Eating local wherever you are

So the last three weeks, the girls and I have been staying on the Delmarva Peninsula, just outside of Fenwick Island. We've had a lot of fun and we've eaten pretty well. Here is a quick review of some of things we've learned and enjoyed while we're here.

First of all, all those fields that are not corn fields, what are they? I told PJ that they were broccoli plants b/c I didn't know what they were, but it turns out, they are GMO soybeans. Who knew? Not me, They are modified to be Roundup resistant, also known as Roundup Ready Crops. So I was sort of upset to learn that, but knowledge is power right?

On to happier things.

So what is a summer vacation without ice cream? I made a lot of it the past few weeks. My cream of choice? Lewes Dairy. I typically look for dairy that is growth hormone free, but I also like to balance that with choosing a local product, since the total amount of cream one person consumes is small, it's not as important to be rBGH as our drinking milk is. So, since the grocery store we use does not have rBGH free cream anyway, I was thrilled when I started to learn more about Lewes Dairy Cream. First of all, Lewes dairy has been a family run company since the early 1920s. Second, most of the milk they bottle comes from Sussex county DE, and distribute locally in DE and MD. And most importantly, the cream is FABULOUS! Really, it tastes great. I have no idea what they do differently than other dairys, but I fell in love. Apparently that is common as their website proclaims "Restaurants from the shore to our nation’s capital often proudly proclaim “We use only Lewes Dairy Cream!”". I can understand why.
So the last three weeks, the girls and I have been staying on the Delmarva Peninsula, just outside of Fenwick Island. We've had a lot of fun and we've eaten pretty well. Here is a quick review of some of things we've learned and enjoyed while we're here.

First of all, all those fields that are not corn fields, what are they? I told PJ that they were broccoli plants b/c I didn't know what they were, but it turns out, they are GMO soybeans. Who knew? Not me, They are modified to be Roundup resistant, also known as Roundup Ready Crops. So I was sort of upset to learn that, but knowledge is power right?

On to happier things.

So what is a summer vacation without ice cream? I made a lot of it the past few weeks. My cream of choice? Lewes Dairy. I typically look for dairy that is growth hormone free, but I also like to balance that with choosing a local product, since the total amount of cream one person consumes is small, it's not as important to be rBGH as our drinking milk is. So, since the grocery store we use does not have rBGH free cream anyway, I was thrilled when I started to learn more about Lewes Dairy Cream. First of all, Lewes dairy has been a family run company since the early 1920s. Second, most of the milk they bottle comes from Sussex county DE, and distribute locally in DE and MD. And most importantly, the cream is FABULOUS! Really, it tastes great. I have no idea what they do differently than other dairys, but I fell in love. Apparently that is common as their website proclaims "Restaurants from the shore to our nation’s capital often proudly proclaim “We use only Lewes Dairy Cream!”". I can understand why.

So I love the beach because there are so many farmers markets. This year I found a favorite farm.
It's called Parsons Farms Produce. It is run by Paul Parsons As far as I know, he has two markets, one every day on Rt 20 Roxana and Dagsboro, and one market in Fenwick Island on Mondays and Wednesdays. We only stopped at the Rt 20 market stand. We had a fabulous time there. We found their produce superior to that of other local farm markets, both in quality and selection.

In addition they had two bonus features. The first is Poodle. Poodle is an Angora Goat. Paul Parsons has other animals too - three goats, two cows. When you walk into his market with a toddler, he asks you if you would like to feed them. He has a laundry basket of extra corn and corn silks, and can feed the animals. This was a highlight of three weeks at the beach. We went twice. The animals are very gentle and happy to have the attention.

The second bonus feature was a program called Epicurean Kids. It's run independently by Chef Maria, and she has a number of different programs, but we participated in the last day of her summer drop in program. We took a tractor hay ride to the field, picked a spaghetti squash, and came back and since it was the last day of the program, we made fruit tarts to celebrate the rainbow of summer produce they had picked. Paul Parsons drove the tractor and spoke to the kids (ages 2-7) about the fields and different fruit and vegetables. I highly recommend this program if you pass this way next summer. Chef Maria had safe knifes for the kids to use, and aprons, and a hand cleaning station. We had a lot of fun and it was well run.

Local Dinner

This past winter we made some new friends in a far away place, who happen to live nearby and we now get together every 4-6 weeks for dinner. These are amazing dinners. They also love to cook, and enjoy the cooking and kitchen time as much we do and we have had some wonderful evenings with good food and good times.

Last night we had a yummy summer dinner, that while not close to 100% local meal showcased some delicious local food.

It started with a wonderful surprise on the part of our guests. A few months back our guests spent a day on the Frederick Wine Trail. They had two bottles left and brought them to share with us! We immediately opened the Syrah 2006 from Black Ankle vineyards. It was a lovely wine to start with. Very smooth, not to bold. While prepping the salad, soothing a fussy baby (not with the wine!) and getting the grill and main course ready, we decided a taste would go well with the wine. We opened up a cheese I had just bought for the first time from SMC, a goat bleu cheese from Firefly Farms. We had no idea what to expect and laughed out loud when it was gooey in the middle. We all agreed that it was wonderful to have the bleu cheese flavor but in the milder goat cheese.

We started the meal with a salad of spinach, nuts and scallions. Although the spinach and scallions could have been local, the showcase of the dish was the vinaigrette! Inspired by this post at The Kitchn we used this recipe. It was so amazing, that after making it in about five minutes, and eating spoonfuls of it, we decided to triple the recipe! It was fabulous. The pepper actually made the recipe. We ended up having enough extra for both of us to use it again this week which I am looking forward to - my husband just bought some local spinach at the farmers market this morning!

Next up was the main course which we grilled on charcoal. Our guests made corn, zucchini, and salmon. The corn and zucchini were local and fresh! The salmon was prepared and cooked beautifully. The salmon and then dessert were enhanced by the second bottle of wine from Elk Run Winery. The Riesling was sweet but not heavy and sticky.

This paired nicely with our slightly sticky dessert - roasted peaches with bourbon whipped cream!

Oh right, so the peaches. Last night we only used RedHaven peaches. They were local. I can't find a link to the orchard right now, and the story of getting them is a post in and of itself, but as a teaser, I bought over a half bushel of peaches last tuesday. Three different varieties.