start a small business last spring baking bread and other fresh goodies for a local farmer's market. We have saved left-over bread and dried it into cubes for croutons & now turkey stuffing! We buy locally, as well, supporting other farmer's market vendors. Also, I will run the 5K Gobble Jog the morning of Thanksgiving -Marietta, GA. Happy Thanksgiving!
Yeah, yeah, turkeys and Thanksgiving are great. But Wet, Hot, American Summer? YES! Toshio, you just climbed several rungs of my ladder.
Yo Biters:
Thanks for sending in your menus; the first 25 of you get a copy of Blessed Unrest, but the rest of you are winners too! Keep on posting - you're sure to give other Biters good ideas they can incorporate into their own Thanksgiving dinners. And Britta: I challenge you to a WHAS quote-off should we ever cross paths.
eating locally involves relationships.
All items are within 25 miles, except for flour, sugar and spices.
wild turkey and venison (my neighbor hunts)
cornbread stuffing (cornmeal from Sciples Mill, operating since 1790)
sweet potato casserole
corn (another neighbor has a large garden)
salad,
peas (from my garden)
rolls (Old Country Bakery)
peach pie (homemade from local Farmer's Market peaches)
you can eat good in the country, and even better when you've got lots of friends!
The turkey comes from my microfarm ( 2.23 acres) I raise about 8 a year. More delicious than you could ever imagine! (Although I do need to buy their organic feed from a neighbor 20 miles away!)
I have chesnut stuffing from chesnuts gathered from mine and my neighbor's backyard vand herbs from my garden.
Butternut squash made with honey from my bees
Spinach, collards, kale, Brussell sprouts, and lettuce from the garden.
Potato leek soup from the garden with raw milk from the neighbor's farm in CT (where it is legal!)
Pumpkin pie from the garden.
I do buy butter, brown sugar, pepper, salt and gluten free bread crumbs but otherwise all comes from a few feet away from the door of my house!!!
We are now living in Belgium where they do nto celebrate Thanksgiving, so since I do not have the day off, our Thanksgiving will be celebrated a day late. Though I try to live locally there are a few non local items on the menu: dinner is
Turkey from farm 't Bolhuis 8.7miles away- the breed used has been raised in Belgium since the 1600s- closest I can get to the Pilgrims from here
Pumpkin Pie- pumpkin from nextdoor neighbor, flour from the local flour mill (12.3 miles)butter, milk, cream from local dairy farm "the plow" 6.1 miles (award winning for its bio products and animal care)
Mashed Potatoes, sweet potatoes roasted carrots (all from local farm 1.2miles)
Green bean casserole - green beans- next door neighbour, mushrooms from the Ardennes (about 120 miles) onions from my back yard
stuffing -froma homemade bread, home grown celery and ingredients already listed above
wine- from nearby vinyard- 13.4 miles
Sugar for desserts, cranberry sauce- from local beet root sugar mill 27 miles away
Non-local buys will be cranberries (from Wisconsin about 5000 miles away, pecans (3800 miles) for the pecan pie so those two ingredients destroy our average, however for us eating locally is not a once a year thing, every week I buy dairy, meat, bread, flour, fruits and veggies from local sources- usually by bike, though less so in the winter. I still have my splurges on cranberries, pecans and the like. Buying locall is not only better for the environment, but it is also better for the wallet - local apples currently cost me 60 eurocents per kilo (about 50 cents US per pound) whereas South African, Australian and New Zeeland granny smiths are currently 4 times the price!And in today's ecpnomy every little bit helps ;-)
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Thank you everybody, this is so inspiring!
The menu is not as easy to control this year as we are having a family reunion with about 30 folks. Luckily we have a big garden and live in northern California.
Turkey from within 150 miles.
Potatoes, celery, within 50 miles.
bread baked here (including bread for stuffing) flour from California within 350 miles.
onions, carrots, winter squash, garlic, green salad stuff, pickles, corn relish, pickled beets, etc. all grown and prepared here.
Yams from the central valley - within 350 miles
pumpkin for pie grown here, walnuts within 100 miles, apples and cider from apples grown here (cider pressed last week). Milk, cream, butter from within 60 miles. Cranberries from Oregon - within 200 miles. Goat cheese from within 60 miles. spices (including salt and pepper), coffee and black tea from far, far away. Ditto sugar, but honey is local. I think that about covers it.
I would have posted yesterday, but we were in town all day. A very Thankful Thanksgiving to all.
PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: Brenda Mellon | November 14, 2007 at 06:03 AM