A Freezerful of Beef!

Yeah! I have local, organic beef to last a lifetime. Well, maybe not a lifetime, but 116 pounds should definitely last a long time in my family! My friend Susan from First Hand Foods just got through her first ever beef offering. We purchased a quarter cow and I just picked it up from Kelso's Kustom Meats in Snohomish on Tuesday. Although Susan's "farm" is not certified organic, she is a friend and I know what goes into her cows, so I count it as SOLE food - sustainable, organic, local, and ethical. It is a lot of meat, but it's also only $4/pound which is way cheaper than what you'll pay for an organic porterhouse steak!

Now, we have everything from roasts to steaks to ground beef and everything in between. We tried the ground beef out first because everything was frozen solid when I picked it up and it was the easiest to thaw. Yummy!

So, what does 116 pounds of beef look like? Well, here it is in my car...

...and here it is in my freezer.

The Dark Days Challenge

Challenges in November must be the new thing to pull ourselves out of the winter doldrums. Maybe if we're busy, we won't notice that it is cold, rainy, and miserable outside? As if attempting to write an entire book this month isn't taxing enough, I've decided to take on The Dark Days Challenge.

I first read about this in The Everett Herald on Sunday - the challenge is to make one local meal each week between November 15th and March 31st, 2010. Sure, eating local in the summer is easy when the farmer's markets are teeming with fresh fruits and veggies. Even local meat is easier to come by then. But, the winter? Nah... that's too hard. I would need months to prepare for that.

Yesterday, the Eco Geek columnist/blogger wrote about it again in the same newspaper and announced she was taking the challenge. She also mentioned that she didn't have hens out back, a freezer full of her bountiful summer garden, or anything else. And she has a toddler. We all know that makes cooking, eating - everything - more difficult!

Okay, if all these other people can do it, I decided I can too. Having just decided this morning to take the challenge, I have done absolutely no preparation. They are already 4 days into their first week so I had to think fast. Voila... the smoothie. I know some might not consider it an entire meal, but it is what I eat for breakfast so I'm counting it!

I actually do have a ton of frozen fruits that meet the SOLE (sustainable, organic, local, ethical) requirements of the challenge so it was a natural starting point for me. I started with the Organic Valley milk (Duvall, WA) and added local strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and peaches.

Stay tuned to see if I can handle this challenge... My husband is stopping by the buffalo farm on Whidbey Island today so maybe he'll bring home next week's meal! I'm thinking that dusty pasta maker may finally get pulled off the shelf too!

Anyone else want to sign up??? If not, then feel free to encourage me, give me ideas, and go check out the (not so) Urban Hennery blog to see what the other Dark Days people are up to.