Monday, February 3, 2014

Piggy Pick-up Day is Almost Here




WELCOME TO 
Learning to Live Sustainably

We can do it together

It's Almost Piggy Pick-up Day!

So, we have been getting great reviews on the black raspberry jam and satsuma marmalade that we made in the fall.  I guess that means we are pretty darn good jam makers!  Last week we cracked open the first jar of green beans from our fall canning adventure.  Oh, how delicious they were!  And, our first compost bin is almost full.  We are living more sustainably one day and one step at a time and having fun doing it!  

So, what's next in our endeavor to live more sustainably???  We, along with Mary (the market's other co-manager and our sustainability mentor), contacted a farmer who we knew grew exceptional livestock.  After talking with the farmer and asking lots of questions, we decided to go together in buying a pig that would eventually provide us our sustainably raised pork.  We made this decision back in the summer but had to wait while our pig was growing big living the good life - lots of good, wholesome food, acorns, Non-GMO corn grown right there on the farm, and other delicious treats, a farm family to take excellent care of it, and lots of space to root around with the other pigs.  

A couple weeks ago, we got the call we had been anxiously awaiting - our pig was ready to go to the processor!  Now, we had decisions to make - what cuts did we want?  Mary was a big help and we got our order in.  At this point all we had to do was sit back and wait, right?  Not really.  We have been looking for a freezer since last summer when we made the decision to buy the pig and have had no luck finding what we wanted.  So, here we are with the pork scheduled to be picked up in 6 days and we have no place to put it. 

Yes, we were getting a bit nervous, but we knew we would find a freezer.  The internet has let us down.  Fred has been comparison shopping and checking almost daily for any deals or for someone getting rid of a freezer and came up empty handed every time.  We made several trips to various stores and quickly realized that it isn't so easy to find a manual defrost freezer in the store either.  And, even if we found one, where were we going to put it once we got it home?  Our heads were beginning to spin, but we have each other so we knew we would meet the challenge.  Six days to go and we need that freezer.  Time to hit the stores again.  

Great news - we found a good deal on an upright manual defrost freezer that's big enough for the pork, and beef (we'll talk about that later), and all the summer fruits and veggies we will get at Market this year.  Bad news - they don't have one in stock and it will take 14 days to get one.  We know the pork needs freezer space now, not 14 days from now.  Kinda good news - another store has one, but it's an hour away.  So, of course we jump in the truck and hit the road.  The best news - after taking lots of doors off, we finally got the freezer in and found it a new home! Phew, now we can relax.             

We even have our first recipe for cooking some of our delicious pork - Bacon Gremolata to add to Fred's various soups.  Here's the recipe in case you want to give it a try.  It makes an excellent addition to most creamy soups.



Bacon Gremolata



Ingredients


4 strips bacon, chopped

1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon lemon zest (Optional)
1 tablespoon finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 tablespoons chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley 

Directions
  1. Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes.
  2. Transfer cooked bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
  3. Toss breadcrumbs in the remaining bacon grease in the skillet, and cook over low heat until toasted and crisp.
  4. Stir in cheese and continue to cook until melted.
  5. Transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature.
  6. Stir in bacon, lemon zest (optional), and parsley. Toss to coat. (At this point, you may want to pulse a few times in a small food processor to get smaller pieces.)
  7. Serve as garnish for your favorite soup.

   

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Mel Farnsley & Mary Hutten, Owners
info@learningtolivesustainably.com
513-481-1914

Visit us Fridays 3-6pm at
Lettuce Eat Well Farmers' Market
3820 Westwood Northern Blvd.
Cincinnati, OH 45211

 
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