Santa's got a green elf riding in his sleigh

Was Ed Begley Jr riding side-saddle with Santa this year? I'm wondering, because our stockings had some interesting new (to me, anyway) products this year, and even under the tree, there was a definite green tint to things. Here are a few of the notables:

• EcoTowl Bamboo Compostable Cloth "paper" towels. The package comes with 4 washable cloths.
  
• Post-It Recycled Notes. 3M has a small number of products with a higher degree of recycled content, but they state that all their post-its now have 30% post-consumer content.
• Pilot V-Ball BG 05. Pilot is now making several series of pens with an amazing 81 % recycled content! I'm thinking that leaves out the ink.
• Intriguing reading material: Farm City, The Education of an Urban Farmer, by Novella Carpenter.
  
• And then, Santa's biggest offering, my new shiny red wagon. This isn't a new product, but one I'd been wanting in anticipation of the Trader Joe's that is going in this coming year at the very busy corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and University Avenue in Berkeley. We expect traffic and parking to be a problem, and because we are walking distance from the location, my plan is to use a shopping cart. Thanks Santa!

100-Mile Thanksgiving

Since 2007, we've been having a 100-mile Thanksgiving at our house, an idea I got after reading Plenty. Basically, you design the menu around foods that are available from farmers, fishermen, beekeepers, and so on, within 100 miles of where you live. If you are having out-of-town guests at your table, you can invite them to bring some ingredients from their area, which extends your possibilities.

It's a fun challenge, and because I live in Northern California, where we have a vibrant farmers' market year round, I figured I had no excuse not to try it.

You end up being able to give thanks for the bounty of your own land, so to speak. I have to think this is the real spirit of Thanksgiving.

So, here's my menu for this year. It reflects another change we made this year, away from meat (other than fish), which came after reading Omnivore's Dilemma.

Pre-Dinner Tastings:
Corn and Black Pepper Crackers (I substitute local honey for the sugar.)
Spring Hill Garlic Cheddar
Spring Hill Smoked Yellow Cheddar

Dinner:
Rock Fish, caught off Fort Bragg, stuffed (stuffing recipe below)
Crab and Cornmeal Stew (I froze local red peppers and tomatoes in July when they were in season.)
Ginger Orange Pomegranate RelishThis is in our stand-in for cranberries. Yum!
Sweet Potatoes and Orange Juice from Joy of Cooking I can't get oranges, but I can get Satsuma tangerines.
French fingerling potatoes baked in parchment with fresh rosemary
Green salad--I'm not sure of the details on this, because a guest is bringing it.
Green vegetable--same story.

Dessert:
Pumpkin pie, from pumpkin I grew in my front yard!
Honey Walnut-Fruit Tart I'm using an ordinary pie crust, not a matzo meal crust.
I'll have whipped cream and also Three Twins Vanilla Ice Cream for toppings.

Beverages:
Another guest is bringing local wine.
I have on hand Calestoga spring water and also some excellent local Gravenstein apple cider.

I promised the recipe for stuffing, and I can actually point to my pumpkin pie and pie crust recipes as well, which recently got published by a French site. The recipes are on page 5 of the issue.

Savory Stuffing

1 egg, beaten
1/4 t. thyme
1/2 t. dill seed
2 T. parsley
1/4 t. salt
dash pepper
1/2 c. butter, melted
3 T. finely chopped onion
2 T. hot water
3 c. bread crumbs
(my mom's recipe calls for white bread, but I'm now making this with whole grain, because I have to bake it from local wheat.)

Combine egg, thyme, dill, parsley, salt, pepper in large bowl. Mix well. In hot butter, saute onion until golden, about 5 minutes. To seasoning, add onion-butter mixture, hot water, and crumbs, tossing lightly to mix well. Stuff the fish (or turkey) and cook according to instructions.