Hello December!  It’s finally getting cold out. The hose was frozen this morning, that meant bringing the chicken waterer to the house to fill (ick) because I’m not prepared with a bucket system yet, because it’s been warm!  My CSA pick up ends this week, it’s almost Christmas, I’m trying to Jam my way through life, so people can buy some for gifts (well, that and I’m obsessed), I haven’t done any shopping to speak of. So OF COURSE, to satisfy my intense need to make my life even more difficult, I’m doing the Dark Days Challenge over at Not Dabbling in Normal. I have time to do this challenge, but I don’t always plan my days, life, dinners (like the rice pasta and T.J’s pasta sauce the other night, albeit with local broccoli rabe). Yesterday I was giving up on it though, why bother?  I have a love/ lukewarm relationship with blogging. If I feel pressured to write, post recipes and take pictures, then I stall, I’m lukewarm . When I make the time, I’m here, present, and love it. Add a challenge to it and I feel pressure, self inflicted pressure. Ass kicking pressure.

Kale and caramelized Shallot warm salad

BUT, (there’s always a ‘but’) THIS is a great opportunity to eat from our local Hudson Valley farms and get creative about the foods we combine into one meal. I am a wholehearted supporter of LOCAL, organic, bio-dynamic, sustainable FARMS, I helped start a small CSA farm this past season, I garden seriously, I teach people to grow food and preserve it, I have local produce in my fridge, freezer, garage, pantry! I do not, however, focus on having a meal made entirely of local foods. !PRESSURE! Admittedly, this summer was all about local bounty. My freezer is flush with free-ranged, happy animal meats, purchased all season. Here we are winter, folks. I know, that’s why it’s called the DARK DAYS CHALLENGE. So, here I am with Parsnip Roast Butternut Squash Soup and warm Kale Salad. Whats NOT local is olive oil, vinegars, spices, Pecans (I know..  they would be local if I lived down south. They’re local to the East at least. No more cheating. Promise).

Parsnip Roast Butternut Squash soup

Obviously, I created this meal from all local ingredients (accept those mentioned) that came with my CSA share from Blooming Hill Farm in Blooming Grove NY. They deliver to my area, and although I helped start a small CSA farm here, the variety of produce I get from this well established farm is spectacular. They constantly source from other area farms as well, especially since hurricane Irene and the following tropical storm damaged over 140,000 NYS farm acres. The fact that our CSA is so bountiful even now is demonstrative of the tight connections and support throughout the farming community. I love it. Supporting our local farms, everywhere, is direct intravenous feeding into the local economy and stability of your community. It makes so much sense to care for those mom and pop shops/ farms that it baffles me people still shop at big food stores, and that in some areas, mainly where big AG is, there is no other choice! Oh, don’t get me started. Let’s move on.

Back to my meal. I had/ have so many parsnips, thanks in part to Buffy, really to her family who wont eat them. (Yay for us!) I had roasted a butternut squash on the weekend, so I had it on hand. They are both sweet, with different strong flavours. I cooked down 8 parsnips in a little chicken broth, added the roasted squash, some seasonings and pureed with a hand blender. OH MY. All this needed was a salad. Well, no local lettuces in December (not since we let our ‘girls’ into the garden for the winter). Kale it is, often is. I felt like warm so I caramelized some shallots (yep, CSA) then tossed in the kale briefly, added toasted pecans, tossed in a bit of vinegar and we ATE. The soup got a dollop of yoghurt I make weekly with local Orange County milk from Freedom Hill Farm and a heaping spoonful of my Pear Ginger Chutney.

But First,

What does this all mean? Why bother taking this Challenge on? Why the importance of eating local and eating so during the winter months too? We speak volumes with our wallets/purses/ bank accounts. It makes a huge difference to local small scale farmers (and by small scale I mean anything that’s not BIG AG and subsidized). Different aspects of eating local will appeal to people, it’s social, community enhancing, tastes great, it’s ‘hip’, the ‘in’ thing to do, it’s politically correct to endorse and support organic farmers, free range happy animals, you hate what our government subsidizes, your contrary…. what ever YOUR reason, just do it. Eat from your farms, search them out, they ARE there, they exist, even amongst the HUGE mono-culture farms (and sometimes as a section of these farms, as farmers realize they cannot sustain themselves, their families and communities with out growing nourishing food!). Where you spend YOUR money matters more than you can imagine. Or maybe you can, try it.

Parsnip Roast Butternut Squash Soup

7 or 8 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into even size pieces

4 garlic cloves

4 cups chicken broth (or water, vegetable broth, or a mix)

1 large Butternut Squash, roasted

cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, cinnamon, allspice, aleppo pepper flakes (or hot pepper) salt. Start with a tsp of each and add until you’re very happy.

Boil parsnips and garlic in broth until very soft. Scoop butternut squash into pot with parsnips, carefully puree using an immersion blender (or transfer in batches to your food processor to puree. Thank goodness this isn’t a ‘local foods and old cooking methods’ challenge!) If your puree is too thick, add water 1/2 cup at a time. Add spices to your taste preference, really, this can be adapted to any seasoning combo you like, very smokey, hot and spicy, thyme and rosemary. Play with it. This make a lot. Freeze some in qt jars if you can. Drizzle with good olive oil before serving.

Warm Kale and Caramelized Shallot Salad

1 large bunch curly kale, washed, stems sliced thin and leaves chopped chunky

2 large shallots, sliced thin

1 handful toasted Pecans (or not if they’re not local!)

salt

olive oil

red wine vinegar

Slowly saute shallots in olive oil until very brown. Add kale stems, cook briefly, add kale leaves just until wilted (I could have called this Wilted Kale Salad). Remove to a dish, add a splash of vinegar, pinch of salt, pecans, toss.

Enjoy Life and Real Food!