Breakfast...

Today is the first day of our month long "Eat Local Challenge", sponsored by the North Coast Co-ops (Eureka and Arcata, California).
They have made it as easy as possible with 7 levels, from the "Hardcore Localvore" (only locally harvested products for every meal & snack - no exceptions) to the "Toe in the Water Localvore"(at least one local ingredient in each meal). In addition to this you can choose from foods from anywhere in the Klamath/North Coast Bioregion, which includes 7 counties (Siskiyou, Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity, Shasta, Mendocino, Tehama, Lake, Glenn, & Colusa) and a diverse set of climates from sea to central valley.

I have taken on the level of "Loophole Localvore". This means locally harvested & produced products for every meal or snack - no vinegar, mayonnaise, etc., unless I make them or get them from someone who does. Local beer, wine, bakery products and locally roasted coffee, etc. are permissible in this category. Fortunately you are allowed a few exceptions - I would have a hard time without my morning cup of hot tea and may not be able to forgo salt to use in cooking.

My partner has taken on "Lifestyle Localvore" Planning on 100% local harvested/produced food for at least one meal a day. He is in charge of eating all the non-local stuff in the refrigerator before it goes bad!

I must confess, I felt this would be an easy challenge for us, as we produce much of our own food right here and have access to a broad range of foodstuffs in this bioregion. But the more I thought about it, the more challenge I can potentially see. Being an hour and some from town and the stores which carry much of what I want may turn out to be an issue. Then again, we have on our homestead much which town folks don't, right at hand.

As an example - we are starting our challenge with eggs fresh from the hencoop. Scrambled with peppers and onions from our garden, using olive oil from Napa (I'm getting some from more local Tehama Country tomorrow). They will share the table with tortillas made in Eureka at Bien Padre and Loleta cheese. We have some apple cider from last year's pressing should we want more than water. To spice it all up we have a variety of home canned salsas, should I not make some fresh, as well as "Thai-basco" and "Ha-basco" made from our own peppers. As well as the notorious "Diablo Sauce" (or sauce of death - a sort of Tapa Tio made with Habasco peppers in a bottle with a too big mouth. What was I thinking!).

I will be baking bread today (I was told I can be my own bakery). We will see what lunch brings. I am happy always with my summer favorite: tomato; cucumber & fried pepper sandwiches. I haven't made mayonnaise in a long time... looks like I will be now.

Our freezer is stocked with local grass-fed beef and I will find something there to defrost for dinner. Looks like things are lining up OK so far.

Tomorrow I have to go to town and deliver soap (what we do for a living - Simmons Natural Bodycare), and I will be picking up a lot of local Humboldt Creamery milk and cream. There will be yogurt and sour cream to make. Hmmmmmmm... I better go work on that list.

Coming up with meals is always creative enough - this challenge will make it even more intriguing.