ahh..summer. Fresh fruit, local organic salad greens, fresh warm air, grilled asparagus, sunsets at 9 pm... Seems like just the other day that we were at jackson and katja's wedding (above picture). We served yummy grilled salmon and fresh yummy salads. They had piles of organic local strawberries and shortbread made with vermont flour and our own handmade butter, we helped them with their champagne toast out under the sun before serving them in the tent during the most perfect summer weather. Katja was pregnant with twins, and so appreciative of every morsel of food we sent her way, and today i was thinking of her--thinking of summer, thinking of those babies, and thinking of all that yummy summer food we once had at our finger tips.
Running a local foods business in vermont in the summer is great fun, planning a local menu in the winter in vermont is another story. Sure, we have most of the staples all sorted out; eggs, cream, chicken, bacon, tempeh, flour, beans, cornmeal, cheese. But what about carrots, kale, broccoli, cabbage, potatoes, beets, not to mention organic local salad greens or organic local tomatoes. While we know that these things exist, it is going to take a little extra effort keeping everything in stock and to keep our sources at the ready. How important is it that our greens are local, or that our broccoli comes from a nearby source? Well, considering that the local distributors offer produce mainly from far away places like california, mexico, chile, and peru-it feels like there's no real fair compromise. We know that there are greenhouses in jersey and maryland growing organic greens through the winter--but how do we get it? And alanna and i have been thinking about it for along time--what do we do if we cant get organic local greens in december? offer a winter salad? sure- but what about the sandwiches? How important is the L on the T.L.T (or B.L.T. for that matter)?
As we mourn the end of summer, we are also getting ready to celebrate the end of our first year. On December 21, we hope to have a new winter menu with lots of new breakfast, lunch and brunch choices, as well as open our doors in the evening for our first OPEN HOUSE.
stay tuned, and lets see what happens next...
