by Deanne
This Real Local Cooking journey has been a fun way to record the things I learned in 2012 and having a blog to chronicle all this learning allows for many moments of reflection.
2012 was a year of change in terms of my awareness about food (something I’d previously never thought much about). It was also a year in which I (and my husband) put our values into action and decided to close our drive-in restaurant in August.
Cooking is where it all began . I took an interest in cooking again after many years of seeing it as a chore. I cracked open my Joy of Cooking book and made Chicken Cacciatore and learned how bagels are made by making a batch in our kitchen.
In March I reached out to meet people who care about local food. I discovered that Kathleen and her family live nearby and they grow and produce Omega Maiden Camelina Oil on
their farm. We’ve enjoyed creating recipes, like scones and dressings, with camelina oil. We’ve also enjoyed the friendship of Kathleen, her husband Justin, and their sweet daughter, Amana and we got to know the rest of her family when we held our first Veg-In in September.
Saying good bye to Francine in April was a difficult but an important step in my growth as a mother of adult children.
When Francine moved to England, I had a chance to learn about another culture in many of her posts…this snapshot post stands out as an early memory for me or her first month in her new home. I also learning about cobnuts in her A What Nut post.
In August, the Minnesota Cooks event at the Minnesota State Fair turned out to be educational when I unexpectedly learned more the importance of adding Omega 3 to our diets. Go Omega Maiden! (It is a great source of Omega 3.)
As Steve and I dream about the future of our business and clarify our vision for opening a new restaurant this summer, we remember the visits we made at various UK Farm Shops in November. It was wonderful to discover that the English have found a nice marriage between restaurants and locally grown products.
Now, as the new year begins, Steve and I visiting family in California. We peeled our first pomegranate and made a toast to our dreams for 2013.
Cheers everyone and here’s to a wonderful 2013!
Pomegranate Cocktail
(from the book we purchased yesterday, The Art of Real Food)
- 1 bottle sparkling wine
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate juice
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
Wow I can’t believe it’s only been since March that we met Kathy and Justin. I felt like we’ve known them much longer!
They are like family aren’t they?
Happy New Year! Cheers to a happy and healthy 2013.
Hi Julie! Happy New Year to you and Tim. Will you still be coming to Minnesota from time to time this year? It sounds like his mom passed last year and I was thinking she lived in Minnesota.
HI, Deanne: Actually that was my mom (step mom) that passed away. Tim’s mom is still in Darfur. We’ll be up from time to time. Keeping an eye out for the new restaurant. We’ll be there for sure!!
We look forward to seeing you!