Marco. . . .Polo!

If you've been reading a while, you'll recognize Marco Polo rules as eating local foods with "imported" seasonings. Here is what a recent meal looked like:



So what we have here is Willow Creek Farm pork chops with a really tasty glaze—maple/ketchup/soy/ginger and a semi-local ingredient, Gin from Death's Door Spirits (made from many Wisconsin ingredients, but greater than 100 miles), green beans from somebody local (don't remember who) and corn bread made with the corn ground by all the kids (and a few of the adults) who came to chat with us at the food for thought festival. We did use commercial flour, but instead of buttermilk we made it with clabbered milk (local milk soured with our homemade vinegar), bartered eggs, and everybody's favorite, bacon fat. If you are still not convinced of the merits of adding bacon fat to your diet, stop punishing yourself. You're a good person, you deserve it.

This is now a pretty typical meal for us. The overwhelming bulk of it was purchased in person from the person who grew it, and a few extras (all of which would fit into a coffee mug, I suspect) were added to give it some character. And after the way we operated in August, it almost feels as convenient as a TV dinner!