When we moved to southern Arizona from the Phoenix metropolitan area, leaving the comfort of Trader Joe's, Sprouts, Whole Foods, and Costco (the stores that were the backbone of our food provision) was a concern for Zao's Daddy and me. The town to which we were moving currently offers a WalMart and a Safeway, neither of which are high on the list of markets offering alternative food choices. We envisioned a future of weekend hauls to Tucson to stock up on things like almond milk, olive oil potato chips, and bacon, in bulk.
We did that once, maybe twice, the first month we lived down here. Very quickly, spontaneously, effortlessly, a change came about that was unexpected, and far better than we could've imagined.
We have found local sources for everything except beef, shellfish and fish, and I am working on finding a place to purchase that locally, as well. Our milk, eggs, produce, chicken, and grains such as wheat and oats (can) all come from local farms. Honey and nuts are everywhere, too, when we want them. We are eating the way I've been dreaming of for years. Simply, in season, and locally sourced.
Here are some pictures of our local bounty:
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| cream pulled off our local (really local, less than half a mile away!) raw, grass-fed milk |
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| cream churned into butter |
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| peaches and tomatoes from Willcox (organic) |
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| tomatoes again, jalepenos, cucumber, green beans, micro basil, also from Willcox and all organic |
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| simple, from scratch Sunday dinner, southern-style: comprised of locally grown beans, green beans, eggs, homemade buttermilk and butter from local raw milk, and sprouted locally grown wheat |
I have found a renewed zest and zeal for cooking, the likes of which I haven't had since Zao was a baby, and the early years of my twenties when I was newly submerged into the professional cooking world. Part of it is due to having a very cooking- and cleaning-friendly kitchen in our new house, but there is such joy and delight in working with these fresh beautiful foods. How rewarding it is, preparing these foods in such a way that they fulfill their potential for nutrition and flavor.
