Today was educational. I did the long trip to town to deliver soap. I took our Australian Shepard puppy, Kumalie, for a vet weigh-in and to check her ears for burrs and foxtails - the bane of summer.
Vet is in Fortuna, farthest store in Arcata, we live about one hour inland from Fortuna. It makes for a long day.
Figuring it might be harder to eat local while out and about I had my tea and a good breakfast of the leftover tofu with chopped patty pan squash and bell pepper from the garden added. Then loaded soap and dog and, list in hand, we headed out.
Once at the vet we discovered Kumalie had weed seeds lodged right up against both eardrums, so she was left behind and our schedule sped up so we could be back before the vet closed.
First stop, Clendenen's Cider Works in Fortuna. Aside from the Farmer's Market I don't think there are many places to get a variety of local food items in Fortuna. Brio bread at Rays, Bien Padre, some cheeses and Humboldt Creamery milk at Safeway. Maybe more at Ray's, I haven't checked lately. But there are a lot of items at Clendenen's, not including the apples. They had local melons, squash, tomatoes and other vegies as well as honey, jam and dried fruit. They were pressing cider and the aroma was incredible! I picked up a gallon of fresh cider for home and a pint to drink.
My method is to go to the furthest place and then work my way home, so it was off to Arcata. I delivered at Wildberries and Arcata Co-op. Both have plenty of local fare, but I did my shopping at the Co-op.
Following my list I bought plenty of Humboldt creamery milk, buttermilk, and cream to make yogurt and sour cream. a few bottles of Vinatura wine, table red and Heyseus, and one of the Elk Prairie Pinot. Some of Henry's olives (THANK YOU, Henry!), Cypress Grove Chevre log for cream cheese and some Midnight Moon to try as a Parmesan substitute.
As I never did bake yesterday I brought home some Brio Fococcia, olive bread, and a Co-op Bakery sandwich loaf. Another package of Bien Padre tortillas, whole wheat this time. From the bulk dept. I filled a bottle with Tehama Gold olive oil. Karl noted there was one other olive oil from our Bio-region, but I forget the brand now.
Lastly, I hit the fish counter to check out the catch of the day. WOW! There was lots of local seafood to choose from. I left with some ling cod and, our favorite, salmon steak, but there was local rock cod and astoundingly some local shrimp! I wish I had my camera as the seafood display was incredible, with a large whole salmon and colorful Butterfish(?).
Back in Eureka I delivered to Humboldt Herbals and the Eureka Co-op. By this time I was getting rather hungry and so I perused the deli to find something suitable to eat. Uh-oh... I suppose it may have classified as locally produced, but the items I looked at I could not guarantee all the ingredients were of local origin. If I had waited I could have found out, but who I talked to knew the distributor - but not the actual source of the onions, peppers, etc. in the dishes I was looking at. I ended up with a Co-op Bakery Sun Bun. Delicious, but not really what I had in mind.
I would suggest that the Co-op delis have more items during the Challenge that they know are made with local ingredients.
Last soap delivery was Loleta Cheese Factory (for their gift shop). Now we're talking! I could taste my way through their display guilt-free. They have a large block of cooking sharp cheddar on sale right now (not organic, but definitely local), Pepper Jack, Roasted Garlic Jack (my favorite) and some Rumiano Parmesan. It turns out that, while labeled Willows, Ca., this cheese is actually made in Crescent City. I see eggplant Parmesan in our future...
Back to Clendenen's where I picked up a box of Gravenstein apples to make applesauce, got my definitely no-longer-sedated pup and headed back up the mountain.
Once home and unpacked we dined on salmon, fresh from the garden salad, and fresh Brio Fococcia dipped in oilve oil with garlic and fresh chopped basil. All toasted with a glass of the Vinatura Table Red (OK, but not as good as my beloved Menage a Trois from Folie a Deux of Napa), washed down with good ol' H2O.
My experience in town has me concerned for this weekend when we will be at Blues on the Bay. I better pack my own lunch!
P.S. photo is from local food in the S. F. Bay area at a dinner last fall
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