I've been putting off this moment for as long as I can but this week I finally gave into temptation and used what I call my "Get Out of Jail Free Card" for my Dark Days post. We made breakfast for our official Dark Days meal.
Marcus and I are both exhausted. We're both still recovering from a cold that will not go away. We also have a to do list that haunts us in our sleep. This weekend has been sunny and we've spent both days out in it, soaking up as much sunshine as we can while we have it. We weeded half our beds, turned our compost and straightened up the backyard. We also burned the rotten wood from two garden beds we had to dismantle. Beyond local meat, my local ingredients are getting a bit scarce and I find myself carefully rationing them out so I can make it all the way through next month. Breakfast is a meal that is easy for us to make local and we can make it almost in our sleep.
My husband makes biscuits that would make a grown man cry. They are perfection - light, flaky, buttery. If there were a biscuit competition nearby, I'd bet money on my boy's biscuits - they're that good. My husbands biscuits are so light and fluffy that whenever he makes them, on the rare occasion we have leftovers, I have to routinely go into the kitchen and clear out all the angels who have mistaken his biscuits for fluffy clouds to sleep on.
We served these pillows of heaven with local eggs, country ham & peach jam. The country ham was from Benton's and it is some of the best country ham I've ever had. Too often, eating country ham is akin to eating a slice of a salt lick. There's very little taste to the meat and dinner must always be followed by IV fluids to rehydrate oneself. Benton's country ham is almost a completely different animal. The first thing I notice in comparison to other country ham is that Benton's has real smoke power. It will perfume your car and the best thing about this smoke is that it doesn't obscure the taste of the ham - it just makes it better.
The jam was a quick jam I made last summer when we had more yellow peaches then we could reasonably eat. I was experimenting with lower sugar jams and Pomona pectin. To add a little more interest, I also added some almond extract to the jam. On the first real Spring-like day we've had in a long time, this jam was the perfect thing to eat. A spoonful of it promised us that summer was coming, no matter how many more rainy and cold days we might have.
Everything in this meal, except the White Lily flour in the biscuits and the almond extract & pectin in the jam was local. Yes - it was a meal that took very little thought and effort but I wish more people would realize that local eating can be easy. It's not about killing yourself to eat the localest local meal that ever localed. It's about incorporating these ingredients and recipes into your life so it almost takes no thought.