We all agree (right?) that there are environmental, societal, nutritional, and taste benefits to getting your produce and animal products from local farms, but how many locally-sourced ingredients are actually in *your* average dinner? The always-entertaining Cheenius, Mr.Dr. Cheenius, Butter Boy & Butter Babe (aka the Tiny Twosome), and friends challenged themselves with a special dinner party to see how local their cooking could get. Here’s Cheenius to tell you more…
Locavores . . . eating local . . . blah blah blah local. Cheenius and friends decided it was time to meet the challenge head-on and hold a Local Food Only Dinner. Each guest made something that was primarily sourced from near-by foods, which gave us an interesting menu:
Local beer, wine, and cider (duh)
Baba Ganoush
Deviled Eggs
Tomato Mozarella Salad
Potatoes Au Gratin
Roasted Corn/Black Beans/Peppers/Tomato/Feta Salad
Roasted Potatoes
Blueberry Pie
Peach Honey Ice Cream
(No main dish, but did we really need one?)
Everything was quite tasty, especially the Potatoes Au Gratin from Butter Babe, and we were having fun (discussing Ebola, etc.) until Cheenius ruined it with . . .
MATH.
She and Mr.Dr. Cheenius made everyone score their dishes as follows:
- Grown or made yourself = 3 points
- Grown within 50 miles = 2 points
- From anywhere in VA = 1 point
It was a weighted average, so you had to consider the percentage each ingredient made of the whole dish, and then multiply by the point system, and then add them up. All this on a Friday night? Ridiculous.
Obviously Cheenius, with her own garden and eggs, won, but she graciously bestowed jars of local honey as prizes to the 2nd and 3rd place winners. One lucky guest also won for most local human (if you count Northern VA as Virginia).
Good times, may have to make it an annual event!
