You aren't in Season, baby!

We are all watching our pocketbooks and our waistlines, right? Well, at least I know I am. So how can we have the finest food without breaking the budget or our belts?
Get to know your local farmers! I know, I know, a lot of us live in very urban areas with no farms for miles, but there is an easy answer for this: The farmers market. Every city has one ( or many). The key is to avoid the big tourist-y places, and find the small, neighborhood places.

I live in Seattle, so what's the first thing that pops into your mind? Pike Place. I used to Sous a restaurant in the Corner Market Building, and I shopped the market for my evening's fare. Boy oh boy were those prices inflated! Of course, I got the "market discount" which was 10% off, but even with that the prices were ridiculous.
One Sunday ( organic farmer day) I spoke with one of the smaller farmers and asked her where they did the best business, and she told me that she got the most money here, but they sold their best product to the locals over at the Ballard farmer's market. I moved on from that restaurant, and learned more and more about the smaller farmers markets in town.
Now- several years later, the Ballard and Fremont farmers markets are much bigger than they were before ( I used to go to an empty lot on Ballard ave. and buy a flat of cascade truffles for 20$!!) and the University market stays relatively food focused. It is still the best product around. Fresh and in season is the cheapest way to eat!

So for those of you who are trying to buy strawberries and nectarines in the dead of winter, asparagus in February, and butternut squash in July- why do you think your grocery bill is so high? Because the out of season food has to be shipped to you from another hemisphere.
Yes, I know " if we only eat local then we won't really ever get papaya or bananas!"
Sure- I think it's fine to buy things that need to be shipped. We sure as heck don't get enough heat up here in the PacNW to grow very good Carambola or Chirimoya, but I love them. I just understand that they will not be cheap, and they will not be a delicious as they would be if I went and ate a starfruit in India, or a pudding fruit in southern Spain.

So what is in season in February? Well, that depends on where you live. For us here in the great PacNW:

Cabbage, Carrots, Chard, Greens, Leeks, Nettles, Winter squash, Sweet Potatoes, Tangerines, Pears, Turnips, Oranges, Some varieties of apples ( so sad that Honeycrisp season is over!)... I could go on and on...

For meats- I find that if you find a really good local butcher, and befriend him/her they will likely start to give you a "regulars" discount. Their meat will be better than that of the supermarket and you can have you steaks cut any way you like them. Get to know your fish mongers and your butchers...PLEASE know where your meat comes from.
I love to go down to the fisherman's wharf and buy fresh caught whole salmon from the fishermen, butcher it at home and freeze it. I will have spent maybe 20$ on a whole pacific salmon, provide the labor myself, and have the equivalent of hundreds of dollars worth of salmon in my freezer. Many stores will charge between 11.99 per lb for chum salmon- 42.99 per lb of copper river salmon at it's peak.
I pay $20-$40 for a whole fish that was alive yesterday. Can your supermarket do that? No.
On to beef...
If you can, find a few friends, and chip in for a whole cow. Yes. A whole cow.
Find a farmer that will sell you one of his/her Beef steer ( make sure that the steer is at least no hormone/ no antibiotic... or go all out-try grass fed- it's a little tougher, but boy is it delicious when a ruminant eats what it is meant to!), have his butcher cut and vacu seal and each take a quarter cow. My sister's family gets 1/2 cow every year- 700 dollars and it keeps her family of 4 in beef for A YEAR! (and she throws a roast and some soup bones my way from time to time say thankya!)

So just some tips and thoughts, it's time for a change people. Let's do ourselves a favor and taste our food the way ( and the when) we were meant to. It'll not only save us money, but if prepared wisely, it can be beneficial to our health.

www.bunchgrassbeef.com

Oooooh! She didn't finish her paper!

Ok- I apologize for my mini-disappearing act. I had to work for my sister for several weeks, so I was swamped and tired.
That is no excuse! I must trek on.
I am posting to let you know that I have not forgotten my blog... what will I post next?
you will only know if you come back and read...

:)