To be continued...
Thursday, October 2, 2008 at 08:10AM 
You're looking at the last tomatoes of the season. If we're lucky, we might find a few more this weekend, but by and large our tomato bounty is in the history books. I made a huge pot of tomato soup this week and placed them in serving sizes into our brand new deep freezer. Why am I doing this? I thought the new new arrangement was to go through September? Well, in a stunningly predictable change of plans, Rashmi and I have decided, without nearly the preparation it probably will require, to go for the gold. We're going to try and eat Alabama for the entire year.
Most of the farmer's markets have closed - save for the small one here in Tuscaloosa, whose denizens have become our new best friends. We're hunkering down for a long winter's nap after the summertime ease of steaming bowls of fresh ratatouille (or leftover ratatouille) nearly every night. But we believe we'll be able to do it. Our market runs until December, and then we should have enough greens, canned and frozen veggies, meat, cheese, and dairy to carry us through January, February, and March. Then, we'll be back where we started - and after this long journey, strawberries on every plate doesn't seem that bad or tedious! That's another reason we're wanting to keep going - our foodways have changed so drastically and our sense of the seasons have grown so acute. I'm even counting down the days until hunting season. Yes. You need not read that sentence again: hunting season. Joe and I have vowed to pick up bow and arrow (more likely gun & ammo) and stalk bambi through the forest this fall. We figure it's intellectually dishonest to become a venison connoisseur without asking fundamental questions about our own capability to kill for food. That's what happens when you work at the University - you sit around and talk about "intellectual dishonesty" as it relates to meat intake. So, stay tuned for that. We'll also be continuing plans for our big Alabama Supper. The initial few dates have fallen through, but we're trying to put everything together for sometime in the late fall. We'll keep you posted as plans continue. We're also planning some drastic changes to this here website - keeping the blog component but adding some better features about the project and local food in Alabama. To that end, we'd like to start a mailing list we'll use every now and then to send info about local food events that come across our desk. If you'd like to sign up, please drop us a line at info(at)eatingalabama.org
We'll be posting more about our continued eating and the added complexities/challenges/exemptions that will occur with our overwintering. But in the meantime, thanks for reading, and we hope to hear from all of you as the satsumas come in...
Reader Comments (2)
You've still not answered the greatest mystery of all food related questions in the west Alabama region. Your extension has allowed you to incorporate this inquiry into your adventures and so you must ask yourself this question, “ From where does the Bryant Denny Stadium Dog come.” Answer this and I’ll be truly impressed. I think it comes from smoked Arkansas razorback, but that is a purely unsubstantiated theory
bill, you crack me up. indeed, the great hot dog mystery does need solving...i will be visiting Bryant Denny this Sat., so maybe there will be some guru of hot dog provenance in the stands. Probably not, but I tell you what- I could sure use a locally grown hot dog. Rositas and Boutwell Farms we need some of your superior meat products, pronto!