Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings: Weekly Local Booty 12/7-12/13/08 and A Very Special Guest (Proof that Republicans CAN have a sense of humor - if they want)

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Weekly Local Booty 12/7-12/13/08 and A Very Special Guest (Proof that Republicans CAN have a sense of humor - if they want)

Before I introduce our very special guest for this week's Local Booty Update, I want to make a note. I noticed when I was at The Root Cellar that more "non-locals" were arriving (the Cellar brings in out of state organic produce over the winter to supplement), and the "locals" - at least in terms of fresh produce - are declining. I will likely start buying a few of these non-locals from the Cellar each week and I'll try not to feel too bad about it. But hey - we've got to eat this winter, don't we? (And we have come pretty far in terms of food miles compared to, say, even last year.) I'm also not sure one can really be a true (non-dairy eating vegetarian) locavore either, at least not in the Midwest, where I call home. Anywho, you might not be able to tell from the photos below - we still managed to get a lot of good loot this week - I think it might be the last week for some of it, like the tomatoes, peppers, and onions.

Anyways, enough of that. We have a very special guest on this humble blog. None other than everyone's favorite president:















That's right ladies and gentlemen, Mr. George W. Bushy himself.

Why, you may ask, do I have a framed picture of George W. Bush, in what appears to be a handmade frame in our apartment? The answer is simple: protection. If the thought police come 'a knockin' on our door any time between now and January 20th, we've got "the big guns" - how could we be anything other than good, upstanding Americans with a picture of GW? (If we added a couple of NRA memberships and a crucifix, I think we'd really be set.)















Here he is feeling very festive, quite fitting for fall wouldn't you say?

In all seriousness, we had a White Elephant gift exchange at our office holiday party and this was the contribution by the graduate assistant in our office (studying political science), who happens to be a staunch conservative. As noted in the title to this post, proof that the dark side can, indeed, still have a sense of humor. I enjoyed this gift so much that I "stole" it from the lucky initial recipient. Too bad we couldn't have swapped gifts - my White Elephant gift, two hideously beautiful "peace garden stones" for his beloved GWB portrait - I think it would have been a fitting exchange, don't you? (The "Peace" garden stones were given to us by a very interesting person we met while doing some activism.)

I did question for a moment though how he came to have a framed picture of GWB. I figured he probably put it together for the event, but for a brief moment, I did wonder...

Onto the local booty, featuring, of course, our guest of honor.

I made two trips to The Root Cellar this week, there is only so much one person can carry (especially when I try not to take up two seats on the bus).

This is trip one (and no, we don't plan on eating this all this week, we were stocking up on a few things):















Starting from the bottom center this week: Missouri grown pecans (!!!!!), yellow potatoes, Zia's pasta sauce, a pie pumpkin, GWB, 3 small buttercup squash, another pie pumpkin, East Wind almond butter, East Wind peanut butter, and a not-so-pretty-but-still-perfectly-fine spaghetti squash.

And the second trip to the Cellar, I paid attention to this one, it ran $40:















Starting from the bottom left: a bar of locally produced Patric 67% cacao dark chocolate (a serious treat), yellow onions, bell peppers, Anaheim peppers, leeks, garlic, apples, tomatoes, dried cilantro, organic vanilla extract (not local), spinach, GWB (not local, thankfully), shiitake mushrooms, and eggs.

And of course, our weekly trip to Uprise Bakery:















In addition to our special guest, we have the "usual" - ciabatta and a half pound of whole bean fair trade organic coffee. This week we got "Midnight Sun", a dark roast.

So, I'm sure anyone who reads this blog for any period of time would infer that I have a weird sense of humor - you would be right. GWB: case in point. Anyways, I noticed something interesting about the dried cilantro I got from The Root Cellar. Tell me, wise bloggers, what is wrong with this picture?















This tickles me in the same way that the local news gets me (or Democracy Now! when Juan Gonzalez is on the show), I love it when they mess up (or get confused, or something goes wrong with the feed or camera).

I don't think this will surprise anyone (especially if you've met me in person) but I could never tell an actual joke in real life - I guess I am too monotone and not very good at delivery because people can't often tell when I'm joking :-), so I have to go with a different angle (aka questionably funny) - which helps I suppose, since I have a different sort of sense of humor.

Have a great weekend everyone!

'Til next time.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tee hee hee...I am very glad GW is not "local" to the Midwest too! We wouldn't want him giving us a bad name... :o) And how funny that they would sell the "cilantrio" like that! I would think they would pull them all and get new labels on them, but I guess they are saving paper this way, right?! I am guessing most people don't even notice...

Your haul(s) look great! I love the spaghetti squash...did you end up trying the last one you bought yet? What did you think? I have one more sitting in my kitchen from when they were on sale, so I will have to get more soon--they are soooo good!

Courtney

hmd said...

Looks fabulous! My favorite part is still that loaf of bread :)

Unknown said...

Those pumpkins make it look like a little voodoo shrine to GWB. He could be a replacement for the boogey man.

Liz said...

Maybe there are three types of cilantro in cilantrio?

J said...

Courtney - No kidding, as if it isn't hard enough to convince people that the Midwest can be cool, that would just ruin it!

I wonder if they even notice it - one thing I was really fascinated by about the human brain (one of the many things) was our minds desire to fill in words and not notice innaccuracies. Take for example someone reading a sentence with the on of the "t's" in the word "letter" missing, unless we were looking for it (and sometimes even if we are), our brains would go ahead and fill in that extra t. Pretty interesting.

Yes, we roasted the last spaghetti squash and had it with the local marinara, it was really good. I am thinking of making a stir-fry with this one and using the squash as the "noodles".

Heather - I think it might be mine too!

Cookiemouse - Hahahahaha! I don't think it would be much of a stretch, do you?

Liz - Hahaha, I laughed out loud when I read your comment. :-) (Does that make me an even bigger nerd than I already am?)

hmd said...

Glad you enjoyed the spaghetti squash. it's one of my all time favorite veggies!

jessy said...

aaaaaaaaahahaha! hooray for cilantrio & GW! those are most glorious! i got a good laugh out of them both. thanks, Jennifer! a few weeks ago i was in our local natural food store and saw some new local bread. flipped a loaf over to check the ingredients (as i wanted to know what spices used in their cinnamon raisin loaf) and listed as one ingredient was "whole wheat floor". i had a good laugh. i love typos like that. i checked a few other loaves and they contained the same typo. it was too funny to me. but i'm like you - i can't tell a joke in person to save my life! :) i've gotta kinda look for humor and just point it out and giggle to myself a lot of the time. dan thinks i'm nuts, and doesn't get it all the time, but it's good to know we've got similar senses of humor! makes me most happyfaced!

hooray for an excellent stash of gloriousness from the root cellar! and don't feel bad about some of those non-local yummies - it's almost impossible over the winter (it is here in VA, too), and you're do'n an awesome job! :D i struggle with local, too - our natural food store's local produce supply is down to just bok choy. what's a girl to eat?! we're keeping it within the US though! i think that's a-okay for winter times!

Bianca said...

Haha! I think it's funny that you posed Bush with the veggies in every photo.

As for being a locavore in the winter, the only way to really do it is to spend the summer canning and freezing LOTS of stuff...I'd think you'd need your own garden to get enough haul to preserve and still get by during the summer. But it is possible. Have you read Plenty? Its a GREAT book about a Canadian couple that goes strict locavore for a year...and they start in March.

J said...

Heather - We are too - it is so good. I think I pretty much just love squash really.

Jessy - Hahahaha. No problem, I enjoyed it myself. Hahaha about the whole wheat floor. I love finding typos in books and stuff too, goes to show how nerdy I am. I think Brett thinks I'm silly too, but he has a similar sense of humor to myself, it is either off color or something silly like this for me.

Thanks for the comment, I am trying not to feel bad, I know I'll just need to prepare a little better next year and realize that if I want to be a vegetarian, there is only so much I can do. We're doing what you all are, we are only eating things from within the continental US which makes me feel a little better.

Bianca - I wish I could say I had planned that. I got home with my loot from The Root Cellar and was going to take pictures and noticed ol GWB still sitting on my counter (I hadn't figured out what to do with it), and the idea hit me.

I think you are right. I could probably supplement my garden with farmer's market booty, but really, I have a full-time job, there is only so much I can do. I am going to try to have a lot more canned/frozen next year - we are trying to get a small chest freezer that can be plugged in to a regular outlet, and I already have the water bath canner and a dehydrator BEFORE the season starts, not towards the end like last year.

I haven't read that book yet. I took the title down, I am very much interested in reading it. I'll have to see if the library or Peace Nook has it.

Erin said...

Hahaha oh my gosh, that picture of Dubya is hilarious. Nice frame too! And nice goods, I want those pumpkins!