Spokane Food Blog

I’m in! I will live strictly on vegetables and fruit if I have to…

Any chance you could allow for one “more than 100 miles away” item? I would really like to be able to have coffee.

Well I would really like to eat soy too, Mark..but that wouldn’t be true to the competition now, would it?

Sigh…you’re right.

I am going to win! (maybe)

You tell him Becky. But, you can eat soy. The Palouse if full of soy! You just have to find a way to make it taste like what you want. Possibly mashed beans mixed with spinach and egg whites? (Are you going vegan, veg, omni, gluten free, etc. on this one?)

Mark, coffee might be included in part 2 of the contest. Until then, I suggest you find a root to boil and get over your addition.

Since Becky and Unknown Neva are in, I’m in (although I’m already freaking out about all that I won’t have access to)…

and Becky, Crystal has a soymilk maker.

Sigh. I’m in. I’ll dust off Burger, Revised on its new, sneaky home.

“You win the game if you are the first player to make it to the end of the 5 day challenge without consuming products outside of the 100 mile range.”

Um, those who make it would all finish at the same time.

Yeah Moneeeq!! Maybe our SpoVegan girl will jump in too?

Andrew, yes, we would all finish at the same time but that is why the line after that says “There may be more than one winner. “

Yes, Monique!!! I’m so excited! Uh, I’m not eating meat, obviously. I don’t know if I will buy milk, but I will probably eat eggs. I’m sure I can come up with some soy concoction with garlic, if I have to, so we’ll see. I think we’re all going to do really well on this!

Sign me up.

I LOVE THIS I AM SO IN!!!

I would love to host a LOCAL ONLY pot luck and have a contest on who can make the most fantastic dish during this week of local only eats.

One more time a LOCAL Only pot luck hosted at Fresh Abundance! Any takers??? name the date and time and FA will provide the tables, chairs and great conversation:)

I’m still sore from the last outing. And my geography ain’t up to Nastradamus standards, but any fool with a compass or google earth knows that this is going to be an easy victory for DTE! The garden in back: So close, I can taste it. Delicious.

What you do with cucumbers is your own business, Paul. And the rivalry is back on, peach fuzz boy.

Tomatoes for breakfast…. don’t mind if I do!
I’m in

Local Only potluck sounds great. Maybe Day 3 or 4 of the contest? Thanks for offering to host it.

I’m in! Is it possible that I’m already suffering caffeine withdrawals?

I’m a complete Little Debbie addict, so this is going to be difficult…but I’m in

Locavore Round 1 Contestants:

1. Becky from The Me in Awesome
2. Mark from Route 140 and Rhymes with Almonds
3. Unknown Neva from SFB and Finally a Blog
4. Moneeeeq from Home Economics 2.0
5. Andrew from Editor, Revised and Burger, Revised
6. Hank from Shallow Cogitations
7. BrightSpirit from Fresh Abundance
8. Cucumber Bummer from DTE
9. Remi from SFB and RemiAndre
10. Bart from DTE
11. Crystal from SpoVegan
12. Stephanie from ???? did you sign up for a blog?

Mark your calendars contest starts at 12:01 AM August 31, 2009 and ends at 11:59 PM September 4, 2009.

*potluck at FA date to be announced.

Count me in! And any of you coming to the September 1 luncheon for Sustainable September can come and eat and, if you skip the chocolate mousse for dessert, follow the locavore diet. Hmmm…even local butter. Olive oil? Not so much…

Brightspirit – how about a locavore potluck at FA on Saturday the 5th of Sept??

You have to love Sante hosting the luncheon but I am not sure Jeremy leaves salt out of his butter, or that the salt came from a 100 mile radius. Worth asking though and a good excuse for brunch at Sante!

Since the contest is Aug 31- Sept 4 it would also be fun to have the potluck at the beginning of the week b/c in past experience people just can’t hack it and drop out. Plus I am guessing the day after the contest ends, people might want to eat things that include salt and sugar, or coffee at the very least.

Good to have you AngieD, we will sneak you in as contestant #13.

BrightSpirit, Stephanie, and AngieD, can you please send the blog links you will be posting under?

One World Spokane has a lot of local menu items right now and being an open kitchen, you can learn about its origins from the chef. I love having this challenge.

I feel kinda lame that I’m not from anywhere cool lol

Janice, this one sounds great! Local apricot chicken, Roasted root veggies, 4 fresh salads, Chilled local spiced plum soup, Raspberry apricot crisp, Veg pizza, & more..yum

Thinking about stopping by One World to chat with the chef. It might be possible to eat a meal there during the pure locavore challenge!

I’m in. Thankfully I work a couple doors down from One-World, so I’ll have at least one square a day.

Here’s a question, and maybe this was already answered in the “watch out for the cheese and dairy” warning in the original post.

If I eat some steamed cabbage at One World and they seasoned it with salt, am I out?

Same with cheese — If I eat Quillisascut cheese and she puts rennet or salt in there from 100+ miles out, am I out?

I suspect the anwswer to both questions is yes: I’m out.

I’ll post on cyclingspokane.blogspot.com.

John, excellent questions, and yes, you are right. If the salt didn’t come from the 100 mile radius, you are out. I read a few packages of Quillisascut cheese the other day, most of them contain things out of our radius. But, there are a few cheese that can be made without the agents and need to be eaten the same day as production.

The lack of these products really showcases the wonderful global influence in wonderful local products.

Locavore Round 1 is down and dirty, only the pure foods from the 100 mile region.

Locavore Round 2 (more to come later) will involve the locally produced foods such as Small Planet Tofu, all Quillisascut cheese, etc. More of a Team Spokane F*** Yeah approach to the lovavore habits.

Pondering this event, I think it seems very doable. But the salt thing may be the killer.

How the f@#% can you eat with out salt? I’m not a salt freak, but man alive, I’ve forgotten salt in my bread and it’s awful. So, is there a 100 mile salt source? How about vinegar or oil?

BrightSpirit: can you work me up a 100 mile box of non-perishables? Grains, oils, seeds, dried stuff, etc?

An endorheic basin is near our region http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorheic . But salt can also come from rock deposits. I have seen these form in our area with compact gravel and a bit of rain water. However, that type of salt did not taste good but might be worth a try. In the raw state eggs, milk, meat, have sodium.

Oli, you can use soy or corn oils, I don’t know where to get these ready made. I am guessing you can find a way to make grape seed oil. You should be good with sunflower, pumkin, squash seeds.

I am going to recommend oatmeal with honey and huckleberry sauce or apricot juice mixed with ground chilies for dressing some greens.

Good idea on the Fresh Abundance boxes.

I’m assuming milk is out? Pardon the naivety, I’m not any sort of experienced in the local food scene.

Stephanie, milk is easy!
Check out Fresh Abundance for local milk. They are even selling some at Huckleberries now, but we like Fresh Abundance better.
FA is also a great resource for lots of other local foods.

Boy, this sounds pretty danged challenging, especially for someone living on a super-tight budget … but I think I’m going to give it a try!

I eat so much locally already and I just love it, so it should be fun to try and do this 100% locally!

I too think it would be all kinds of awesome if Brightspirit made a nonperishable box to help us out, as I think the hardest part for me is going to be finding some of these things locally (salt, like mentioned above, and personally I’ve never looked into foods like vinegar and a number of other things).

Raw Milk should be fine, I don’t know if there is anything extra in the local milk. http://www.raw-milk-facts.com/Raw_Milk_FAQ.html

Stephanie, I think we will all learn much more about the variety of local food we have.

[...] sources.  Salt, oli, vinegar, sugar, cheese, did it come from the 100 mile radius of Spokane, see comments? Fresh Abundance and One World Spokane have generously offered their support in this challenge to [...]

I just realized yeast is going to be out too, so I can’t just go and make my own bread (at least not the usual way).
Unless someone produces bread yeast locally?

Dang, this is going to be a challenging contest!

I have been thinking about doing this forever! Very excited to make this work

Rachel, you can make sourdough bread. In any kitchen where you’ve done a fair amount of baking there are now “wild yeasts” present, so those help get the sourdough going. Those would count as local–they’ve escaped domestication & are now surviving in the wild .

There’s a problem with other leavening ingredients such as baking soda or baking powder. Baked goods are almost entirely out, as are spices. Cinnamon, anyone? Nutmeg? Curry powder? We have a wonderfully global taste to our diet that I’d hate to give up permanently. How could we get local production of some of these things, if it’s even possible in our climate?

Any chef worth his salt (couldn’t resist) is probably using unsalted butter, so that may not be a problem.

Angie, so glad to hear about the Sustainable September lunch ingredients! This does point out the most serious problem of all–possibly even surpassing the lack of coffee…. NO CHOCOLATE. (no vanilla either, for that matter)

Another level for people who can’t quite be all-in might be to say that all foods you purchase will be local, and you can also eat out of your pantry. That’s food you’ve already purchased and it shouldn’t go to waste.

@BarbChamberlain

This is SO FUN! Over the winter i made huckleberry vinegar which is stashed in my basement.

Someone was asking about milk –local milk is JUST milk so we are good to go there.

Someone else said make your own cheese but quick cheese needs acid I usually use vinegar or lemon juice both of which are out unless you have a stash in your basement like I do. MWAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAA giggle twitch

quick techy question—how do i add my picture to my profile–do i have a profile?

Barb, thanks for all of the suggestions. Your suggestion “for another level” will actually be part of Locavore Round 2. But, yes everyone can play “at home” at their own level.

Brandi, good to have you, which blog will you be posting on? If you don’t have one yet, just set up a quick wordpress or blogger blog.

brightspirit, want to sell some of that vinegar?! Good to have confirmation on the milk too.

Also you can add a picture by going to http://en.gravatar.com/ or if you have a wordpress blog (and you use that site when you post a comment) it will automatically show up

Watch our for Moneeeq she has a way to make yeast for bread! Check out Crystal’s SpoVegan blog comments to see more about it.

I have some natural start yeast that is over 6 years old and very strong. My mom has been using/feeding it every other day or so for the last 4 years. It can easily lift a dough over the course of a couple days. But we’re still stuck with the salt issue. Bread w/out salt is not worth making IMO.

[...] has begun the “Locavore 100 Mile Challenge Round 1″, an experiment/challenge for Spokavores to eat only food grown or raised within a 100 radius for 5 [...]

So if the map is as the crow flys is Marlin WA within 100 miles? If you drive it you go 110 but this is not a straight shot.

I”m assuming crow flies in how I find food. Here’s Spokane at the center of a 100 mile radius: http://tinyurl.com/lds9rh

Thanks for the map John. The radius will follow the map John made, not the paved roads. Looks like Marlin, WA is legal in the contest.

I am so impressed with all of you! Upriver Greenhouse was selling lemon trees and orange and lime trees last time I was there. They were bearing too. I keep hoping to buy one of these. For any of you in North Spokane there is also a farmer’s market up in Morgan Acres. 1/5 mile north of Francis on Smith Street. 7316 N Smith. It is open 5-8 on Wednesday and is local food only! Selling local melons, including watermelons, cantelope, and honey dew

Best of luck to all of you. I will be participating on a level 2 along with you.

Nice, this means breakfast is easy. My favorite breakfast starts with cooked rolled emmer flakes from Lentz Spelt Farm in Marlin. So for me breakfast is rolled emmer honey and raw milk—it has so much flavor the salt won’t be missed!

Catherine, thanks for the suggestions. If you think of anymore please let us know.

Brightspirit, that breakfast sound delicious. I am going to have to try that. I had never even heard of Marlin, WA before. Thanks.

Way to go, Brightspirit, that’s what I was planning to have for breakfast too!

Hmmm…all of your comments are very intriguing, but I can’t imagine living w/out that little bit of flavor I’m so used to…AND peanut butter. BUT, I will at least put the dates of the challenge on my calendar and see what happens. Surely there is more to life than a little seasoning in this incredibly bright and beautiful adventuresome summertime world, eh?

[...] with the 7vs7: Locavore, The 100 Mile Challenge Round 1 theme, provide an answer to the question we have all been pondering while preparing for the [...]

RB: you can vote on peanuts here http://www.spokanefoodblog.com/2009/08/24/what-would-you-add-to-your-locavore-diet/

I agree, peanut butter is a downfall.

In our past 7vs7 food challenges we have only had one person win. That tells you many do drop out. The first winner was Andrew who is also playing in this game. The second winner was Mark G. who lives in Pullman and is deciding if he wants to participate in the Spokane 100 mile radius. The previous contests were 7 days. Five days isn’t too bad when you really think about it. Only time will tell and I am guessing some people will drop on Thursday 09/03/09.

Unfortunately, I live 100 miles outside Spokane (a curse, I know), and it would be a challenge to eat only things grown there without serious importing, which defeats the purpose.

If we were doing a 100 mile radius from my present location in Philadelphia, I WOULD OWN YOU ALL. New York, Baltimore, Amish Country (some of the richest farming in the country), and the freaking Atlantic Ocean are all within a 100 mile radius.

So where do you draw the line for yeast?

We’ve had some mead brewing in our basement for almost a year. The original yeast we added were not local, but by this point, I’d assume any living yeasties were “born” in my basement.

Now that I’ve written this out, this is sounded like a “duh it’s local by this point” scenario.

Rachel, interesting question. I also have yeast “born” in my basement from home-brew. I never thought about using it b/c we do have locally produced yeast available according to Moneeeq and I believe Brightspirit. It looks like you can also use a tomato to make yeast.

What do you think fair to use or not?

I think anything raised in our area is fair game. We import the seeds we grow our gardens with. I think if it was produced here and lives here like yeast in beer or sour dough starter— which die and reproduce quickly should be counted in.

Oh, I didn’t realize their was local yeast you could buy. My husband and I were discussing culturing some yeast from our mead and decided it wouldn’t be doable in a week, so I’d love to buy some yeast instead if you’re going to let us use salt (as it kind of looks like you are).

Are there any specifics on what a meal constitutes as? It would suck, but one can sustain for five days on produce

Oh, my boyfriend and I were debating the CDA Olive Oil Company. He said it would work, I said it wouldn’t. Who’s right?

Yeast question is resolved? – please let me know if you have more to add on that.

No salt unless it came from this radius despite the poll.

Stephanie, the CDA Company, unless the olives were grown in this region it is out. That will be part of Locavore Round 2. You are right, he is wrong.

I am sure you could sustain on 5 days or produce but it would also be more beneficial to all of us if actual meals were made. That way we would have knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. I would encourage you to be creative in your cooking for the 5 days.

Today I thought I might give up coffee to begin weaning myself off in preparation—FAT CHANCE! Anyone know of a stimulant liquid hot brew from here!!!

Basil and mint teas can be stimulating, and so can garlic but I don’t exactly see that as a breakfast food….
Oregano and rosemary are also stimulating, but I’ve never tried those as a tea. (Maybe you should just have cheese-less pizza for breakfast? )

I suppose you could always try aromatherapy too, since you wouldn’t be eating anything that way. Along with all of the scents listed above, I always enjoy the pick-me-up of citrus – especially grapefruit.

You could also always put in for rush-delivery on an order of caffeinated soap. (Because, you know, that’s so local and natural.)

But back to being serious though: I think there’s nothing like a nice morning bike ride to wake me up.

I think I need to drop out before this even begins! The first week of my month of an insane # of events may not be the best time to go caffeine-free, if you get my drift. I will commit to eating from my garden and Fresh Abs and Sante and farmers markets, and write it up at http://www.sustainableseptemberspokane.ning.com – but this is too strict for me to make it this round. But please count me in for next time. Today I had a Coeur d’Alene tomato for lunch, tomorrow thinking of ratatouille from my front yard

Thanks Angie, we know you will be cheering us on. We will add you to Locavore Round 2!

[...] you know the rules.  Contest starts Monday August 31, 2009 at 12:01 AM and ends Friday September 4, 2009 at 11:59 [...]

I will be posting my 100 mile food choices to Jac’s blog

http://freshabundance.com/freshblog/

If beer is brewed locally do we count the ingredients of the beer like hops?

Local beer only counts if every ingredient is from the radius. Which, I believe is possible for home brew. Too bad my last batch had sugar in it.

Thanks for the site link, I will update it on the contestants list.

[...] look. Alternatively, post it in a comment here on SFB or e-mail it to us. As stated in the original contest rules, that’s all it takes. The main thing is that we are kept up to date on the progress. Let us [...]

[...] eat local products from local vendors within a 150 mile radius of Spokane, WA. As promised during Locavore Round 1, Round 2 aka Spokavore will take place when Main Market opens February 15 – 20, 2010. Sign [...]