100 Mile Thanksgiving

As I posted on a few weeks ago, several groups, including the Eatlocalchallenge.com blog, which I am affiliated, are encouraging people to eat local this Thanksgiving. For those in the Chicago area, it's really not too hard.

It's easy to find a locally produced turkey. Hoka's are natural and delicious (see the web site for places to buy).

Hopefully, your larder contains squashes, onions, beets, potatoes (sweet or white) to make what you need. Me, I have plenty of these things in my basement (not the least, 50 lbs of Wisconsin potatoes recently purchased for the grand price of $9.49). You might also have some pie pumpkins. Listen, if you have not put any of this stuff down, don't fear. The Green City Market is open this Wednesday and next Wednesday. All of this produce will be there. I bet you can find some of this at Whole Foods too. What's more, farmer's like my friend Vicki, are still yanking things from the ground. Beets, greens, turnips, carrots, broccoli; is there anything we still need? In case anyone wondered, plenty of cranberries grow in Wisconsin for the sauce. You could have purchased local flour for your dressing/stuffing, but I won't care if you at least stuff with locally baked bread.

Dessert, well, are you sick of apples yet. Shouldn't be. You have many more months of eatin' em. Apple pie, brown betty, crisp, crumble, shlump, slices, pudding, how many desserts do you need? More, this is the time to uncork those Michigan sour cherries so expertly individually quick froze, or maybe you have some papples left. Slice some papples, combine with Upland's award winning Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese, some black walnuts, and you have another dish.

The only problem, obviously, is to drink. There are wines coming from Illinois, Michigan, but I cannot speak of them. So, go ahead, drink a good California chardonnay, snobs be damned, it's good. Still, if I was around for Thanksgiving (I'll be on the road), I'd at least try to accent with some local drinks, maybe some hard cider. I would, for sure, offer up some of the rhubarb wine purchased this summer in Amanna, Iowa.

Seems to me that it's pretty hard NOT to have a local Thanksgiving.