Meaty Returns

I know the suspense is killing you. OK, OK, the farmer's market meat was superb.

The Spoonstress whipped up a mini-gourmet masterpiece with an assist from Fresh Every Day by Sara Foster: sirloin marinated in balsamic and topped with French fried shallots and blue cheese melted ever so slightly.

The beef's expense was somewhat offset by the assuaging peace of mind buying local brought. And that entire debate vanished from my fork-centric mind once I smelled the steak cookin'.

The above photo isn't mine, so you'll have to use your imagination to envision the meal's splendor. As a gesture to the Spoonstress, I didn't take any pictures. She'd made such a nice dinner and my photography style could be called thorough. Or slow as heck. It was the least I could do, as I was the lucky one who got to eat the meal!

Best of all, the meat went far. The Spooch got a little love on the gristle, and the majority of the leftovers turned into amazing steak burritos the next night. If this is what it's like to eat local, I don't want to leave the Forkquarters.

The L Word

After much delay, local meat has arrived at the Forkquarters.

The Spoonstress bought a cut of sirloin at the friendly Carrboro Farmer's Market. While the steak being frozen and vacuum sealed dented my idealistic view of local meat, it's probably a good thing. I suppose freezing makes sense if you're at the market all day in 90-degree weather.

The Spoonstress and I have discussed the idea of eating locally and just came across the 100 Mile Diet. While I'm suspicious of any eating plan that ends with the word "diet," I suppose it's de rigeur for marketing purposes. I'm more interested in reading the book that spawned the idea.

We've talked about trying this idea of only eating food produced within, you guessed it, 100 miles of our house. Of course, it's easy to do so in the summer. The meat now thawing in our fridge is from Creedmoor, N.C.--28 miles away. This useful tool allows you to find your local "foodshed."

On another local food note, my basil seeds are sprouting nicely. Can't get much more local than that. While my cilantro isn't doing so well, we're not going to talk about that.

Tonight we'll get to see just how local this meat tastes. But thanks to the placebo effect, it'll be difficult to accurately compare it to supermarket beef. Then again, the local food movement isn't all about taste, right?

Right?