Thursday, September 6, 2007

Hello, Eat Local Challenge participants!

I am thrilled, after two months of seriously eating locally, to have a lot more company all of a sudden now that the September Eat Local Challenge has begun. If you're just starting out, you may want to take a look at the eat local directory on the sidebar (which is still very much under construction) for some ideas. That said, I know from experience that the search for local food is a good part of the fun, so don't cheat yourself of the scavenger hunt! And be sure to let me know what you find...I can use all the help I can get!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the spirit of preserving the local produce this month, I made the plunge and bought a boiling water canner, rack, canning funnel, jar lifter, and Ball cookbook. (I already had some jars, lids, and screw bands from years ago.)

The jar lifter was a real challenge to find locally! After checking at five chain stores, one kitchen store, and a a hardware store, I was discouraged. It looked like I would have to buy one on the internet for $3-$15 plus $5-8 for shipping and wait 7-10 days to get it!

I finally called a kitchen store at a factory outlet 45 min. away and they had one for $2.99. Can you believe my husband and I drove all the way down there for a $3 item???

Of course, setting foot in a kitchen store led to lots of other temptations. The best one (which I yielded to) was the Vidalia Chop Wizard - "as seen on TV."

Actually, I've never seen it on TV, but I had seen it reviewed very favorably in Good Housekeeping magazine, so I bought it for chopping the veggies for the salsa I'm hoping to make this weekend.

I tried it out on an onion when we got home, and it really does "chop or dice in one swift motion"! See their website for all the corny - but true - details: https://www.chopwizard.com/

Melanie Lytle said...

Well done! I wish you were closer than Pennsylvania so that I could take advantage of your purchases. I have yet to make the plunge!