Limited by local food?

I was shopping at Jamiesons the other day and realized that I am really limited by local food. In that, if I am preparing a shopping list, I really can only plan out the paper and dry products I want to buy.

I don't normally have to buy meat. We bought a 1/4 of beef (not enough) and a 1/2 of pork from Sandy River Farms a month or so after we moved here. They also sell chicken at the local coop which I try to pick up when I see it. I need to put in an order for chicken from them so I always have some in my freezer. (I have a story about the chicken episode of 2008 which turned me off of chicken for 2 years - so finding chicken I love is a big deal).

So, the meat is already dealt with, now the veggies/fruit. I try to do about 80% veggie with our meals vs the 80% meat we want to have.

Here's a thing about me. I am either thinking about what I will eat, eating, or thinking about what I just ate. So, I spend time during my day planning out our supper. But, I have found here that I can't really plan it out. The other day I wanted a salad. I went to the coop to get lettuce (I have been growing it here, but I need better dirt - my garden sucks) and they only had lettuce from California. When I started looking, most of their produce was from USA, but not "local", so I didn't buy any. I went on. Because I was really there to buy goat cheese, which comes from a local farmer, I made my purchase - but then had to figure out how to get my veggies.

We have wonderful farmer's markets - but they're at their peak near the end of the week and this was a Monday - so that option was out. I went to Jamison's Orchard on the way home to see what they had. This was where I realized how truly, if you want to eat locally, you are limited.

The thing is, this is not a bad thing. Eating tomatoes has taken on a whole new passion for me the past month or so. Local, fresh, ripe tomatoes are so tasty! Have you noticed how store bought tomatoes have no taste? Same thing with all the other fruits and veggies.

If this kind of amazing food is how I am limited - please keep me limited forever!

If you're going to eat it... it should be a 10

I had a good (and very skinny) friend when I lived in Quebec who told me of her philosophy on having desserts. That was, that if she was going to eat a high calorie dessert, it had to be a 10 or else it was not worth it. And although I have the occasional slip (like Thursday when I practically ate my weight in M&M's even though I don't particularly care for them and would rate them maybe a 2) these are words I try to live by.

Searching out sweets that are a 10 can be harder than you would think. It has made me a picky dessert eater. Which is a good thing since I don't have much self control around the ones that I find that are a 10. Good baklava, good ice cream, Jenna's home made biscotti - these are among the top of my favourite list)

Last weekend we went to the Salem Farmer's Market for the first time. What an experience. We have gone to a few of the other Farmer's Markets in the area, but had not made this one yet. I love, love, love that I now live in an area where there is so much locally grown produce and local meats to choose from. But, there was a certain smell coming from the end of the Salem market that had my nose a twitching. Once I saw the sign, I knew I had reached my destination gastronomique:

What's that? Homemade doughnuts? Oh, the smell, I wish blogger had a smell button. My mouth was watering something fierce. You know I had to try one. We got our spot in line and I began watching them make the doughnuts. It was really something to see.

They started with the dough, cutting it and shaping it. Then into the pan with oil it goes.

It then gets all icing-ed up and hung for a few seconds...

Before going into tummies as fast as possible.

Oh they were definitely a 10. Healthy? Not at all, but we all have to indulge once in a while. If you're going to - I highly recommend this method!