The Great Locavore Meal

Today, I'm cooking an almost entirely locavore meal for 20-24 people. It's been a bit challenging, especially this time of year, but I think it's going to turn out great. Here's the prospective menu:

• Roast Pork Shoulder and Roast Chicken (didn't have enough of either to make the meal) - Chestnut Farm meat share
• Chevre-stuffed Mushrooms (vegetarian entree) - Shrooms from PA, Chevre from MA, kale from my own garden
• Maple-roasted root vegetables - most veggies from the Boston Organics Dogma Box, plus an overwintered onion from my garden, maple syrup from Lunenburg, MA, roasted garlic butter from Mendon, MA, and sea salt from Maine, plus dried herbs from my garden
• Tossed salad - all greens either from the Dogma Box or from Pete's Greens in VT.
• Homemade bread - probably Irish soda bread using flour from Littleton Mills, VT.
• Pumpkin pie - a combination of farmshare and farmers' market pumpkin I roasted and froze last October, cream from Shaw Farm in Dracut, MA, eggs from Pete & Jen's Backyard Birds, and honey from the Boston Honey Company
• Chocolate-covered strawberries - Strawberries from North Carolina, chocolate from Taza Chocolate in Somerville, MA

Shopping for this meal might sound like it was an ordeal, but it was actually surprisingly easy. All the meat came from our meatshare with Chestnut Farm. The bulk of the vegetables and the flour came from the Boston Organics Dogma Box. The pumpkin has been sitting in my freezer all winter, waiting to be used. The cream, butter, honey, and other ingredients came from the Dairy Bar, part of Kick*ss Cupcakes in Davis Square, which we go to at least once/week for Shaw Farm milk in glass bottles.

The rest came primarily from Lionette's Market, a tiny Mecca of local foods located in the South End. My husband took our daughters there on Friday and found the greens, some fresh parsnips, and the sea salt from Maine. I also went by Pemberton Farms yesterday because they have interesting seasonal vegetables like fiddlehead ferns, and I was hoping that they'd have chanterelles. Sadly, it's still a little too early in the season for those, but I did find some nice new red potatoes from Chester, MA and the chevre. Pemberton does have a great selection of organic foods, but I do wish they'd label their local foods.

We're now going to make up a more formal menu, and my husband wants to make a spreadsheet of ingredients and distance in miles from home. I'll post these and a full report on the dinner tonight or tomorrow.