Why I Couldn’t Be a Vegetarian
Swine will be my downfall. I could probably abandon all animal proteins, with hardly a look back (well, maybe my farewell to a good steak would take an extra moment), except for pig meats. I love pork. I adore bacon. And I believe a good piece of sausage makes any meal extra special. As I was checking out my groceries yesterday I realized that three of this week’s dinners are based around some form of swine. Yep, I could be vegetarian, if it wasn’t for the humble pig.
The Stinky Business of Cheese; Spicy Shrimp
One of our activities last weekend was to visit 3-Corner Field Farm where they raise sheep and make sheep’s milk cheeses. It was a great tour, given by one the daughters of the family that owns the operation. I thought that the cheese-making operation of this tour would be the most impressive part of it, and the cheese cave certainly was amazing and fragrant in a stinky cheese way. However, I was more impressed by the work required to tend the livestock.
The farm has over 100 sheep that need to be milked twice each day when they’re lactating. At each milking they would need to be rounded up from the fields by the energetic and effective collie dogs, brought into the milking station, and led back out to the fields when they were done. The males were kept in their own bachelor corral with their own dedicated sheepdog to keep watch over them. And the babies that you see in this picture were kept in their own space and led out to the pasture and back throughout the day. Of course they also need to be fed, the barns and milking station need to be cleaned, and the dogs need to be tended as well.
Not only do you need to be organized to run a sheep farm, you needed to be able to tolerate a pervasive stench of animals, hay, fecal matter, and compost. My appreciation for what goes into making the delicious, farmstead cheese we enjoy with a good glass of wine has grown to a level more appropriate to the effort required. If only we took the time to really appreciate what goes into the food we eat we’d probably be a lot less wasteful.
Good to Eat: Spicy Shrimp
I was taken out for an early birthday dinner by mom and dad the other day. I ordered this spicy stir fry shrimp dish that was served over Mexican rice. The sauce was spicy and piquant and the vegetables were cooked to the perfect degree of tender but not mushy. The jicama cubes added a little extra crunch. Thanks Mom and Dad!
Entertained; Mainstreaming of the Locavore Movement
Over the weekend we made the 6 hour long journey to visit Joe’s sister and her husband’s farm/home in upstate New York. And were we ever well fed once we arrived there. They live the life of the locavore, growing as many of their own vegetables as possible and buying cheese, meats and produce from other local farmers. They don’t farm for commercial purposes, rather, it’s done out of a love for good food. So all weekend long we were entertained and treated to lovely meals made with as many local ingredients as possible. These delectable kebabs were the main course on our first night. They were accompanied by a delicious salad and a side dish of sugar snap peas and zucchini that were dressed with a garden pesto. Thus proving that healthy and tasty aren’t mutually exclusive concepts.
The Locavore Movement Marches Onward…
I stopped in a conventional supermarket today to pick up just a few necessities and was greeted by this mock farmer’s market as soon as I walked through the electric doors. Each of the items for sale in this display of produce came with a sign indicating the farm that grew it. If a large supermarket is putting in the effort to set up a fake local farmstand, they must either be feeling pressure from consumers, or competition from the real farmstands. I picked up a few fragrant peaches. As Annie would say, 5 Stars for local products!