It almost seems a crime not to eat local in the early fall. There is so much bounty at every turn. Take for instance, this sweet potato:
Yes, that is one single sweet potato. After admiring it for several days, I peeled and boiled it, and mashed it with butter, cream and spices, beat in a few eggs, and poured it into a pie shell for the following masterpiece:
The pecans were an afterthought, because I tried blind-baking the crust only to have the edges slump down over themselves. Storebought pie crusts are awful. I only buy them because the ones I make myself are even worse. I always end up cursing the dough, which is either too sticky or too crumbly. It’s no use giving me advice, either. I swear, I have tried every. single. method out there!
I know it’s trendy, but I really wish I were better and more consistent at preserving local foods in season. I can a little, I freeze a little, but for the most part I just eat what’s available, and we’re coming up on a long stretch when that will be next to nothing. I’ve wanted for several years now to have a winter garden, but that means planting in midsummer, and I never seem to get it together. It makes me just sick to buy produce from halfway around the world — the fossil fuels are the main reason, but the cardboard flavor doesn’t help.
If I think about this sort of thing for too long, it makes me really depressed. I try to remember that I’m doing the best I can with what I have. Last night, what I had was sweet cream, freshly churned butter, and smooth speckled brown eggs from the farm. “Local” spices.* Blackstrap molasses from our Thanksgiving trip to Smithfield, Virginia last year. A daddy-sized sweet potato. And yes, a pie crust made from hydrogenated vegetable oil and refined flour. It was still delicious.
*They were local when I bought them on the island of St. Lucia last summer. I can’t really live without nutmeg and vanilla, so I figured it was better to support the local industries there than McCormick & Co. back home. And have you ever seen nutmeg growing on a tree? It’s unreal!
Tags: cooking, food, green living, hard work
“If I think about this sort of thing for too long, it makes me really depressed. I try to remember that I’m doing the best I can with what I have.”
Remember to resist “our tendency to ridicule the small gesture.” Change occurs through small, responsible acts, like turning a local sweet potato into a work of art.