No food, just info...

So, I feel like I should tell a little bit about myself, for anyone who might read this that isn't related to me through blood, marriage, or belly dance.

First off, I am not a stay-at-home mom.  I'm not a mom at all.  What I mean by that is, I'm not always home to make a complete dinner - or any dinner - and no one is relying on me to feed them something.  I work 40+ hours per week.  On top of that, I am in a full time MBA program.  On top of that, I am a semi-professional belly dancer and dance teacher.  I teach classes two nights a week, and attend classes twice more each week.  Plus gigs.  My husband works 40+ hours per week as well.  On top of that, he's a professional musician with gigs most Friday and Saturday nights.

My point of telling you this is to explain that I am not home every night making dinner.  There's going to be a lot of quick dinners, and crock pot dinners, and no dinners.  If there's no post, it doesn't mean I cheated.  It means I didn't eat anything worth posting about (read: leftovers or popcorn.  But LOCAL popcorn!!)

So, please, don't judge my hectic schedule.  It take this challenge seriously, and when I did use non-local ingredients I will admit to it. 

One last thought: Even if I lose focus and this blog falls off, I feel like I've already succeeded.  In one day, I've learned something new.  I think herring is delicious!  I used to live just a few blocks away from the Ma Baensch's plant, and I never THOUGHT of trying it.  It looks gross.  It's something my grandparents probably ate in the depression.  Yuck.

But, I needed a vegetable to go with dinner.  I'm lucky that I can find salad greens, considering it's March in the Midwest and there's still snow on the ground, but I'm not finding anything else for my salad!  No tomatoes, no cucumbers, no nothing.  Just greens.  Okay... Caesar Salad.  So I look at Pick n' Save, and at my local co-op, and the Public Market.  No local dressing.  Okay... So I have to make my own.  Great!  I've never made salad dressing before.  It's an adventure.  But, no anchovies.  I guess I could leave them off... but I like them and this salad is already pretty boring.  But wait!  How is herring related to anchovies?  According to Wikipedia, herring is in the family of Clupeidae, which is in the order of Clupeiforms, and Clupeiforms contain the anchovy family.  So they are related!  Sort of.  So, if I substitute herring for anchovies...

And here we are!  Forced to try to buy locally fist, I spent #3.00 on a jar of herring that I never would have considered buying in the past.  I found a new food I like, and will continue to buy, I supported a local economy, and I learned to cook something new.

And that is what this blog is about!

Dinner tonight will be leftovers; dance class goes until 10:00pm, so there is no time for anything else.

And, yes, I cite my sources.  Even if those sources are Wikipedia!


Anchovy. (2011, March 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:22, March 22, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anchovy&oldid=419843488

Clupeidae. (2011, March 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:22, March 22, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Clupeidae&oldid=419321442