One Local Summer #2

Yes, more local food! My friend came over this morning to have a local brunch with me, and it was awfully tasty.

Brunch means we’re slowly moving away from breakfast, right? Next week I might have a local lunch! This week, though, I stuck with scrambled eggs (farmers market), this time with asparagus (farmers market), mushrooms (co-op), and chard (garden). Also with chives and dill (garden), because they go so well with eggs.
The exciting bit of the meal was the pancake mix from Whole Grain Mills. I got the name wrong in my previous post — they’re ‘Harvest Grains’ pancakes (not seven grain). If you live in the Twin Cities or the metro area and have a good co-op, rush right out and buy some of this mix! The pancakes were just perfect: they were light and fluffy but had a lot of whole grain texture and tons of flavour. They somehow absorbed the maple syrup without becoming soggy; they were just maple infused. Two thumbs up.
My friend brought over lemonade from Golden Fig. It may have been produced locally, but we’re not quite convinced it should really count — how many Minnesotan lemon orchards have you seen? I will concede that they could be hot house lemons, but I remain skeptical.

Part of my lunch/afternoon meal was also local! I found couscous the other day, and I’ve been trying to put together a good use for it ever since. I finally realized that the dill balsamic vinegar I had in my cupboard was from the Golden Fig and therefore local — huzzah! I made a simple vinaigrette and mixed it together with the couscous (co-op), asparagus, mushrooms, hot house tomato (co-op), and! Goat’s milk cheddar cheese.
I knew it was possible to make firm cheeses from goat’s milk, so I couldn’t quite understand why nobody was producing it commercially. Then, a few weeks ago, I started noticing that the co-ops were carrying a range of this very product! They make cheddar, colby, mozzarella. . . other things. It’s very exciting, because goat’s milk is much more tolerable than cow’s milk for those with lactose sensitivity (I’ve heard), so there’s a chance that S might be able to eat this. And it’s not just good ‘for goat cheese’ — it’s really nice! I’m very pleased, and I’m glad that it’s made just over the way in Wisconsin.
So hooray for another week of local summer!