White Cow Dairy - revisited

This blog had a post awhile back about WCD. I have always admired the adorable glass jars but could never bring myself to spend $3 on 5.5 oz of yogurt. However, after reading Eating Animals and re-affirming my commitment to foods that are friendly to animals AND having a job that would pay for my meals, I decided to give it a try.

Oh. My. Goodness. This yogurt is incredible. It is definitely worth it when you think of the price of dessert in a restaurant or a drink at a bar...and I would always pick the yogurt given the choice. It is so good. I've tried tons of flavors and it seems that the base taste is pretty consistent and whatever the flavor is just adds to that already delicious taste. This is not true for the orange flavor, which really does over-power the super-yummy yogurt.

These are the flavors I have tried -
- rhubarb
- apple pie
- gingerberry
- maple
- chocolate malt
- cherry
- orange
- butternut

I've had each one once because I just thought it would be fun to keep trying different ones. There are more to try...but I don't know if I'll try to the lemon or the citrus...they would be delicious no doubt but it's not worth missing out on the main yogurt/sweetner flavor.

A little birdy told me the yogurts are cheaper at the Farmers Markets, so you better believe I'll be lining up for them.

Long time, No local

Well, that's not entirely true. Still local, but not really blogging.

I think this blog has been unofficially handed over to me and I just wanted to let the universe know that I am going to take charge and keep posting.

I used to think I was an unlikely contributor because I was a little too local...that is I almost never left the house.

Well, this year hubs and I have turned over a new leaf. I'm out of school and I have a job so we're going to restaurants, buying higher quality (more expensive) food and so I'll have much more on which to report!

Stay tuned, gentle readers!

Juniper - a new restaurant

Juniper opened about a month ago. Right away, Whitney began organizing a dinner. Everyone's schedules dictated that we wait until this weekend. It was worth the wait.

Juniper is amazing and delicious. The menu incorporates local ingredients and even brought a card to the table saying which ingredients were local that week.

The food was excellent. There were seven of us and we ordered six different things and everyone was very happy with their meal. We split two desserts which were also incredible. Highly recommended.

The average main course is about $24. Soups are $6, Desserts $6, salads and appetizers are $8-9. It's a little expensive for Buffalo, but the quality justifies every penny.

Vegetarian options look amazing and I was even able to make a plate out of side dishes from other courses.

I don't eat out a lot, but this has to be one of my favorite places in town.

http://juniperelmwood.com/

Porter Farms

Peaches

I went to the downtown farmer's market on Tuesday.

I got some peaches and they are DELICIOUS!

I am saving a pit and I am going to see if I can grow a tree.

Promised Land

CABBAGE, SWEET CORN, RED ONIONS, CUBENELLE PEPPERS, EGGPLANT (white and purple), BLUE POTATOES, TOMATILLOS

Porter Farms

Promised Land

Eat Local Challenge Tip 2: Veggies

Porter Farms still has space available in its CSA!

Not sure about joining? They have a guest bag program where you can try it out for a week, free. If you like it, you can join and they will pro-rate the cost of your share.

"If you know someone who might be interested in our program, have them try a bag for a week, free! Just call the farm at (585) 757-6823, and provide your name and the guest's name as well as the group to which they would like to have it delivered.

If they would like to join after they receive the gift bag, they can call for a pro-rated price. Keep in mind that we have pick-up sites in both the Buffalo and Rochester areas! "

http://www.porterfarms.org/

Eat Local Challenge Tip 1: Protein

So I am jazzed for the local challenge coming up this month. Veggies and grains should be no problem. However, as a vegetarian, what is a good source of local protein? I don't know if I can bring myself to spend $6 a week on eggs.

What I have found is that SoyBoy, headquartered in Rochester, uses local ingredients whenever possible.

"We source our ingredients locally whenever possible. In the last year we’ve used organic soybeans from the Finger Lakes region of New York (50 miles), Ontario, Canada (150 miles) and Eastern Michigan (260 miles). We try to buy as close to home as we can, but market conditions sometimes mean going a little farther to get the high protein organic beans that we need. But our beans have always come from trusted North American farms." http://www.soyboy.com/faq.htm Also, bonus - no GMO soy in their products.

If anyone has information on legumes, nuts, whole grains...please share. I know Promised Land does dry beans (and provides grains for Five Points Bakery), but I think that is later in the fall. I know the Eat Local Challenge lets you go 20% non-local, but I'd like to do the best I can.

Porter Farms, Week 4, July 18

I think this red lettuce was "fire lettuce." We also go a ton of green beans - split into two bags since I share this share. Also shown are zucchini, summer squash, onions, and that pale sputnik in the middle is a kohlrabi.

Porter Farms, Week 3, July 11

LOTS of lettuce, spinach, zucchini, summer squash, and onions. I miss getting all this lettuce.

Porter Farms, Week 2, July 4

This was lovely - I had never seen red onions with the greens still on them. Also pictured are a small bunch of spinach, lettuce, and beets.

Porter Farms, Week 1, June 27

Porter started a week later this year because of the crazy weather. In return, they will go a week late. That means I will be getting my last share in December!

This came in a brown paper bag that was filled to the brim with several kinds of lettuce.



I can't believe how bright the stems of this swiss chard was.



The lettuce this week was so beautiful - this is the lettuce I said reminded my of Rapunzel in my June 28 post.



These onions were enormous and I ate every bit of the green part - which was over two feet long. I was delicious chopped up and tossed in a taco salad (or 10 taco salads).

Catching up on Promised Land

Hey folks - I hope I didn't blow up your Google Reader.

I had lost the cord that connects my computer and camera and so while I have been diligently taking photos, I had not been posting. So now I am all caught up with Promised Land CSA. I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I have enjoyed eating it. I hope to stay up to date from here on out.

Stay tuned for my Porter Farms catch-up. Don't worry, it's only about four weeks.


I'd like to apologize for my camera being kind of junky.