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Relative Perspective

Posted at 8:47 PM on August 9, 2008 by Leslie Allen (1 Comments)

My brother-in-law, Matt, stayed with us this past week. He was here helping me take care of James, who had surgery. While Matt was here, he was a Locavore. I don't think Matt considered this when he decided to help James convalesce. Before I took him to the airport, I asked Matt what it was like being a Locavore in Reno.

Matt said the biggest thing he noticed about eating locally is that everything tastes better. Indeed, after every meal he would remark on how great it tasted. "Why does everything in your house taste so good?" he asked me again and again. I could only attribute it to the freshness of the ingredients.

The other thing Matt noticed was that everything was prepared from scratch, but nothing was too complicated. I can thank Lynn's new book, How to Eat Supper, for the ease of the meals. On James's surgery day we had the chilled cantaloupe soup. What a perfect post-operation recovery meal. It was cool and refreshing. Matt said he never had a cold fruit soup before, and was blown away how great it was.

The variety of vegetables also impressed him. We ate Christmas lima beans, a food he had never known before staying with us. We treated him to homemade feta and chevre, zucchini fritters, and homegrown onions. Staying with Locavores during the growing season certainly had its advantages!

The local food Matt probably enjoyed the most, he gathered on his own. Yes, fresh eggs! Three of our hens started laying two weeks ago, and we've been enjoying eggs everyday. This was probably Matt's favorite local food experience. He checked on the chickens at least four times a day, and would bring in the eggs with a huge grin! Too bad he can't keep chickens where he lives in Los Angeles.

Matt was inspired by our garden and we talked a lot about container gardening. He and his family live on the UCLA campus, and don't have a yard. We talked about growing stuff in wine barrels. He is going to try growing popcorn for his sons. What a treat!

I can't thank Matt enough for coming up to care for James. It was great having him here, and I really enjoyed sharing our Locavore lifestyle.

Comments (1)

How inspiring! We plan to go local in September, thanks to being exposed to your enthusiasm at the Seed Saver's Exchange conference, and I have to admit I'm a bit nervous. But you make it sound so easy. I'm actually planning to try the spicy melon salad that the cantaloupe soup was made from, also in Lynn's book. The local melons are so ripe right now that you can smell them as soon as you get within a block of the market -- seriously!

Posted by Becky and the Beanstock | August 11, 2008 8:39 AM