Eat Fresh, Eat Local(ish)

Since we moved to Long Valley, a relatively rural community with lots of farms, we've really enjoyed the fresh local produce that is available most of the year. We have belonged to the Community Supported Garden at Genesis Farm in Blairstown each summer, and have also participated in the Purple Dragon co-op. Last summer, with the baby, and me being sick, and all the other stuff we had going on, running all over the place to get our food just got to be too much, so we stopped participating at Genesis and with Purple Dragon.

What I found was that I no longer knew how to cook! How do people plan meals if they actually have to go shop for the ingredients? I know some people dislike having to figure out ways to use unfamiliar, unusual, or just plain unliked foods, but I enjoyed the challenge and the opportunity to try new things and be creative in the kitchen. I liked opening my refrigerator, seeing what I had, and figuring out what to do with it.

So we decided to re-join the Purple Dragon co-op, and had our first pickup yesterday. And as much of a project as it can be to wash all the produce and figure out where to put it in the fridge, it's also my favorite part of the whole thing: