Hi. My name is Emily. Welcome!
This blog is dedicated to exploring foods grown and produced within 100 miles or so of Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I currently reside. You’ll often hear the words “locavore” and “ethicurean” from me – terms that mean “to eat locally” and “to eat things that were raised ethically and taste very good.” I’m also a big gardener, and I care a lot about keeping Earth habitable, so chances are you’ll hear about those things, too.
There are lots of reasons to eat locally-produced food – environmentalism, supporting local economies, keeping farms from turning into subdivisions, avoiding contaminated foods, and so on. It just makes sense to me that in a state with a rich an agricultural heritage as Michigan, most of our diet should be grown in Michigan, not California or China. Along the way, we get food that tastes better, uses less fossil fuel to transport, and keeps our neighbors employed.
I’ve recently started a group called Preserving Traditions, which aims to share knowledge about cooking and food preservation among neighbors. The group has its home in the Pittsfield Grange (what’s the Grange?) near Ann Arbor, and you can read about events at http://preservingtraditions.org/ .
Most clip art comes from ClipArt.com and, to the best of my knowledge, is used in accordance with their non-commercial usage policy.
Momster said,
November 8, 2007 at 2:49 pm
This is terrific! Sign me up! I will start exploring–let’s not forget local maple syrup and honey!
Emily said,
January 22, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I’m glad I can still get syrup that’s local to me, even if I can’t have the stuff from the maples I grew up with.
thedadreport.com » The Holy Grail: Chinese Brown Sauce at home said,
March 5, 2008 at 8:39 pm
[...] of close. I am happy to report that our quest has come to and end thanks to fellow blogger Emily at Eat Close To Home. Emily has 3 basic sauce recipes, Brown Sauce, White Sauce and Spicy Orange [...]
Warda said,
April 8, 2008 at 11:44 am
Hi Emily!
My name is Warda and I am a fellow SE MI food blogger. Sorry to drop the invitation here but I couldn’t find yur e-mail anywhere:
To celebrate this year Earth Day, I thought we could have a second food bloggers reunion on the 20th of April for a potluck at my house in Farmington. The theme of this potluck will be “Local goes Global”: Dishes from around the world made with local ingredients.
I was thinking we could meet at the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market on Saturday the 19th to do our shopping and meet on Sunday at my house at 1PM to share our concoctions.
And if you don’t feel like cooking or baking, you can always bring a loaf of bread, some cheese or any ready-made item as long as you are supporting a local store.
Christine from Holybasil has kindly offered to bring a dessert and I will be in charge of the main course, which will be North African.
We hope to have you joining us to celebrate our beautiful planet and to share a fun time and the simple pleasure of a get-together.
I will send you my address if you want to come and we will arrange a time to meet at the farmer’s market.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know!
Happy Day!
Warda
Emily said,
April 8, 2008 at 11:48 am
Oh, Warda, this sounds wonderful! Thank you for the invite. Sadly, I will be out of town that weekend. I wish I could attend! Maybe next year?
Hanna Raskin said,
May 13, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Hi Emily –
Great web site! I wanted to alert you to an event my non-profit organization is hosting next month that encapsulates the Eating Close to Home philosophy. In keeping with our mission to celebrate the nation’s diverse vernacular foodways, we’re sponsoring “Laboring Over the Stove: A Working Definition of Detroit Cuisine” on June 28-28. This three-day tour will explore the city’s unique diet through a series of one-of-a-kind, interactive experiences, including a tour of the Eastern Market led by the women who literally wrote the book on the topic, a progressive lunch of ethnic favorites that will wind through the city’s landmark houses of worship and small-group pastry making lessons at top ethnic bakeries.
We’d love for you and your readers to consider joining us for this edible adventure. To learn more, check out our web site at http://www.tabletours.org. Or just shoot me an e-mail at hanna@tabletours.org. Hope to see you in the D!
Yours in good eats,
Hanna
Hanna Raskin
Director
The American Table Culinary Tours
Lois Smithers said,
June 14, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Hi Emily…
I’d love to contact you personally but do not see a contact button.
Thanks….
Lois Smithers
Christine said,
July 30, 2008 at 11:26 am
Great website! I’m from Ann Arbor too, and we’ve joined a local CSA for the first time. We’re having a blast discovering how to cook and prepare all these locally grown vegetables.
Diana said,
August 4, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Beautiful website! There’s a lot here for me to learn as I try to figure out what to do with the 30 lbs of apricots one of my dinner co-op buddies just dropped off from his tree.
Being in a dinner co-op has freed up a lot of time for me to expand the veggie garden and learn more about preserving the harvest. I recommend checking out my website for more information on dinner co-ops: http://www.dinnerco-ops.com.
kicking_k said,
August 18, 2008 at 7:02 am
Hello…
I love the idea of this site. My husband and I are trying to reduce our household waste (for various reasons including environmentalism and frugality), and part of that is producing our own veg as much as possible, and using every bit of what we do buy.
Unfortunately we have a grand total of four square metres of vegetable-growing space, but it’s a start!
I don’t know how plausible it would be to go entirely locavore – we live in Scotland, and it seems a little bleak never to eat a banana or an orange, or any green vegetables in winter except for kale and cabbage. But we are trying to reduce our impact in whatever ways we can.
Cosmo said,
October 27, 2008 at 3:15 pm
What a great site! A friend & I recently decided to try Vegetarianism for two weeks (or more). While doing research for our grand plan, I ran across your site! Thanks for sharing your insights, thoughts, & menus!
I do have a request. Is there a way you can put the .rss feed option on your site? I really hate to ask, but it enables busy readers like me to easily keep up with your posts.
Regardless, keep up the wonderful work!
Emily said,
October 28, 2008 at 8:25 am
Cosmo-
Sure – I didn’t realize I needed to do anything for you to get the feed. I use Firefox, and anything “feed-able” you just have to click the RSS icon in the address bar to nab it.
Emily
Tina said,
December 23, 2008 at 11:17 am
I’m creating a new webpage for Westwind Mills – do you mind if I have a link to this discussion on the page?
Emily said,
December 23, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Tina – Go for it! Did you see my article on Westwind?
Rachael said,
March 16, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! I have an active toddler, and my cooking has suffered greatly as a result of all of the toddler chasing I now have to do. Your recipes are so quick and easy, and I love your simple “cut to the chase” cooking instructions. You have made it possible for me to once again put some healthy food on the table.
Jessica said,
September 24, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Hi Emily,
I’m sorry to post this here but I couldn’t find an email address! I recently came across your blog and I see that you have great content about good, sustainable food. I wanted to let you know that Brighter Planet has just launched a cooking contest, which I thought you might be interested in joining. We’d really appreciate your involvement (and your help spreading the word)! It’s free, it’s fun, and anyone can enter– ideal for cooks, food lovers, and budding environmentalists alike!
Here’s the info:
Brighterplanet.com is a new social website that helps people manage their environmental footprint. We just launched the “Mastering the Art of Sustainable Cooking” contest, aimed at inspiring folks to reduce the environmental impact of their diet.
With this contest, we’re looking for people to complete sustainable cooking conservation tips and share their experiences, recipes, pics etc. The entries that have racked up the most thumbs up will be judged by a panel of environmental and culinary heavyweights (including Alice Waters, Bill McKibben, Gary Hirshberg and Amy Trubek) who will determine the final winners.
The best write-up in each of the five tip categories will win a Kindle DX and a $100 gift certificate to load it up with your favorite cookbooks!
How are you reducing your “foodprint?”
http://blog.brighterplanet.com/sustainable-cooking/
Thanks!
Jessica