So, trying to eat local foods is harder than it seems. Bananas, oranges, and most other fruits just don’t grow here. We’ve had to make sacrifices in our diet that limit the variety of foods we eat. The only meat we’ve been able to find that’s truly local (and pasture-raised) is either bison or costs $8 a pound! But we’ve made a lot of changes, and we’ve learned what we need to improve next year: primarily, being more careful with our garden planting. We’re going to draw out plans and order the right seeds as well as triple the size next year so that we don’t have to buy so much produce from farmers’ markets.
One thing I really wanted to do this year was make Thanksgiving more authentic. When we sit down at the table tomorrow, won’t it be wonderful to know that most of the food we eat came from places only miles from here? So we’re changing it up: for the first time in my life, we won’t be eating candied yams (one of my favorites), we’re giving up the green bean casserole, and we’re not going to eat pumpkin pie from a can. I’ve been saving a couple of pie pumpkins I bought just for this occasion, and this morning I had to search the web for a recipe, because even my mom’s 50-year-old cookbook tells you to open up a can of pumpkin.
For anyone out there who thinks making a pumpkin pie from a PUMPKIN is difficult, it’s not! There were 3 extra, simple steps: cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out all the seeds (and now we have enough seeds from one pumpkin for our entire garden next year!), and place the halves in a giant pan to steam for 15 minutes. Then, scoop out the mushy pulp and puree it for about 30 seconds and you have enough pumpkin for a pie.
If I had known it would be that simple, I would have been doing this for years. Pumpkins are so easy to grow! The pumpkin that I pureed had the same consistency as the canned pumpkin, and the pie cooked as easily. I can’t wait until tomorrow. Alongside my homemade apple pie (with Colorado apples, of course), our butternut squash and apple soup, and the candied acorn squashes, I think the turkey will take second chair.
We are surrounded, all of us, by farms. Why not buy fresh, cook fresh, and feel better about what we are doing to our bodies and our world? Now THAT is something to be thankful for!
