Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Day 090 LocalrootZ Project (March 31,2010)

Breakfast
Fuji Apple

Lunch
Plain Smiling Hill Farm Yogurt
w/ Honey

Dinner
Leftover Pasta
w/ Spinach & Tomatoes






Rainy Day Part Three... Today I added some of that wonderful winter spinach to the mix as well as a slightly "un"Maine ingredient... but as a conscious consumer and a produce manager by day, I was curious how good those Vermonters were at growing tomatoes.  Seeing Longwind Farm is at a very similar latitude to Portland, I had to add them to my leftover pasta because it would be "research" and a big surprise for Cassi, who has craved some tomato slices alot !  I purchased a handful of Vermont Organics Longwind tomatoes.  With Olivia's Garden on stand by... getting ready to ramp up their operation for a plentiful spring and backyard beauties keeping what they do and dont do to control pests a secret from an inquiring produce manager, we had no choice but to lean a little west !  Anyhow I would highly endorse the Longwind farm tomatoes.. and when Olivia's Garden has a gap I would highly recommend bypassing the madison monsters from backyard beauties and pick up a Vermato from Longwind. If you can't find them ask... and keep asking !
Transportation Today
Work Commute : 15 miles bicycle

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Day 089 LocalrootZ Project (March 30,2010)

Breakfast
Braeburn Apple

Lunch
Smiling Hill Farm Yogurt
w/ Honey

Dinner
Leftover Pasta
w/ Tomato Sauce & Shredded Mozzarella
Aroostook Garlic Bread
Glass of Coastal Red




Rainy Day Part Two... Leftovers with the addition of jarred tomato sauce and some swallowtail mozzarella to spruce up the dish !

Transportation Today
Work Commute : 15 miles bicycle

Monday, March 29, 2010

Day 088 LocalrootZ Project (March 29,2010)

Breakfast
Gala Apple

Lunch
Plain Smiling Hill Yogurt
w/ honey

Dinner
Basil Alfredo Sauce
over
Whole Wheat Pasta
w/ Shrimp
Aroostook Wheat Garlic Bread
Glass of Coastal Red


 


Monday wet windy... Im not gonna let it get me down ! A grueling bicycle ride to say the least...nasty wind gusts as well as three inches of rain falling on the peninsula in the last 24 hours or so... that coupled with days packed full of to do's... I decided to make this evening a night of cooking with Cassi.  In fact it would be a pasta marathon kinda night with a clean kitchen to dust in flour for a couple hours and the evening to share with Cassi who would be working every night this rest of the week.  The pasta once again was a pretty lengthy and demanding meal but the 2 hour preparation was going to make the next few nights dinners an easy task.  With the fettucine noodles completed, I sauteed the shrimp with garlic and butter... combined cream and Echo Ridge Romano cheese with a cup of homemade pesto for the basil alfredo sauce... It all came together for a wonderful warm belly filling dinner that ought to get us through some rainy days ahead....

Transportation Today
Work Commute : 15 miles bicycle

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Day 087 LocalrootZ Project (March 28,2010)

Breakfast
Plain Swallowtail Yogurt
w/ honey

Lunch
Sunny Side Up Duck Eggs
w/ Yukon Gold Potatoes
and sauerkraut
Slice of Levain


Dinner
Hahns End Camembert Cheese Plate 
w/ Honey
Toasted Aroostook Wheat
Allagash Interlude


Transportation Today
Errands: 4 miles walking

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Day 086 LocalrootZ Project (March 27, 2010)

Another Saturday morning that had me up early and walking down to Rufus Deering for a haul for wood that I need for constructing a cold frame on our rooftop deck.  More on that later... after that I was off once again to the Winter Farmers Market, letting Cassi sleep in as she is still battling a lil bit of the fluThis is what i grabbed...
Butter & Milk from Caldwell Farm
Yogurt, Duck Eggs &a levain from Swallowtail Farm
Scallops from Port Clyde Fresh Catch


Breakfast
Plain Smith Farm Yogurt
w/ honey

Lunch/Dinner
2 Eggs Sunny Up
w/ Yukon Taters
and Kraut


Transportation Today
Errands : 6 miles walking

Friday, March 26, 2010

Day 085 LocalrootZ Project (March 26, 2010)

Breakfast
Braeburn Apple

Lunch
Plain Smith Farm Yogurt 
w/ honey

Dinner
Grilled Aroostook Wheat Cheese
w/ Wilted Beet Greens

the end of a long week... I was excited to get some baby beet greens from Sparrow Farm today and took advantage of their easy preperartion for a quick dinner before Cassi had to head out to work. I simply washed, then tossed the beet greens with cider vinegar before chopping and warming them them on a hot skillet for a couple minutes.

Transportation Today
Work Commute : 15 miles Bicycle
Errands : 3 miles Walking

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Day 084 LocalrootZ Project (March 25, 2010)

Breakfast
Cooked Oats & Honey

Lunch
Smith Farm Plain Yogurt
w/ Honey
Dinner
Assorted Raw Oyster
(Malpeque, Winterpoint, Bluepoint)
Tofu & Greens
Glass of Mead



Transportation Today
Work Commute : 15 miles Bicycle
Errands : 3 miles Walking

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Day 083 LocalrootZ Project (March 24, 2010)

Breakfast
Slice of Spelt Toast
w/ Honey Butter

Lunch
Smith Farm Plain Yogurt
w/ Honey

Dinner
Pan Seared Scallops
over Bed of Arugula
Drizzled with Cheese Sauce
w/ Garlic Spelt Bread





Dessert
Honey Baked Apples & Oats
w/ Maple Ice Cream


Transportation Today
Work Commute : 15 miles Bicycle
Errands : 3 miles Walking

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Day 082 LocalrootZ Project (March 23, 2010)

Breakfast
Gala Apples

Lunch
Smith Farm Plain Yogurt
w/ Honey

Dinner
Pan Fried Cod
w/ Mashed Yukons & Golden Turnips



With Cassi having to work, dinner had to be quick.  I pedaled by the fish market on the way home and grabbed a nice hunk of freshly filleted cod... it was being processed as I walked in... I fried it in a pan of swallowtail butter and coated it in egg and freshly ground cornmeal... milled and gifted to us from Lois & Dan.  Paired with some honey roasted carrots and mashed turnips and potatoes.  

Transportation Today
Work Commute : 18 miles Bicycle 
Errands : 3 miles Walking

Monday, March 22, 2010

Day 081 LocalrootZ Project (March 22, 2010)

Breakfast
2 Eggs Sunny Side-Up
over Spelt Bread
w/ Saurkraut


Lunch
Smith's Farm Plain Yogurt
w/ honey

Dinner
Wild Mushroom & Tempeh Salad

Dessert
Truffles
(mmm handmade & brought by our friend)

Garlic & Wakame Seaweed with Sunflower Oil
The mushroom stock reducing to a sauce...
the finished dish


Monday has come once again and our new "Monday Friend Dinner" is in its second week.  This week we invited our painter friend Tanja.   She provided wonderful company and even brought some home made truffles for a special treat.  It was a bit challenging to come up with a meal based on the fact that she is vegan as well as having an allergy to gluten... no wheat or dairy !  Oh no... Mushrooms are always the best answer for an alternative.  The dinner was good, not great... I should have gone heavier on the mushrooms and less on the tempeh.  But its a learning curve and all in all it was a satisfying meal, just not the take yur breateh away kind of meal i always strive to prepare !

Transportation Today
Work Commute : 18 miles Bicycle

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Day 080 LocalrootZ Project (March 21, 2010)

 Breakfast/Lunch
Blueberry Pancakes
w/ Maple Syrup


 

Dinner
Assorted Cheeses
(Honey Havarti, Tourmaline Spread, Eleanor Caraway)
w/ toasted pita

Today was another wonderfully productive morning that started with me hooking up the bike trailer and heading out for the local hardware store with a detour over to the community garden plot.  Upon arriving at the plot I ripped up the weed clumps and gathered the excess straw that I had spread over the bed... as I inspected the compost pile wondering with "what" should I enrich the soil with this growing season... I drifted with thoughts about what I need to do to inspire this years garden... everyone else has wood planks walling off their beds... I looked at the hill behind the plots and in the mass of plastic shopping bags, disposed furniture and christmas trees of the past... I noticed quite an array of lonely stones that yearned for the company of  other isolated stones... I started piling them over by my plot and created a nice pile surrounding the bed and it fit me perfectly... since I was a teen I have always been intrigued by the random stone walls... overgrown with brush, hidden in the middle of the forest that winds along the Merrimac River where I grew up... what was the story behind this wall, whose boundary was this marking, what happended to the homesteaders that worked this land years before... 

More on the garden as it progresses....


Saturday, March 20, 2010

Day 079 LocalrootZ Project (March 20, 2010)

Breakfast
Swallowtail Plain Yogurt
w/ Honey

I started the morning up early as usual...with a hunger in my stomach and hours till Cassi would rise for our traditional walk to the farmers market and after we would eat brunch.  I scooped a cup of Swallowtails plain and creamy yogurt and then folded in a tbs of honey.  This combination never gets old... I mean as you see I eat it almost everyday.  You begin tasting the nuances of one farm from teh next... when the animals are pastured heavier and clover is sprouting in the pasture  the flavor changes.  So far I think my top three yogurts would be Swallowtail Farm, Townhouse Farms Ewegurt and Smiths Farm.  The cream on the top rich jersey cow flavor gets me everytime !
Anyhow like clockwork Cassi rolled out of bed and off we went to the Winter Farmers Market...
this is what we snagged this week !
Swallowtail Farm
1/2 # Butter
Loaf of Spelt Bread
(spelt grown at Webb Farm)

Goransen's Farm
Red & Yellow Onions
QT Maple Syrup

Buckwheat Farm
Bunch of Leeks
Dozen Pastured Eggs

Fishbowl Farm
Winter Spinach

Port Clyde Fisherman's Co-Op
Lobster Tails
1# Maine Shrimp

with a bag full of great food and a beautiful day we were off on foot, back to our west end hideaway.  Upon returning we assessed our stock of food and Cassi suggested something with the lobster tails and hollandaise sauce for brunch... OK that was easy to talk me into ! I was off into the kitchen....

Brunch
Wild Mushroom & Lobster Tail
Eggs Benedict
over Swallowtail Spelt

here's what the ingredients looked like at the start....
 here's those ingredients put together....


 

 

After brunch we spent sometime picking up the rooftop garden and seeding a couple little boxes of spinach and arugula.... 




 

 

 

and then I got some of the pellets and soaked em in water in preparation for some germination...


Transportation Today
Errands : 7 miles walking

Friday, March 19, 2010

Day 078 LocalrootZ Project (March 19, 2010)

Breakfast
Fuji & Braeburn Apple

Lunch
Plain Swallowtail Yogurt
w/ raw honey
Dinner
Cider Bay Scallop Salad
Hard Shell Lobster
Cheese Plate
Glass of Mead






 Happy Friday ! This week was a busy one and I am very glad to have the blog completely updated and back in order.... sometimes a couple days can fly by without the computer time being spent.  Anyhow the weather was beautiful once again reaching into the mid 50's on my commute back into Portland after work.  With so many leftovers on the menu this week I had a few extra dollars hanging around in my pocket so I decided to make a little special dinner for such a arduous week.   The lobsters have been a bit on the pricey side for the last few months of the winter.... and it seems the price is still holding firm @ 5.99/# for hard shell chix.  I picked up a couple one pounders and supplemented the dish with a half pound of fresh bay scallops.  Once home and greeted by my loving girlfriend... I got the lobster pot going and proceed to concoct a dish with the scallops.  First I sauteed some stuttgarter onions and german hardy garlic... (garlic supply running low, scapes coming just around the corner though !)... to that I added the rest of the winter spinach we had left... probably about 3-4 cups... add a splash of fermented cider and a tbs of honey butter.  I then tossed the scallops with a spoonful of cider syrup and added that to the mix... searing on high heat for 2-3 minutes.  On the side I sliced a little bit of Hahn's End Eleanor Carraway and Swallowtail Honey Havarti cheeses.  A perfect meal to end my work week, Cassi on the other hand is just getting underway !

On the garden front I got my Fedco seed order in last week and am patiently awaiting their arrival.  Ill give the varieties when they arrive... Im also currently gathering supplies to build a cold frame on our rooftop deck and finally got a couple types of spinach (space, bloomsdale) as well as a small container of arugula seeded.  Tomorrow I will be making the trip down to the garden plot and tilling up the soil for the spring planting!

Transportation Today
Work Commute : 15 miles Bicycle

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Day 077 LocalrootZ Project (March 18, 2010)

Breakfast
Braeburn Apple
Glass of Cider

Lunch
Plain Swallowtail Yogurt
w/ raw honey

Dinner
Tempeh Cider Salad



Another one of those quick and easy, super healthy meals.  The salad consisted of cooked, and sprouted wheat berries, tempeh, garlic, red cabbage, winter spinach, cider, cider vinegar, honey and hot sauce.  Delicious !

Transportation Today
Work Commute : 15 miles Bicycle
Errands : 3 miles Walking

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Day 076 LocalrootZ Project (March 17, 2010)

St. Patrick's Day

Breakfast
Cooked Rolled Oats 
w/ raw honey

Lunch
Chantenay Carrots
w/ Lavender Cheese

Dinner
Leftovers
Baked Haddock & Wild Mushroom Seafood Stuffing
w/ Boiled Cabbage, Carrots & Potatoes

Dessert
Allagash Curieux



Finally at the end of our leftovers and it actually went perfect with the traditional boiled Irish dinner.  I put a ton of miles on the bicycle today with temperatures reaching into the 60's.   I had a quick meeting after work about a mural project I may be doing in the near future.  That coupled with a few errands added to the return commute home, made for the first sore biking legs of the warm weather season... soon there will be many more !  Luckily I had gotten a few barrel beers gifted to me at the brewery to celebrate the evening in a true St. Paddy's Day style !

Transportation Today
Work Commute : 35 miles Bicycle
Errands : 3 miles Walking
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