Eating Local on Orcas

Ken and I are doing our best to eat locally. That's why we garden and raise chickens and rabbits. We believe in sustainability and taking responsibility for what you are eating. That meant last winter we pretty much lived on venison. Too bad it was a tough one. Our solution was to cook it... sometimes all day long, at a low tempeature; 285 degrees. I generally saute some onions, or chives which I have tons of in my garden, add some store bought celery and then brown the meat. We have this natural clay pot from mexico that for some reason cooks so much better than any others we have, and I put all these things together, cover with water or broth and slow cook. About an hour before eating I add carrots and potatoes. This winter we'll have our own potatoes! Ken has planted about 25 pounds of Yellow Finn potatoes..our favorite!

One of our favorite meals is braised rabbits. We cook our rabbit pretty much the same way as the venison but for about 2 hours, but we always add bay leaves. It has a very subltle sweet flavor, not at all gamey and very tender. There is something about the food that we raise or grow that is so satisfying. We are never left wanting something else or eating too much. It's as if the body can tell that food is truely nourishing and it's all it needs.

 Sometimes we eat it with mashed blue hubbard squash from our garden. This squash keeps really well and we were still eating it  a few weeks ago!

Isn't this the most glorious color. These were stored on the steps to our attic... very forgiving.

Some mornings I try to eat mainly from our garden. Here I have chives and beet greens for an omelet, and mint for morning tea.

Living on an Island gives us opportunities to forage for oysters. If you do this too, always check the red tide hotline and be sure to harvest ones that are away from any marinas or potential contaminants. We generally just broil them till they pop open and eat them right out of the shell!

 These guys were huge and meaty!  Yum!  Happy eating!