Tomatoes & garlic from Barbara, chocolate cake with basil frosting

Some lunches really make me glad to be alive. Today's lunch, for example. My friend Barbara brought us a wonderful selection of tomatoes she's growing in her garden just a few blocks away, including the adorable tiny tomatoes and juicy red slicer in the picture below. She also brought some garlic she'd grown, "sharper this year than last." You can't see it, but one spicy clove makes all the difference in those fresh black-eyed peas. Thank, Barbara! While the peas boiled, I sauteed a onion with Barbara's garlic, then added a sliced zucchini. All 100% local, until I added tahini (the new bacon) and salt.


The Irish soda bread contains local milk and flours, both whole wheat and all purpose. I topped it with slices of local Ashe County pepper jack cheese before toasting.

What's not local? A splash of olive oil, a spoonful of tahini for the black-eyed peas, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and vinegar.



Even chocolate cake can be mostly local! This one has local all-purpose flour, eggs, milk, butter, and basil for the center frosting layer. The sugar is the regional Florida Crystals organic sugar, which has a very faint but pleasant caramel taste.

What's not local in the cake? Cocoa, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, coffee, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

I'll do the math again for the newsletter on Wednesday, but I suspect that even with indulgences like chocolate cake, we'll do even better than last week's 75% local.