One Local Summer NOT

OK, I'm bowing out of this OLS Challenge. I was supposed to make one meal a week with all-local ingredients. I've managed to make one, so far, in 5 weeks. The problem is not that I don't have local ingredients - it's putting them all in one meal, with obsessive attention to local detail. I just don't have time.

It's become more important to me to get stocked up than to fuss so much over everything being local and/or organic. I'm still gonna keep adding local stuff, growing my own, and hitting the producer market on Sundays. But I am not posting to the challenge.

I did make waffles, tho - Spelt Waffles with Strawberry "Greek" Yogurt

Yogurt: Seven Stars Farm, Phoenixville (27 miles)
Spelt Flour: B&H Produce, Morgantown (18 miles)
Milk: Clover Farms, Reading (4 miles)
Eggs: Reigle's Produce, Kempton (25 miles)
Lard: Christman's Meat Market, Oley (11 miles)

Not Local: Honey (Canadian), strawberries (didn't go to U-pick), kosher salt, baking powder, cane sugar.

I just substituted the spelt flour for whole wheat, and used lard for the melted shortening. I could have tried butter, but I like the shock value of lard.

I had gotten yogurt at Echo Hill Country Store, from Seven Stars Farm in Phoenixville (27 miles). I bought the 32oz plain organic grass-fed yogurt for $3.72. It was better than regular yogurt as soon as I opened the lid - there was a layer of yellow butterfat on top. I hung it in a tea towel for half an hour to drain it to the thickness of Greek yogurt, sweetened it a bit with honey and folded in sliced strawberries. I should mash them more next time, and let them macerate in sugar a little. I've since started making my own yogurt, so no more over-paying and driving too far for organic.

I do want to find a local raw milk source I can afford. I found out that the Horizon Organic milk I was buying at Giant may not be so organic. Horizon is the largest organic milk producer in the US, and are being sued for not following the organic certification rules with animal handling. Ugh.