Green Holiday: Easter

I really like Green Holidays - it's a great opportunity for me to stretch my planning and culinary preferences and see how sustainable, organic, local and ethical I can make it. This year was particularly special, since our local family farm was able to offer us a whole lamb that was bottle-fed goat's milk and humanely slaughtered.

We also made our plans to enjoy our Easter feast in the park instead of inside our homes, using up electicity and breathing recycled air. The day was beautiful, with a little breeze and mid-70s, all of us got a wonderful dose of Vitamin Daylight! We conserved energy enjoying all that beautiful sunlight and we used cloth napkins and plastic beach plates so we didn't have any waste!

Though I played with family favorites last year, this year our menu was Mediterranean:

Stuffed Grapeleaves:

• organic California Basmati rice
• all-natural brined grapeleaves
• locally raised, all-natural lamb
• organic tomato paste
• organic lemons

Tabouli

• organic tabouli mix (I have to admit this is cheating: I usually make it fresh with cracked wheat bulgur)
• organic American cucumbers
• organic tomatoes
• local, organic parsley
• organic lemons

Falafels

• falafel mix (this is my favorite: we bought fresh pressed garbanzo mix from our favorite Mediterranean cafe - Baladi's)
• peanut oil

Hummus

• organic garbanzo beans
• organic tahini paste
• organic olive oil
• organic lemons
• organic garlic
• white pepper

Pita Bread

• local fresh whole wheat pita (these we purchased fresh from Baladi's - who makes them in his store each morning)

Green Holiday: Thanksgiving

Trying to continue to make the most of our resources, minimize waste, eat a SOLE food diet and encourage others to have Green Holidays, I've included a little sneak peak into our November festivities. This was my first year hosting Thanksgiving and cooking a turkey without my mom, but we tried our best and made sure we were making tribute to seasonal, local food as well as traditional family favorites!

Grandma Balaban's Holiday Spinach Balls (photo above)

• organic frozen cut spinach
• organic seasoned stuffing mix
• local free-pastured eggs (from Peace and Plenty Farm in NC)
• hormone-free parmesan cheese (from Trader Joe's)
• organic sea-salted butter (from Maine)

Mom's Olive Tapenade

• green olives & black olives
• toasted pecans
• organic omega-3 mayonnaise with flax seed oil
• water crackers

Betty Magill's Cranberry Salad

• fresh organic cranberries (photo above)
• organic grapes, celery, orange and tart apple
• crushed pineapple
• all-natural vegan gelatin
• organic fair-trade white sugar
• organic walnuts
• organic cream cheese

Old-school Mashed Potatoes

• organic local potatoes (from Weeping Radish Eco-Farm in NC)
• organic sea-salted butter
• organic milk

Mom's Sausage Stuffing

• organic celery, onion, apple, fresh sage
• organic seasoned stuffing mix
• fresh nitrate-free venison sausage (gifted to us from our Texan rancher family)
• homemade vegetable stock (photo above)
• organic dried cranberries

Brined Turkey with Cider Gravy

• organic, free-range, heritage turkey
• organic, sea-salted butter
• fresh organic sage & rosemary
• salt brine mix from Williams-Sonoma (photo above)
• unpasteurized, fresh, domestic apple cider
• organic, unbleached, unbromated flour

Drinks

• fresh homemade chai (served both chilled and hot)
• organic, fair-trade, shade-grown coffee
• unpasteurized fresh domestic apple cider

Green Holiday: Easter

In my efforts to start eating more locally, I built a holiday menu that was seasonal, local, organic and almost entirely homemade. In efforts to reduce waste and reduce our carbon footprint, I purchased almost everything at the farmer's market with my reusable grocery bags and produce bags and utilized cloth napkins at the table. Here's a listing of our SOLE food Easter menu:

Eggs Benedict:

• Local chicken eggs (purchased from Peace & Plenty farm in NC)
• organic whole wheat English muffins (from the Organic Food Depot)
• oven roasted turkey slices (I don't eat pork... so this were a substitute from the Fresh Market)
• hollandaise made with cream from a local dairy and organic butter from a company that advertises its sustainable business practices

Crepes Suzette:

• Local duck eggs (also from Peace & Plenty farm in NC)
• Locally produced cream (from Homestead Creamery in Roanoke)
• organic butter
• domestic flour (from King Arthur in VT)

Blanched Asparagus:

• locally grown and harvested asparagus (purchased at the Eastern Market in Capitol Hill)

Chocolate Truffles

• locally made chocolate truffles that are made without additives or preservatives using only seasonal ingredients (bought at 5 Points Community Market from Cocoa Noveau: she recently set up an Etsy store so when she bakes for the farmer's market you can purchase her fantastic European chocolates online!)

My only regret was that I didn't take a photo of us enjoying all this fantastic food!!