A pretty productive morning all in all. Completed my basic morning housekeeping routine from top to bottom. The weather has been cool enough here for the past few days that I've been able to leave my bedroom window open 24/7. What a relief to feel that fresh air circulating around my apartment again...
I had to make a last minute change in my breakfast menu as yesterday's meal was a semi-disaster. When I did my marketing last weekend, I was surprised to find that there wasn't a single grapefruit in stock at the supermarket. So I tried something very 1940s - they were fascinated by the idea that anything could be canned --- canned grapefruit sections. Ack! They were awful - rubbery, fibrous, and the flavor was all off. I'd been planning to finish the can for this morning's breakfast, but couldn't bear the thought of this sad excuse for grapefruit a second day in a row. From this day forth, it's fresh grapefruit - or I'll settle for juice.
We're so spoiled in this modern age. I haven't a clue where they ship fresh grapefruit from at this time of the year. I'm just so used to seeing it there every time I shop. One thing I'm just beginning to become more aware of these days is where my produce is coming from. The melons in my market this time of year are being grown right here in the Southwest, so they're super fresh. The berries are from California, but only the raspberries are truly tasty these days. The strawberries and blueberries are past their prime. The oranges are coming all the way from Australia. Still not quite sure about the grapefruit.
My vintage breakfast menus do a nice job of shifting with the seasons. Summer's berries and peaches are giving way to winter's dried prunes and apricots. I do think these menus from the past could be improved by shifting a bit with the produce that's local to your region. Let's face it: fresh, local produce is always tastiest and least expensive. But it does require a kind of flexibility that our modern appetites have gotten a little lazy about. Just like anyone else, I get used to being able to enjoy the same meals, the same treats year-round. So I'm feeling a push here to make some improvements along this line. To get to know better the kinds of produce being grown in this part of the world where I make my home. What's fresh and local during the various seasons and how can I incorporate that in my diet - if only for a few months while it's at its best?
This kind of awareness would probably have come quite naturally to a '40s housewife who made her home outside the city. If she lived in an area where orchards were loaded with apples and pears during the fall, then apples and pears would find their way into many of the meals she served her family that season. There are plenty of ways seasonal fruits can be preserved to be enjoyed during another time of the year, but that invariably requires some additional time and labor. Being able to shift your tastes with the season seems like a skill that's good for the wallet and good for the earth.
14 comments:
I hear you, and if we do make an effort to try and shop local and buy local foods, we can actually, maybe, start affecting change. I know I could be happy with dried pruned in my cold NE mornings if it means a local farmer can still exist, you know what I mean? And good advice for stretching my breakfasts.
yep, at the supermarket all of the fresh prduce is labelled with it's point of origin... I'm always surprised to see asparagus from Peru and other things from far away places...
there is a food movement which is where you only eat what grows in 100 miles from your location...locovores i think it's called... all focussing on the carbon emissions from shipping foods from such distances
I've heard about locavores. There was a book one couple wrote about how they spent a year eating nothing that wasn't produced/grown within 100 miles of home. It really makes me realize how little I know about what's being grown in the area where I live. That's what all these supermarkets and city life will do to a girl, I guess! This is one of those lifestyle changes that makes sense on a whole lot of fronts. It just takes some self-education and getting more comfortable with the idea of not being able to eat whatever you want all year long.
You are so right, we have become spoiled in our eating habits.
I have started reading labels of origin on fruit and produce and am really hesitant to buy many items.
It would be fun to try and eat more with the seasons. =)
lpm
I'm not what one would call a locavore, but Texans are allowed to be absurdly state-patriotic, and I use that as an excuse to buy Texas produce--we grow mainly grapefruit, onions, peaches, and watermelons--and to buy rice, coffee, and beans from companies based in Texas and Louisiana. Not all of the food they sell is regionally produced, but it does support a [semi-]local economy.
I am pretty sure you can have citrus fruit shipped to you, just do a quick google check. I have to agree about eating local. We live in NE Colorado and there isn't much produce grown around here, so we try to make due by eating Colorado produce. That means I eat maybe 2 cantalopes a year, but those two cantalopes are amazing (Rocky Ford), peaches from the western slope, honey from a local farm.
To answer your question about what is locally grown, check out your local county extension service or local agriculture service. There is probably a web site.
If I was a locovore (remember loco=crazy - lol), I would never be able to have oranges, grapefruit, bananas, white or brown rice, olives, lemons, limes, sweet potatoes, yams, pineapple, seafood, certain nuts... Shall I continue?
While in one way I'd admire the idea of trying to cut back, I have no wish to go back to living like my grandparents did when they were children. Even when I was little, lemons, bananas, and oranges were treats. Getting an orange at Christmas was special.
Sorry for the rant.
Grapefruit is delicious, but can be a pain to eat every day. It's supposed to take off the pounds. Probably from all the work you have to do to eat it :)
I am with Packrat, remember when Laura Ingalls got a orange for Christmas and it was a big deal! I live in the Midwest. We have beautiful farms but we would never have citrus or bananas . Even most of our watermelons and tomatoes are produced in another state. (they can grow here but grow better there. )I do shop area farmer's markets. I also visit the Amish but that is probably 50 miles there and 50 back. I guess I could learn to eat persimmons.(lol) ;)
P.s. I think we have good discussions here . ;)
I wouldn't want to go to that extreme myself either - if you could see the numbers of bananas I eat every week! --- I just want to move in that direction a little more. Ferret out some regional produce, learn a little more about what's being harvested when, and find some contentment NOT being able to have blueberries, say, year round.
Thanks for the suggestion of my county extension office, Packrat!
And our grapes are coming from the US.
Jen in Oz
We try to be very mindful about produce as well. It was a harsh lesson we learned when we picked up a bag of cherries at the commisary--and they rang up for $9!! We passed and immidiately started planning to eat more seasonal produce.
Jen, I trade you my Australian oranges for your American grapes! JK - I bought some grapes yesterday from Mexico.
Amber, sometimes that off-season produce looks so good, too! I guess there's a time of year for everything and winter is not quite the time for cherries --- unless you mind paying through the nose for 'em. I've gotten hooked on having blueberries with my oat bran in the morning and they are most definitely not in season anywhere close by. Time to come up with some alternatives.
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