No Grocery Store Challenge, Year in Review January 1, 2011

It all started with Food, Inc., a movie I had avoided for a long time, in fear of what I would see, and a hasty Twitter proclamation.  Now, I have come to the end of the self imposed No Grocery Store for a Year Challenge, and I’ve learned a lot.

I had been shopping at farmer’s markets for years, starting at those probably not organic farm stands along the side of the road in Luling or Lockhart – somewhere between my trips to Corpus to see my parents, years ago.  I found them quaint, and loved the idea of supporting local farmers.  And, I had been growing food for years as well, although on a much smaller scale.  I had already really cut back on fast food, but still was a frequent purchaser of ready made salads, dinners, and the International Food Bar at Whole Foods.  I cooked a lot, but if I could get something ready made and heat it up, I was all over it.  I had given up sodas a year ago, but was a big consumer of bottled water.

So, when I decided a year ago, that I wanted to see if I could live season to season, without the convenience of a year round variety of food, shipped in from afar and more importantly,  commercially raised, feed-lot food animals, I really had little idea what I might miss.  I did no preparation for this challenge, I did not stock up on grocery store food.  I cleared out all of the meat from my freezer and took it to my parents’ house, and started from scratch.  I didn’t clear out the fridge entirely, I just vowed not to eat the condiments I couldn’t bear to throw away.  I vowed to try to be a better cook, and a better gardener.

The things I knew I would be without, were avocados, sugar, butter, flour, cornmeal, beans, tortillas, popcorn, cooking oil, parmesan cheese and spices.  I was mostly worried about the popcorn, beans, tortillas  and avocados, and less concerned about the baking.  One thing I was not prepared for, was no milk or cream for my coffee.  That was soon rectified by a trip to Boggy Creek Farm, where I found Wateroak Farms goat milk.  I had never had goat milk before, and found it tasted no different than cow’s milk.  It does not taste like chevre.

So for the first couple months, I ate lots of Kocurek Charcuterie, Richardson Farms beef, and the vegetables that were in season, mostly lettuce from my garden.  And in the beginning, I hoarded food, feeling like the days between the two Farmer’s Markets I went to, were long.  Saturday to Wednesday, seemed like such a long time to go without shopping, and I was afraid either that I would run out, or just not want what I had.  I still hoard farmer’s market goodies, because my favorite local artisans might not make something I want again.

In an effort to have seasonal foods year round, I preserved fruits that were in season by freezing them, so I had tangerine juice when I wanted it, strawberries when I wanted them and peaches.  I processed lots of tomatoes and made sauces and purees for freezing.

Fresh tomato sauce

I pickled lemon cucumbers from my garden.

Pickled Lemon Cucumbers

I preserved lemons from my tree.

Meyer Lemons

Preserved Lemons

Early in the year, Richardson Farms started selling Whole Wheat Flour.  With some gifted yeast, I made some lovely looking 100% Whole Wheat Bread.

Whole Wheat Bread

It made an interesting BLT when it came out of the oven, but once it cooled off, it took on more of a brick like density.  And it weighed a lot.

Around September, the Richardsons started milling their own corn and selling the meal.  I went home from the Saturday market and immediately made cornbread.

Cornbread

I learned quickly that this was not much like the cornmeal you get in the store.  The batter was so much dryer, I had to adapt the recipe as I went, by adding lots more milk.  It was pretty good, but still denser than it should have been.

I made lots of stock.  Actually, I became a bit of a stockaholic.

Lots of stock

I made cheese and butter.

Homemade Mozzarella

Homemade Butter

And I made rather massive quantities of garden basil pesto, which was made possible by the Antonelli’s Cheese Shop, which came onto the scene in February, and found some local parmesan from Brazos Valley Cheese Company.

Garden Basil Pesto

John and Kendall fall into two important categories of my year long challenge.  1) All the  new food that came on the scene in 2010 and 2) Help I had from friends.

Catagory No. 1) Looking back on the food that was available from Farmer’s Markets early in the year, and the emergence of so much new locally made and sourced food now, the change is amazing.  Kocurek Family Artisinal Charcuterie was still new to the farmer’s market scene, having launch in October of 2009.  Since then, Antonelli’s Cheese Shop opened, and introduced me to Brazos Valley Cheese, Sand Creek Farm Cheese, Veldhuizen Cheese, Blue Heron Farms Cajeta and they also provided a variety of Pure Luck Farms cheeses which I couldn’t get other than from the dairy directly or a grocery store.

Also new to the food scene, Salt and Time, which launched a line of cured meats, and pickled vegetables, and has now evolved into cooking hot food at HOPE Farmer’s Market.    Another new revelation this year, Barrie Cullinan, whose bread is available at Antonelli’s Cheese Shop as well as Boggy Creek Farm.  Barrie was just named one of the top 10 bakers in the country by Bon Appetite Magazine.

At some point, Dai Due Butcher Shop expanded into selling hot food at the SFC Farmer’s Market downtown, a privilege which was then taken away by the City/County powers that be, then thankfully returned.

Confituras, the local preserve company that is taking Austin by storm, launched just 4 months ago.  Stephanie is going like gangbusters, making some of the tastiest and local preserves I’ve ever had.

And last but certainly not least,  Bola Pizza has since launched at the SFC Farmer’s Market downtown, bringing the amazing wood fired pizza I’ve been privileged to get to have throughout the year, to the masses.

Con Olio, a newish store launched in the Arborteum just over a year ago, and Savory Spice Shop on Sixth Street is another new local food store which made my challenge easier.

The number of vendors at the SFC Farmer’s Market downtown has easily doubled throughout the year, and the variety of food has expanded exponentially.  More farmer’s markets have popped up, some came and went.  The volume of food has increased as well, which speaks to the demand for locally grown food.

Category No. 2)  Help from Friends.  The Antonelli’s opened their shop in February, having met me in October at a launch party for the Kocureks.  I met them again at Pure Luck Farm for a Farm Tour, and we became friends.  They knew of my no local parmesan dilemma, and upon opening day, pronounced that they had procured some local parmesan for me.  I was amazed that they would think of me, in the midst of their changing careers and opening the cheese shop.  Likewise, my friend Kristi shared an avocado with me, from her local CSA Box, and brought black and pinto beans, and popcorn back from her travels and visits to other farmer’s markets.  Kristi also was the provider of the yeast I used this year.  Christian was the source for Topo Chico, and set-ups for some of the parties I had this year, and I believe he fronted me an avocado as well.   My friend Adam, took it upon himself to find me local flour, and enlisted his friend Vance Ely, to help.  They found and procured some flour from Waco, which lightened up my baking quite a bit.  (Vance is a chef for Central Market Cooking School, an irony that is not lost on me.)  Several readers of this blog offered advice on baking with 100% whole wheat flour, even testing recipes for me.  So, I have had lots of help along the way throughout the last year.

As far as becoming a better gardener, I think I grew a wider variety of foods than ever before, and also became a better garden planner, thus making my garden more productive.    I grew lemon cucumbers, royal burgundy beans, my first and second ever watermelon.

First Watermelon!

I had potato grow bag failures, but later had tater success in the garden.

potatoes

And, to my excitement, I grew corn!

Corn!

I became a better gardener, and a better composter as well.

An unintended consequence of this challenge was the amazing drop in the amount of trash I generated.  My food did not come in packages, no boxes, no cartons, just returnable egg crates and shrink wrap.  I cut the amount of trash I generated to at least one fifth, perhaps lots more.

It was a fun year.  I could recap all the shennagins I got into, but then we’d be here on this one post forever, and I’m sure you have other things to do but read.  To recap, we had an all local paella party, a whole pig roast, a blogger potluck baby shower, a Tamalada, and I went to Farm Camp.  The entire month of September was declared “Birthday Month” and much fun ensued.

Throughout this year, I became a better cook, a better gardener, and a better citizen of the Earth, I think.  I made a lot of really good friends, ate some amazing local food, and had a great year all around.  And it’s all on here somewhere.  As it will continue to be.  I’m going nowhere, and have no plans to return to my grocery store  shopping ways.  I have a greater connection to my food now, and the folks that grow it, raise it, and care for it, and I think that is amazing.

The most wonderful thing that happened this year, is that I got to see several good friends, launch into their dream jobs, and I’ve enjoyed seeing them succeed more than I can say.

Happy New Year!

No Grocery Store Challenge, 4 Days Left December 29, 2010

In case you didn’t see the article in the Statesman today, here you go.

http://bit.ly/g2VMcZ

The response to the offer of farmer’s market tours has been more than I can keep up with, the day before my father’s surgery.  I’ll catch up, and its a good thing that more folks are interested in eating locally grown food, and hopefully are getting more interested in where food comes from.

So, yesterday, I invited my dear friends Christian and Jamie over for dinner, and offered up the contents in my freezer.  When they accepted, I pulled out some Thunderheart Bison tenderloin filets, a Richardson Farms ribeye, and some Kocurek Family Charcuterie drunken chicken sausage.  I thought we could cook enough food so that the leftovers would get me through the first couple of days following my dad’s hip surgery.

They arrived with my favorite Goddog, Leo and a big blue bin full of stuff.  I didn’t know what they were up to, I thought we would get stuff from the gardens and use what I had.  They had other plans, mainly, to cook dinner for me and let me relax, the kindness of which left me overwhelmingly thankful.  Jamie and Leo and I mostly hung out in front of the fireplace, while Christian cooked an amazing meal.  And we snacked on a Full Quiver Cheese Ball.  Nothing says party, like a nut covered ball of cheese!

 

Ball O Cheese

He brought leeks, which became a delicious leek, toasted bread, with egg and cream dish that was delicious.

 

 

Delicious Leek Dish

 

I’ll be planting leeks very soon, if I can get some ordered.  I believe Dixondale Farms has them.  He roasted the potatoes and dressed them with a sofrito he had made at home, and some CKC Farms Herbed Cheddar.  He seared the bison and ribeye in the cast iron skillet, and finished them in the oven.

 

Delicious dinner

 

The dinner was amazing, and I remain slightly overwhelmed at the kindness.  Friends are awesome.

I’m in the process of completing a “Year in Review” post of the No Grocery Store Challenge, but might be delayed for a few days by my dad’s surgery.  I’ll try to get it up soon, and still have 3 days left.  And, just so you know, after the year is over, nothing is really going to change, but the title of my blog posts.  No Grocery Store Challenge is a lot to type out every day.  I have no real plans to return to the grocery store.  Why would I?

No Grocery Store Day 303, New Farmer’s Market Finds! October 31, 2010

Day 303 began with a garden omlette with peppers and the last of my onions, and a fistful of herbs.  After getting most of what was on my list at the SFC Farmer’s Market downtown, Smith and Smith Farms Chicken, Kocurek Bacon, Dai Due smoked pork chop and Wild Boar Chorizo (not on my list), I went to visit my friends at the Barton Creek Market.  From there, I got cheddar and pepper jack cheeses from Full Quiver and heard another customer ask for cottage cheese.  I had no idea!  I am now the proud owner of cottage cheese and it is very good.  I went down to see if Richardson Farms had another brisket, my last one was hijacked (long story), and ended up getting hamburger, beef cutlets, flank steak, popcorn and white cornmeal.  Listening to Lee Ann Kocurek describe the Duck Bacon and Chorizo Verde, enticed me to add those to my purchases.  Then I bought a bag of onions and a bag of lettuce.  Then Kelly Jo’s Cilantro Sauce.  I goal of eating what was in my freezer had been going so well until this day!  The freezer is stuffed again.  But it might snow and I might get trapped inside for weeks, so a girl has got to do… Oh never mind.  I’m a hoarder.  At least I hoard good food instead of cats.

For lunch I made a salad with market lettuce, grated Full Quiver Cheddar, and part of a market tomato with Kelly Jo’s Creamy Cilantro.

Last night I attended a Halloween Party.   I was going to dress as a chef, since I was gifted a chef coat last year and already have Crocs, which many chefs wear.  But that would have required a trip to the restaurant supply, and I was short of time.   While at Breed and Company on Friday, I fell in love with this fabulous hat.

 

Cool Witch Hat

And it was on sale, so with an all black dress and boots, black nail polish, this hat and a creepy raven on my shoulder, I was dressed for Halloween.  Way under dressed, compared to everyone else at the party, most of whom had very elaborate costumes.  The food for the party was an array of fajita makings, 7 layer dip, queso, chips, tortillas and lots of sweets.  I stuck to my no carb plan and had some chicken, brisket, marinated pork, pico de gallo, and a little of the 7 layer dip.  I was tempted by the chips, but refrained, so I did pretty well.    It was a fun party!

 

Bola Pizza Now Open for Catering October 6, 2010

I’ve been watching this new business, the brainchild of my friends Christian and Jamie , evolve over the last year, and now after much hard work, Bola Pizza is open for catering business. http://www.bolapizza.com

I have been eating this pizza for a year now, and have looked forward to monthly pizza nights with great anticipation.  Christian has spent the last three years perfecting his crust, his toppings, and his cooking temperature and times, and with the addition of the new (gorgeously tiled) wood burning mobile oven, has elevated this pizza beyond anything you likely have had before.

Using as many local ingredients as possible from Kocurek Family Artisinal Charcuterie, Salt and Time, Antonelli’s Cheese, and his own garden (and sometimes mine), Christian has brought truly gourmet pizza to Austin.  And it is delicious.

So, if you have a party or event coming up and want to blow your guests away with amazingly tasty wood fired pizza, give Bola Pizza a try!

No Grocery Store, Day 257 – Virgo Pizza Party! September 14, 2010

Genius, Superstar and Sister Virgo Jodi conceived of a Virgo Food Lover’s party, which evolved into a Bola Pizza Party at the lovely home of Christian and Jamie. Virgos are special, you see.  Maybe more special than any of the other birth signs.  Once the stars align just right, special things happen.  And we were all together to celebrate our special fabulousness.  Plus 1′s were invited, but I fear they felt inferior to our Virgo specialness.  Our bad.

While the pizza was being prepared, we dined on Burrata, and CKC Chevre from Antonelli’s Cheese Shop with Confituras tomato jam.  Yum.

Burrata, CKC Chevre and Confituras Tomato Jam

Then Christian started firing pizzas in the oven he had pre-heated the night before to 1000 degrees!  Crazy.

Pizza in the hot oven

The same pizza, about 7 minutes later:

First pizza out, wow!

The reason this pizza has ruined me for all other pizza, is that the crust is really flavorful, fermented for 3 days, and the gluten is allowed to really develop; the ingredients are the highest quality, local ingredients; and the thoughtful combination of flavors are beyond great.  This isn’t cardboard crust, loaded with generic tomato sauce and loads of cheese and fake meat pepperoni.  This is good food.

Uhm. Yep, that's a rockin pizza

The new Mushroom Pizza

Jodi brought a peanut butter and chocolate cake from Suger Mama’s Bakeshop, that simply said Happy Birthday Virgos.  We sang Happy Birthday to ourselves, congratulated each other on our individual and collective wonderfulness, and ate more.  It rocked.

Virgo Cake

Then Christian made one more pizza:  The new mushroom pizza.  It was perfect:

Gorgeous Mushroom Pizza

Speaking of rocking, uber Virgo Christian, had compiled a playlist of all Virgo artists.  No, I’m not making that up.  It turns out, some of the coolest artists are Virgos: Michael Jackson, Pink, Gloria Estefan, Otis Redding, Beck, Elvis Costello, Amy Wino, and many more.  The dude from KISS.  Anyway, it was a super fun evening, hanging out with like signed folks.  Two common bonds, love of great food, and Virgo.  We rock!

No Grocery Store, Day 245 September 3, 2010

For breakfast, I had 1 slice of Kocurek bacon, and a scrambled egg, doused with Taco Deli dona sauce from the farmer’s market. Nothing beats starting off the day with mind numbing heat, no?
For lunch, I made egg salad with local eggs, and house made pickles.
I was invited to attend an event at The Belmont, to introduce their new chef who has changed up the menu to use more locally sourced food. There were drinks (mine was cucumber something) and passed around appetizers, which were all good. I have always enjoyed The Belmont- the decor feels like Frank Sinatra might be in the next room. The swanky decor, the palm trees and the big band music. I’m looking forward to having a locally sourced meal there soon. We were sitting outside enjoying the lightening show to the West and watching it move closer. It began to rain and we stayed outside as everyone else went in to take cover. We decided to leave when it really started coming down, and found ourselves driving in a gully washer, so we ducked into Cafe Josie to ride out the weather. It was wonderful sitting in the side of the restaurant with a metal roof and listening to the rain. We split the special, grilled tuna and the meatloaf.

No Grocery Store, Day 216 – Time for a Change August 5, 2010

Things have gotten way out of hand.  In the last oh, 10 days or so, I’ve been to three, yikes no FOUR 5-6 course dinners.  All fabulous mind you, and 3 of them were all locally sourced, sustainable good food.  But, its time for a break to step back to the reality of normal eating.  That didn’t happen yesterday.  I skipped breakfast, then being ruled by the forces of food evil and no common sense at all, took mom to Curra’s for lunch.  We had chile con queso and split the tacos carnitas.  I drove home, stuffed again, head hung in shame and took a nap.

I intended to skip dinner, but got hungry late and scrambled 2 Boggy Creek Farms eggs.  I must say, the eggs were delicious.

Eating out is only half of my problem.  I seem to be a serial Farmer’s Market Shopper.  When I get the Kocurek Family email and the Dai Due email every week, I salivate of the offerings and start making a list of what I want, just in case they never have that item again.  Their menus change, and I don’t want to be deprived of duck bacon, tasso ham, or whatever my whim of the week.

My indoor and outdoor freezers are packed solid and there is no room for any more.  (some of it fruit and juice, pesto and tomato sauce that I made for winter, but lots of it is bacon, steaks, sausages etc.)

So, the new plan is:

1)  Diet!  I need to get back to a sensible way of eating.

2)  Plan ahead.  This one is hard, because when I get the text message saying “We are making pizza, come over!”, there is no second thought.  “I’m on my way!”

3)  Eat what I have, before buying more.  This one will be hard too, because I have somewhat of a hoarding mentality still, since I can’t just run to the store to pick up chicken tenders and lettuce for a skinny salad.

I’m not saying I won’t eat out at all, we still do family dinners on Friday and I have to get my mom who doesn’t drive out of the house, several days a week, but I’m planning to choose better from now on.

Kocurek Family Artisinal Charcuterie, Summer Supper Club July 16, 2010

The Kocurek Family Charcuterie Summer Club event is coming up on July 22, 2010 and there are a few seats still available.  This is an opportunity for folks to taste a variety of what the Kocureks have available at the Farmer’s Markets, in a wonderful Craftsman style home, the Swoop House which is next to the commercial kitchen they prepare their charcuterie in East Austin.  All of their charcuterie is prepared using local meat and produce, organic and hormone free.  There will be passed hors d’oeuvres and a special cocktail prepared by the Tipsey Texan, followed by a four course plated dinner.  The dinner is BYOB, and is $75.00 gratuity included.  I can’t wait!

Reserve your seats by phone 291-4461 or by emailing kocurekfamilycharcuterie@yahoo.com