I gathered together with some good friends and good food yesterday to once again celebrate a local Thanksigiving. Yum! Just like last year, the food was collected primarily from the nearby farmer's market. And the rest from local businesses.
I recently heard that approximately 70% of the money spent at a local business will stay within the community. The same amount of money spent at a chain store will only keep about 45% of the money in the community. I'd much rather spread my money to my neighbors than someone I've never met before.
In keeping with that theme, we had stuffing with bison sausage from the Union Square farmer's market and bread made from the corner bakery.
Brussel sprouts were in attendance.
The cranberry sauce made a reappearance from last year.
A few local birds. Hi there.
Some wine from around NY. Kudos to Stacy who found a bottle of Brooklyn honey fermented wine. You can't get much more local that that! It's possible a bottle of French wine slipped it's way in there. Ah well, we're only human locavores.
And for the grand finale some sweet potato custard with whipped cream from Ronnybrook farms and baked apples with maple syrup and butter.
Good, fresh, local deliciousness! If we're lucky, my nice neighbor lady Rachel, might post a few recipes over on her blog. Although, like me, she doesn't follow recipes well. It's more of a "handful of this" and "big chunk of that". I like my creative freedom when cooking. Which is probably why I don't bake much. You have to get the baking soda/flour combo right.
While the food was local and everyone in attendance currently lives in New York City, we grew up all over. We had Spain, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Boston, and Long Island represented. And while not everyone was a hardcore locavore, it was a celebration of local food. I even overheard Adam say "I never realized how far my food comes from. This got me looking at labels in the grocery store in a way I never have before." That, is exactly the point.
Good food, good friends, good times. Yum!
And, perhaps most importantly, we learned that the giraffe has the highest blood pressure of all!
ReplyDeleteAnd there was butternut squash soup and mashed potatoes too :P
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