Dark Days Challenge: Kaput, but.....

Poor Laura, at The Urbanhennery, the host of The Dark Days Challenge. She's had one heck of a winter! Outrageous weather, old farm house damaged, power problems, road problems, the loss of some hens and even the loss of a beloved horse. It's more than anyone should have to bear. So, everyone participating in the Dark Days got an email a while back that she had ended up just toooooo far behind to ever catch up. And we all understand. But have we stopped eating local? No way!

Eating local is, to some extent, a way of life for us now. Not that we're trying to be off-grid, self-sufficient hermits or anything! It's just that we're in the position to supply ourselves, to know how our food was raised, have great tasting and healthy food, save some money and stuff like that. Plus, since we're in the business of selling our stuff, we like to buy from people around here and support them, lower our carbon foot print - you know! So, just as we were running out of our own garden carrots, just after Christmas, we saw an ad on eBrandon advertising carrots! They're lovely - almost as good as ours. If you're in the Westman area, they came from Peters Market Garden in Virden, email petersmarketgarden@rfnow.com; Marlin comes into Brandon fairly regularly so it's not hard to connect with him for pick-up! I was also rushing through the Town Centre last Friday to pick up honey from Mann Apiaries and I think I saw some carrots on a vendors' table. Of course, if you're looking for potatoes, we can help with that!

We've also received an awesome gift to help us eat local! Our good neighbours Mike and Naomi have been reading about the Dark Days Challenge here on this blog and our foray into pasta making. They've given us some of their homemade canned tomatoes and sauce! They've also been making sausage this week, probably from deer that Mike has harvested right around here! They've offered to share some of that with us, too! Love that - thank you, Mike and Naomi. Now I know who to call, too, when I give canning tomato sauce a try for the first time this summer!

Dark Days Challenge: Week 8

I've been a little obsessed with all things flour this week; after finding so many great local grains at Two Farm Kids. I love pancakes and regularly make my Grandmother's recipe. The basic recipe is 2 C. flour, 3 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt, 3 Tbsp. sugar, 2 eggs, 1 3/4 C milk and 1/4 C. oil or shortening. Early this week I replaced 1/4 C of the flour with de Ruyck's organic whole wheat flour. Very nice. Later in the week, I replaced 1/4 C. of the flour with spelt. The pancake was a little heavier, but a really great, nutty flavor. We'll do that again!

Also in the oven this week: Grandmother's recipe for baking powder biscuits. The basic recipe is 2 C. sifted flour, 4 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar, 5 tsp. sugar, 1/2 C. shortening or butter and 3/4 C. milk. Made the recipe straight up this time, but I'm going to try swapping some of the organic unbleached flour for whole wheat and spelt next.

Now, I know that salt, sugar, cream of tartar and such isn't local. But I'm counting the food as part of the Dark Days Challenge because they were homemade and I've sourced as many of the ingredients as possible from local sources. And we ate them with homemade nanking cherry jelly! Next on the agenda: more homemade pasta with local durum semolina flour!

Dark Days Challenge: Week 7

A couple of good scores this week! Finally, local butter! In a little trip to Two Farm Kids, I found butter from Notre Dame Creamery, from Notre Dame de Lourdes, which is southeast of us. And, local seafood! Fresh pickerel from Lake Winnipeg showed up at the big-box grocery store! It's a little, wee bit out of the official range, but so close......!!

So, pickerel breaded and baked, with steamed garden carrots, the last of our beets, cubed buttercup squash and some parsnips. Mashed German Butterball potatoes completed the plate. A nice change from our home grown pork! The buttercup squash was delightful! I think it's getting sweeter in storage! Peeled and cut into one inch cubes, it steamed up very quickly.

We've also been thinking French Canadian meat pie or tortiere! We've got the stuff, and it would be a nice change from the meatloaf we make so often. Online, the recipes are numerous, with a myriad of variations. We made the crust with local flour, and adapted the recipe for the meat mixture. True tortiere involves cinnamon and all spice, and we passed on those totally non-local spices and used our own dried thyme and sage. Simply browned the meat, adding some homegrown onions and some of the left over mashed potatoes from pickerel night. Into the crust and baked! We ended up using organic ground beef and lamb from our friends at Logan Farms; our pork is a little fatty, but I think it would work well. Next time! Served with steamed buttercup squash and some fresh sprouts! The leftovers were good the next day, too! The variations on this are quite limitless; next time we may work in some of our (dwindling) carrots or other veggies.

Dark Days Challenge: Week 6

It was kind of a no-brainer. We love pasta; the simplest recipe involves just flour and eggs, both of which we have from local sources. So, an Imperia pasta machine arrived in the mail this week. Thanks to all the Dark Days Challenge participants who responded to my query about types and hints. We went with the Imperia because it's the brand carried by one of favorite Canadian kitchen supply stores, Golda's Kitchen. They've got lots of different attachments but we went with the basic machine, which will make spaghetti and lasagna and we added the ravioli maker.

There is, I must say, a bit of a learning curve. We managed to jam up the machine trying to get lasagna out! Apparently, on further research after the fact, our dough was still too wet, we hadn't passed it through the sheet maker enough while adding a little extra flour. You can't see it in the finished picture because of the sauce, but our lasagna was a little crimped, some pieces were very short and some pieces were stuck in lumps. We need a better way to dry the finished product - we were trying to drape it over over turned mixing bowls. Our first batch was made with our local, organic, all-purpose unbleached flour because that is what we had. Since then, I went on a little pantry-restocking foray to Two Farm Kids and did find some local Durum Semolina.

We didn't make tomato sauce this summer but we did have, in the freezer, some homemade Hubbard Squash/Apple/Bacon soup, which had thickened up in the pot while we ate. We thought it would make a good pasta sauce - and we were right! We didn't do anything to it except de-frost and then warm it up. We topped it with some more home-grown bacon. It was yummy!! We will certainly do more squash pasta sauces! The original recipe for Hubbard Squash soup is here. And this coming summer, I will certainly try canning tomato sauce for the first time. Wish me luck!

Also, on the dinner table this week - our comfort food for snowy weather: meatloaf. We used our homegrown ground pork and mixed it with some awesome bison from Crocusview Farms. We got our pork as 'regular' not lean, and it is rather fatty. Mixing it with an equal amount of the drier bison was perfect. To keep it local, we topped it with our homegrown bacon, instead of the usual ketchup/mustard mix. I always thought topping meatloaf with bacon was a bit of meat overload, but now I get it. It added great flavor to the dish. We served it with a simple one dish roast of homegrown potatoes, Australian blue pumpkin, parsnips from our market buddy Hugh and our own carrots and onions.

Dark Days Challenge: Week 5

Eating local through the dark days of winter: that is the Challenge! Now, if you follow this blog, you know that Aagaard Farms is well on it's way with our own homegrown pork, fresh eggs from The Hens and a root cellar full of potatoes, winter squash, some onions and a wee bit of garlic. There's still a small amount of carrots and parsnips in the fridge. We're on the Prairies, so local grains are quite readily available. Surprisingly, even though there are cows everywhere around here, local milk, butter and cheese are really, really hard! I have sourced some great goat cheese from Iles de Chenes, Manitoba - just a wee bit out of the mileage limit. So far, though, it's a rather limited diet. We're missing greens! So, it was definitely time to get out the Biosta Sprouter. This is a great gadget to get sprouts going for fresh, local, organic greens. As we get our seed orders in, we're also getting some micro green and mesclun mix seeds, which we'll start in flats as soon as they arrive. So, we've got breakfast down, with our own eggs, bacon and local grains for oatmeal. Now, lunch is looking better, with sandwiches of homemade bread, fresh sprouts and (sort of) local cheese. Making bread has become a part of the regular routine - love that 'Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day' by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois! (If you grab a copy of the book from the Amazon link in the sidebar, The Hens will get some extra treats!) I'm going to give another try at making cheese, soon. If nothing else I can find organic milk, even if it isn't local! Dinner, well, we know it's largely going to involve pork, potatoes and winter squash - we've just got to find some new recipes to keep things interesting!

Dark Days Challenge: Week 3 and 4

Well, Week 3 was a wash-out. We were the lucky recipients of a number of festive invitations and were eating totally non-local goodies like shrimp, smoked oysters, scallops wrapped in bacon, French Brie and other such decadent holiday treats. The night we were home we were too tired to cook and ordered Chinese.

Now, we do eat local for breakfast quite regularly. With our own fresh eggs and home grown bacon, it's easy. We're also fortunate to be in grain country and have local, organic oats and spelt for porridge, local flour for our pancakes and homemade bread (but where does baking powder and vital gluten come from?). It's such a regular part of our life that we frequently forget to take pictures!

In Week 4, we've been home a bit more. Farmer Man stocked up from the root cellar and we had a few meals made from similar ingredients. You know, once you cut into a winter squash you've got to use it up! So, 'Sugar Pie' pumpkin appears two nights in a row. And our meals revolve around pork, of course, 'cause our freezer is full of home grown Berkshire pork!

First up: roasted pork chops with steamed homegrown 'German Butterball' potatoes and carrots, and slices of roasted 'Sugar Pie' pumpkin topped with cheese when they came out of the oven. The 'German Butterball' potatoes are quickly becoming one of our favorite potatoes due to it's fabulous flavor and nice texture. We always steam way to many potatoes so that the next morning we've got some leftovers for hash browns with our bacon and eggs! The next night, a slow cooker stew of pork butt steaks, potatoes, carrots, pumpkins and home grown onions. A nice, easy meal for a quiet day before New Year's Eve! The butt steaks are marvelous in the slow cooker - they just fall apart into tender chunks on serving! The 'Sugar Pie' pumpkin got a bit mushy in the slow cooker but was tasty nonetheless. The onions left in the root cellar are all small sizes, so they're perfect for using whole in something like a stew. It's good to be getting back into a routine of home cooking!

Dark Days Challenge: Week 2

So, it was a roast-o-rama at Aagaard Farms for our second meal in the annual eating local challenge, The Dark Days Challenge. Our homegrown pork chops glazed in a homemade strawberry-fresh rosemary-balsamic vinegar jam, Linzer Delicatese fingerling potatoes and Hubbard squash from our garden, both topped with rosemary and sage cut fresh in our sunroom. All roasted in the oven.

Now, I know balsamic vinegar is from far, far away, as was the sugar in the jam recipe, but the strawberries and rosemary were local, and I made the jam - so I decided it was could be used for our Dark Days meal. It was very good as a glaze on pork; we've already used it with Camembert cheese and crackers and it was very good for that, too! It's recipe is from the blog Notes From a Country Girl Living in the City. I came across it through the Can Jam. Now, if you are even slightly interested in canning, whether a newbie looking for tips or an experienced canner looking for new things, you've got to get to know the Tigress! Tigress in a Jam and Tigress in a Pickle are her two blogs: everything canning! The Can Jam is kind of like her Dark Days Challenge; canners/bloggers sign up and then are told the feature ingredient each month and can away! Some awesome recipes and techniques are posted, and the Tigress has links on her blogs to all the postings. This jam was the first time I've made a cooked jam - no pectin, just slow cooking until it's thick enough. I did cook it a little long and it's a bit thick and heavy, Country Girl warned that it could become like taffy if cooked too long!

Anyway, back to our meal. We just coated the Berkshire pork in the jam, and placed in a casserole. We peeled and cubed the fingerling potatoes and the Hubbard squash. Had to stop Farmer Man's hand when he reached for the virgin olive oil and hand him the canola oil, instead! Topped both the veggies with fresh cut, chopped rosemary and sage. No salt, no pepper. Half way through cooking, we pulled out the chops and turned them over, basting them in the juices and jam. Fingerling potatoes roast so well and we both love them with those little bits of brown, crispy edges! Very tasty - and something new for us!

Dark Days Challenge: Week 1

With Farmer Man working long hours and every day at the Christmas Tree Lot, we're not sitting down together for a lot of meals. But, we knew he'd get off early yesterday, so we planned our first Dark Days meal. We did good, too! Roasted organic lamb chops from our friends Duane and Shelley at Logan Farms in Nesbitt, Manitoba. Some of the nicest lamb we've every had, just yummy. A trip to our own root cellar yielded a spaghetti squash and some lovely 'Blue Mac' potatoes from our garden. 'Blue Mac' potatoes have a purple/blue skin that cooks up pale beige. It's kind of in between the smoothness of a red potato and the fluffiness of a white potato. We cooked up extra for some nice hash browns one of these mornings. The storage drawer in the fridge has some of our own garden carrots and some fresh rosemary came from the little bush in sun room. We roasted the squash and the lamb in the oven, steamed the potatoes and carrots. Simple but good!

The Dark Days Challenge Is Back!

Yes, it's that time again! The 4th Annual Dark Days Challenge is set to begin early in December! If you're not familiar - the Dark Days Challenge is hosted by Laura, over at the Urban Hennery. It's a challenge to eat local food during the long, cold nights of winter, when Farmers' Markets are largely over and done. You source local ingredients, cook a meal, take some photos and then blog about it! If you don't have a blog, you can still participate by sharing your meal in the comments section of each of Laura's summary posts. Laura knows this is hard - all she asks is one meal a week! And she's extended the ingredient search area beyond the usual '100 Mile Diet' to 150 miles. Your ingredients should be SOLE: sustainable, organic, local and ethical.

This is going to be our second year participating. We can hardly wait! The weekly summaries were so much fun. You learn so much from people who are all over North America. The ingredient searches are fun, the recipe adjustments are amusing (salt and pepper, really, are not local for anybody!) and some fabulous recipes are shared. We learned a lot about how people are preparing to be more self-sufficient and are freezing, canning and storing. Should be some good eating! Hope you'll join us!

Dark Days Challenge: The Finale

This is the last week of the Dark Days Challenge hosted by The (not so) Urban Hennery.  I'm so glad that we've participated in the challenge.  It has made us much more conscious of sourcing local food, and we've taken great pride in how we've been able to feed ourselves this winter.  Even my sister, who reads this blog regularly (Thanks, Sis!) says she's become more conscious of choosing local products.  Yeah!!  So, we've got a couple of mostly local things this week.  First up, Farmer Man made an excellent cottage pie (his name, I would have called it shepherd's pie).  He made it in the SchlemmerTopf, an awesome little clay oven that's he has owned for over twenty years.  It cooks things beautifully - everyone should have one!  It's our own home-grown ground pork, the last of our onions and the topping is German Butterball potato we grew  - very golden, it's not trick photography!  It's an excellent little potato that we will grow more of next year - like Yukon Gold but a more buttery flavor.

The second meal this week was also cooked in the SchlemmerTopf.  We were gifted half of a beautiful blue pumpkin, probably a Queensland Blue or a Crown Prince.  Farmer Man took some of our home-grown pork chops, cubed the pumpkin and roasted it in the clay oven.  Baked potatoes, our own Blue Mac, accompanied the meal.  The pumpkin was outstanding - sweet and a great texture for having been roasted - not too mushy. 

Many Thanks! to Laura of the (not so) Urban Hennery for organizing this excellent winter challenge.  Check out her blog because there are so many great tips for sourcing local food, preserving, growing and cooking.  Many of the bloggers who participated are fabulous cooks, the recipes and ideas are astounding!  Have you been giving more thought to buying local or growing your own?  Maybe we'll see you blogging next year!

Dark Days: Rice of the Prairies

Like many of the bloggers involved in The Dark Days Challenge, the cupboard is getting a little bare!  Trying to eat local throughout the winter is, I think, especially hard for those of us in colder climates.  Some of the bloggers on the West Coast, for instance, have had Farmers' Markets all winter with produce.  Yes, we've got a Farmers' Market here in the winter in the Town Centre but there has been no vegetables for quite a while.  It's where I do stock up on local honey and some baking.  If you've been reading this blog you know we've started sprouts and lettuce in the house.  We're fortunate to have a root cellar, and have kept ourselves supplied in potatoes, carrots, onions and winter squash for quite a while, but.....potatoes are all that's left.  We've also got our homegrown pork in the freezer and fresh eggs so we're doing okay.  On my foray to Two Farm Kids I found Cavena Nuda - the Rice for the Prairies and we finally cooked some up a few nights ago.  Cavena Nuda is actually a species of oat without the hull, so it can be used just like rice with additional nutritional benefits according to Wedge Farms, the producer, from Arborg, Manitoba.  Their cooking instructions say to mix half and half with rice.  So, our side dish was half local - although wild rice can be grown around Flin Flon, apparently, and although it's not 100 Mile Diet exactly, it's more local than the rice.  Two Farm Kids has it and I think we'll grab some the next time we visit.  The Cavena Nuda was very good: a bit more chewy than the rice and a good, nutty flavour.  We'll be trying it all by itself, soon, and can tell it would be great in soups and stews.  Dinner included our own Berkshire pork chops and vegetables from far, far away found at the grocery store, but at least organic selections!

Dark Days Challenge: Butt Steak, Who Knew?

Farmer Man is back in the saddle, I'm feeling better and life is returning to normal!  I'm certainly eating better then I have been for most of February.

When we took our Berkshire Pigs into the butcher, Farmer Man did not have too many requests or directions.  When we picked up our meat, lo and behold we had a number of butt steaks, something we weren't familiar with.  A few days ago, Farmer Man took one, sliced it thinly and made an Asian inspired stir fry.  We weren't wildly impressed:  the meat was a bit tough, rather like any old inexpensive cut of beef we might have tried in a stir fry.  Well, he took a couple out and slow roasted them in BBQ sauce for tonight's dinner and WOW!!  A texture more like young lamb, literally falling off the bone, and awesome flavour!  Served with our own Sangria potatoes, scalloped and the last of our carrots and broccoli from far, far away!  Check out more of the great recipes from lots of people everywhere who are trying to eat local this winter at the blog The Urban Hennery.

Dark Days Challenge: Stocking the Pantry

Farmer Man is still away and I must admit that not much cooking has gone on here. Nothing that's even slightly interesting or amusing in light of the quality food blogging and cooking at the Dark Days Challenge. The ham I cooked up last week has been used in many predictable ways, often involving fresh eggs from The Hens or bread. However, it's time to re-stock the pantry and for the first time, I took the shopping list specifically looking for Dark Days appropriate food. First stop was the winter Farmers Market at the Town Centre. Said hi to some market buddies and grabbed unpasteurized honey and a loaf of flax bread from Mann Apiaries. Admittedly, didn't think to ask the Manns if they were buying their flour from a local producer. The market has lots of canning and baking now, just not stuff on my shopping list. Next, at my local chain supermarket I found, surprisingly, goat milk from Oak Island Goat Dairy in Ile des Chenes, Manitoba. Checked the cheeses quickly, but nothing local although some good Canadian product. Did also see some sausage from Winkler Meats, but it wasn't on the list, so I didn't buy any. I didn't look that hard for local stuff, just checked out what I needed. Then, off to Two Farm Kids, a local natural foods store. Score! Organic whole wheat flour from De Ruyck's Organic Farm in Swan Lake - check that off the list! Rice, well, how about Cavena Nuda from Arborg, a species of huskless oat that cooks like rice. A non-dairy hemp milk from Farm Genesis in Waskada, which I'm very interested in trying. Also grabbed some EcoMagic, an awesome canola based cleaner/solvent from Minto, Manitoba. This stuff is incredible - you've got to try it. Two Farm Kids had lots of selections: heart-healthy flax oil from Shape Foods right here in Brandon (currently closed to due financing problems but rumours abound that it will re-open). There was a great selection of local grains, a wild rice from La Pas (a little out of a 100 mile radius) a good selection of frozen meat including the rather exotic elk and bison, butter and more! Even beauty cream with royal jelly from Raven Creek Farm in Oakburn and some great eco-friendly cleaning products. So, it's really pretty easy to shop local in the winter in Brandon! I'm hoping more people here give it a try!

Dark Days Challenge: A Swing and a Bit of a Miss...

Farmer Man is away on a bit of a sabbatical and I'm finding it hard to cook for one. I'm eating local - porridge from local oats, spelt and flax almost every morning. Eggs for lunch frequently, but dinner has mostly been less than nutritious 'grazing'. So, I decided to roast one of our Berkshire hams, a little one, and then have leftovers for sandwiches, pastas and the quiche I've kind of been craving. I'll admit to you right here and now that Farmer Man is the cook of the family. So, I go on the Web and look up roasted ham, find some easy instructions and proceed. I decided on a one pot meat and veggie thing, because clean-up is not my favourite. So, a bottom layer of our homegrown potatoes, onions and carrots, some turkey stock and the ham. Well, the veggies turned out almost too salty to eat, tasty but salty. I also roasted the last Delicata squash which was scrumptious - can't say enough about how well they matured in storage. Lots of leftover ham for the rest of the week!

Dark Days: Locale Makes Such A Difference to Eating Local!

We've been away, in the Mexican Baja. What a difference location makes! There is an orange tree in the backyard of the little house we were staying in! Fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast! We've been eating local: Farmer Man loves the back alley taco stands, the working man's breakfast joints, the little street corner grills. We've only cooked a couple of times, but we did manage to cook local! Our Baja friend sent us to a wonderful rental place on the West Coast, just south of Todos Santos (if you're even considering the Baja check out this place) This is surfer country - just like every Beach Boys song you've ever heard! You have to go either with a vehicle or with enough groceries to last you. Our Baja friend sent us to the Organic Market in San Jose on Saturday morning, then took us to her fav market in Cabo on the way to the West Coast. Dinner was fresh scallops pan-seared and finished with the little, tiny, adorable local limes. A fresh salad with all the veg from the organic market: lettuces, tomatoes, peppers, green onion, mushrooms. And a veggie roast in tin foil with local potatoes, onions, garlic and a great winter squash that looks like Tondo. We were having such a nice time that I forgot to take a picture! The next day, a friend of our host's brought by a piece of freshly caught wahoo fish and what a revelation that was! New to us, it's has a clean, light flavour with great texture and flake! Would love to be able to find wahoo up in Canada! I guess we'll just have to return to the Baja......

Dark Days Challenge Meal

There is something wonderful about eating your own garden produce in January, when there's a foot of snow outside and a wind chill not unlike Antarctica! Last night we roasted a ham from our home-grown Berkshire pork. It was great! But, what was truly the surprise of the night was the roasted Delicata squash. The two small ones we cooked had been stored in the house, in our cool back room. Now, we've always noticed the difference between our vine-ripened winter squash and the under-ripe offerings in the grocery store. But this is the first time we'd had enough Delicata left to 'mature' this long. It was divine - the aging process had left it dense but creamy, with complex butterscotch or caramel notes. Delicata is normally eaten when a creamy yellow colour with green stripes; this one was completely pale yellow. There is one small one left; we'll eat it soon! And I can hardly wait to see how the Hubbard and Acorn, still in the root cellar, are developing!

Dark Days Challenge Meals

It's been soooo interesting joining the Dark Days Challenge. One thing we've realized is that we've really gotten into a rut about cooking. Yes, we're trying to use only what we grew, and yes, we're in the frozen North without the choices of people in California or the Southern States. But, some of these people are really inventive with their cooking, some are making their own breads and buns on a regular basis, which we've been too lazy to do. So, this week's local food is pretty boring, but we're motivated to try harder! Dinner Wednesday night was our own Berkshire pork chops, seasoned and roasted. Served with our own Roko potatoes and carrots. For breakfast the next morning, Berkshire bacon, a nice thick cut, with fresh eggs right out of the coop! It ain't fancy, it ain't pretty (the food styling thing still needs work, too) but it sure was tasty!

Dark Days Challenge Meal

Crazy as it may sound, Farmer Man and I have not sat down together for a meal this week. Too crazy with differing work schedules, errands and to-do's. We have eaten locally produced food, though! Porridge with local organic oats, spelt and golden flax from Windy Hill Farms. One of the advantages of living on the Prairies is local grains, wheats and legumes. Never thought to take a picture a picture of breakfast, however. Next week things should calm down, and at least on Christmas Day we'll be dining together!

Dark Days Challenge Meal

This week, being very busy, we went for a one pot meal. There is definitely a recurring theme to our meals right now: potatoes, onions, winter squash and carrots, all things in our root cellar. For this week's meal we got a lovely little beef roast from the local butcher shop. We're very fortunate to have a couple of great butchers in our small city featuring local products. Local beef and pork are not hard to find for us in the middle of cattle and grain country! Grass-fed, free-range and organic are all possible, but it was convenience that had us grab what we could this week. A simple pot roast, surrounded by veggies including some delicious Kabocha squash, a little extra water in the pot and some fresh herbs cut from the pot made for a simple and delicious dinner. And lots of leftovers for sandwiches! If you haven't checked out the Dark Days Challenge at the (not so) Urban Hennery it is well worth it! The re-cap each week has tons of awesome recipes and great tips on sourcing local food!

Dark Days Challenge Meal

On Sunday, the only day Farmer Man is home early from the Christmas tree lot, I had a local meal waiting. Something warm and filling! Lamp chops from our friends at Logan Farms, topped with canola oil and red onion (from the root cellar, as are all the veggies). I slow cooked the lamb until Farmer Man arrived home and then broiled them a few minutes to crisp up the onion. Steamed carrots and more of the red onion, and spaghetti squash pancakes! The pancakes were a medium squash, which produced about 2 1/2 cups of spaghetti when baked. I combined that with about 1/4 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese (not local, admittedly) and chopped in some fresh sage from the herb pot. Fried on both sides to brown them up and yummy! Served with a little Swiss chard relish my sister made and some sour cream. Very warming after a cold day at the Christmas tree lot!