Happy Home Update- Settling into that Winter Routine

Not a lot going on in the garden front here now that it's December, but I'm still trying to find ways to appreciate local foods and incorporate them into my diet! I've started receiving my Stone Soup CSA, which is a mix of root veggies and grains- it's been awesome so far! I'll have to share a picture of my new grain mill in an action in the next post; I made some yummy Pumpkin Muffins with local roasted pumpkins and locally grown, home milled whole wheat flour!

Here are some highlights of what I've been up to:

• Hitting my local Farmers' Market, which has expanded from every other week to each and every Tuesday in November and December- woohoo!
  
• Started back up on my annual Winter Routine of Saturday Local Grocery shopping, venturing out to the Ann Arbor Farmers' Market, the Food Cooperative there, to a locally-owned chain grocer (Busch's) and then to Whole Foods. I try to get as much local produce and products that I can from each stop!
  
• Exercising and really watching what I eat lately, and have lost some weight, which is great!
  
• Started another blog, where I can share all my new fitness interests, finds, & success!
  
• Changed Eating Habits- As a result of a more healthy and thoughtful diet, I've cut out a good deal of the grains and dairy products that I eat. I've had a lot more energy, and I can really tell the difference on a day when I over-indulge because I feel sluggish and my stomach is irritated!
  
• Trying out Juicing- Today I made homemade Carrot/Apple/Ginger juice thanks to a friend, who let me try out her juicer! Someone should probably just write a warning label on the cover of the Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead dvd. After-effects of watching DVD could include but are not limited to: May cause one to research juicers online for 2 hours, may result in juicer purchasing/borrowing from a friend, will most likely cause you to make an Apple & Carrot-based juice, exalting it's nutritive properties for the next hour to whoever will listen. 

I'll be checking in early next week with a home grain milling demo and a product review of the hand mill I recently purchased! 

A Locavore's Kitchen Gadget Wishlist

This post is a bit hard for me to write! I spend a lot of time reducing, reusing, and trying to re-purpose; I'm trying to get out of the habit of buying new things just because I want them. However, as I have gotten more into cooking for myself, canning fruits & jams, and eating seasonally, I'm discovering a few kitchen tools that would expand my capacity to eat locally and in tandem with the seasons. If you've had any experience with these tools, I'd love to hear feedback and thoughts! 

Mortar and Pestle

I had never used one of these guys until our buddy Paul moved in to our house this past fall. I had jars of herbs like whole clove and coriander that were just sitting around, unused; I didn't know what to do with them! Now that I've had the use of a mortar and pestle for the past 6 months, I will definitely need to get one when Paul moves out; especially since I'll be harvesting lots of coriander and other herbs from the garden.

Presto Pressure Canner

This one has been a long time coming! I've been canning for nearly 4 years. I love canning fruits, but there's only so much jam a person can stock up! A friend lent me her pressure canner, and it was great to use in the end of summer- I canned up sweet corn from the end of the season, and  the last round of green beans fresh from the Farmers' Market. I need to stop holding the borrowed canner hostage :) While I am all for sharing, and really appreciative to have borrowed it, I could use a pressure canner of my own.





Family Grain Mill Hand Base + Grain Mill 

As I mentioned last week, I'll be splitting a full share of a CSA called Stone Soup Roots and Grains! Part of my share will include (over the course of Sept-March):
- 30 lbs. wheat berries
- 12 lbs. rye berries
- 12 lbs. oat groats
- 6 lbs. dried corn


Wouldn't it be totally awesome (in a completely geeky way) to be able to hand grind my own flour that was grown and harvested less than 100 miles from me? Call me silly, but that's just downright romantic! 

10" Cast Iron Skillet

Again, this is a story of "I didn't know what I was missing until our roommate had awesome kitchen tools". Cast iron skillets are a) really efficient  b) awesome c) durable. I also love the idea that they're low-tech and that people have cooked in cast iron for hundreds of years. I think I'm a convert, people!

Pasta Maker

Ok- I don't really need a pasta maker. This one is more of a guilt please. But I am a fan of the hand-crankiness of it, and with all that hand-milled flour I'll be processing, there's gotta be some pasta making that will happen, right? This particular model is also a meat grinder and a mincer. I think the idea of grinding meat and pasta in the same tool is a bit gross, but I guess I'd get over it if I needed to. You can laugh if you want- I'll be over here swooning over the thought of handmade pasta.

What's your favorite kitchen tool or gadget? Any suggestions for me?