Eggs and potatoes

As I analyze the diet I have been eating, my main staples for the diet are: potatoes, eggs, meat, honey, flour, milk and butter. I eat vegetables also, but I usually end up eating from the list of staples. It's not that I don't enjoy eating vegetables, it's mostly a convenience issue. I can prepare a meal from my staples with ease. If I have to wash, dry, trim, chop and cook vegetables I don't end up eating them. I am willing to change, but my staples taste so good. I have gained three pounds since I started this diet--I am the only person that went on a diet and gained weight...

Also, I don't think it helps that I love that taste of maple syrup and honey mixed with melted butter on my pancakes. Or my garlic-pesto mashed potatoes with a liberal amount of Calder butter added--I can eat these anytime.

Aren

Homemade salt

Before I began this diet. I knew there would a few exceptions I would have to make. One of them being the water and the other salt. I still consume salt in my locally made items, such as Calder Dairy butter or Zingerman's Creamery cheeses. All the salt I add to my food will be home processed from raw rock salt. The salt comes from the mines below Detroit.

The process we used to clarify the salt was very simple.

First we took raw salt from Detroit.


Then we dissolved the salt in boiling water, and cooled the salt water until it recrystallized. My dad, a chemist at Dow Chemical, says that by not forcing the salt to recrystallize makes it safe to eat. I'll take his word on this...


Then we spread the crystallized salt on to a tray and dried it in the sun.

Tantre farm

Located about 20 miles west of Ann Arbor, Tantre Farm has been operating for the past 15 years. They grow about 50 verities of vegetables and have a manageable amount of animals, including LaMancha goats, chickens and Guernsey cows. The farm sells their produce at a variety of locations, such as the Ann Arbor Farmers Market and The People's Food Co-Op to name a few.

My friend David, who works at the farm told me about a open house to harvest crops. He said that the garlic needed to be pulled. At the farm, I found the garlic patch and the garlic pulling team. It was lead by a woman named Rosie. She instructed me to pull the plant out of the ground, tear of a few layers of skin, to clean the bulb, and then to twist off the roots. I did this for the next three hours straight. I became decently fast by the end of the day. Three were about 8 of us total working on the garlic and we cleared one whole patch and the others were still working on the other bigger patch when I left.


I really enjoyed getting out of the city and feeling dirt between my fingers. I choose not to wear gloves to increase this experience. I will be heading back to help out some more throughout the summer. I am looking forward to me return.

Westside Farmers Market

Every Thursday, June 19th, through September 25th, from 3pm -7pm
The Westside Farmers market is held on the corner of Maple and Jackson Road in Ann Arbor, located in the parking lot of Zingerman's Roadhouse. I live on the westside of town at Sunward Co-housing, making this market very convient for me--to bed it only meets once a week. I headed down there this past Thursday, to check out it out. West side has most of the expected venders in our area, incuding: Ernst Farm meats, Zingerman's products--from the creamery and bakehouse..ect. My favorite features about Westside is the great location and the abundance of parking. As much as I love the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, it can be troublesome to park in the Kerry Town area. Thus making The Westside Farmers Market very appealing. Also, I am glad the market is open into the early evening, so I can work on other activities during the day, and that it meets on Thursday, which allows me to restock my supplies during the week.


I'll be back,
-Aren

The Farmers Marketer

Ingrid, of Think Local First, just sent me link to a very cool website www.thefarmersmarketer.com. It is a very comprehensive list of local growers and businesses.


Thanks Ingrid,


Aren

It's getting better all the time.

Yesterday, Cameron and I ventured downtown to the farmers market. The Wednesday market is not as abundant in venders as the Saturday market. I ended up purchasing some almost ripe tomatoes, a large head of cauliflower, green bell peppers, amazingly sweet cherries, and some Zingerman's goat cheese and cream cheese. After that we went to check out the Food Co-op. They have a large selection of Tantre Farm produce and meat from Ernts Farm. I bought a pound of ground beef.

For dinner I ate ground Ernts Farm pork, that I purchased last Saturday at the farmers market. I added chopped garlic, and onions in with the pork, formed patties and cooked them in a skillet. I also sauted a few summer squash, cut battonet from Bella Vino I plated the food and finished it with Zingerman's cream cheese on top. This meal made me forget about the limits of my diet.

-Aren

Pancakes are on the menu

This morning for breakfast I made local pancakes.

This is the recipe I used:

-3 eggs
-1 cup flour
-1/2-1 cup milk (depending on how thick or thin you like them)
-Butter for the skillet and to top the pancakes
-Honey --to top the pancakes

I used the Jenning's Brothers spring wheat blend of flour--which had spelt, buckwheat and whole wheat flours, eggs from a local Amish farm, and milk from Calder Dairy. I whipped the three eggs until they were fluffy, added a bit of milk and sifted in the flour. The pancakes were very hearty, and flavorful. I topped them with more butter and honey from The Ann Arbor Community Farm. I could eat these pancakes with a smile everyday, and I might just do that.



-Aren

First day out!

I woke up this morning and my diet started. I had my final tastes of food from the outside last night. I almost took a sip of my dads tea, but I came to myself as I was raising the mug. I made an omelet with two eggs for my morning meal and I prepared a salad for lunch at school. The salad was composed of produce from the farmers’ market and The Ann Arbor Community Farm. The dressing consisted of melted Calder Dairy Butter, garlic from The AACC, and oregano from my front yard. Next time I will clarify the butter to have a smoother texture.

After school, I ventured over to Bella Vino on Plymouth Rd. They have their own farm off of M-14, called Bella Vino Farm, which supplies some of their produce. Mark, the manager, said they try to have 30% of their produce to be local--some of which come from the farm. Mark also told me that they raise their own goat and lamb on the farm. They were out of goat at the meat counter, but I did purchase one pound of ground lamb. Also, the summer squash they had was from a Amish farm located in Homer, MI. I will check back in to see what other local produce they have coming in.

In preparation for the diet, my dad and I went to the Ann Arbor Farmers’ Market and purchased a large amount of food. The biggest find, besides the two foot diameter head of lettuce for two dollars, was a source of flour. Archie Jennings operates a farm 97 miles away near Kalamazoo, MI. On this farm he grows a variety of wheat and corn. We got one bag of wheat mix and a bag of cornmeal. He threw in a me a bag of bran also. Not having flour this summer was my biggest concern. Now we can make breads, pancakes, pasta…ect.

Tonights dinner consisted of sauted red skin potatoes, with green onion, garlic, carrots and herbs. Steamed green beans, coated with Calder Dairy butter and lamb patties with garlic, hot pepper and herbs. I piled my plate high with food and ate while I watched the movie Sideways. This meal was delicious and didn't take very long to prepare. The lamb patties were very moist and tender. I am nervous and excited going forward with this adventure...

-Aren

Eating local

Hello, my name is Aren Stobby and I am 19 years old. I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan where I am enrolled in The Culinary Arts Program at The Washtenaw Community College. I have a passion for eating fresh, healthy, locally grown food. This will be a very exciting and involved summer doing the 100 mile diet. I am looking forward to seeking out local farmers, businesses and organizations. I hope by the end of the this ordeal I will know every local source of food. If anyone reading this has any suggestions or questions for me, I would love to hear from you at AStobby@gmail.com.

Eating local,

Aren Stobby