Quasi-local potato-bacon soup

2 pounds Washington potatoes
1 pound Hempler's thick-cut bacon
2 Washington onions, finely chopped
5 cups, plus ¼ cup milk from Golden Glen Creamery
¼ cup flour from Fairhaven Organic Flour Mill
1 teaspoon of white pepper
½ cup heavy cream from Golden Glen Creamery
Salt and pepper to taste
1 can cut green beans from your pantry (optional)

Peel and dice the potatoes. Boil potatoes until they are tender but can still hold their shape.

Cook the bacon on medium heat in a large skillet. Remove the bacon and all but 2 tablespoons of bacon fat from the pan. Cook the onions on medium-high heat in the skillet until soft and slightly brown.

Reduce the heat to medium and pour 2 cups of milk into the pan. Combine flour and ¼ cup of milk in a small bowl and mix into a slurry. Gradually add the slurry to the pan, stirring constantly. Simmer the mixture for about 10 minutes, making sure it doesn't boil.

Gradually add the remaining three cups of milk, white pepper, heavy cream and three-quarters of the cooked bacon. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Fold in the potatoes and heat through.

Serve topped with the remaining bacon. If you have canned cut green beans, you can add a can of those along with the potatoes.

Makes 6 meal-size portions.

• First, I'm going to reinstate my subscription to SPUD, a local grocery delivery service that specialized in local products and produce. Though SPUD considers even some British Columbia things to be local (such as mushrooms), I will only use ingredients for the challenge that are from Washington. That's a much wider radius than Laura's 150 miles, but I think it's the only realistic way for me to actually complete this challenge. Did I mention I have a toddler?


• I'm going to start dragging my family to the local year-round farmers markets, most likely the U District (Saturdays) and Ballard (Sundays) to stock up on meat, dairy and produce and products I can't get delivered. I am actually going to read the newsletter from the Cascade Harvest Coalition and Seattle's Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance that shows what's “ripe and ready” at the farmers market every week. The answer is always: A LOT! (Note: Apparently, it's still possible to get a local Thanksgiving turkey at the markets.)


• I'm going to hit the Sno-Isle Food Co-op in Everett (across the street from The Herald) and the Manna Mills natural market in Mountlake Terrace (on my way home from work). Both have local products, but I don't shop at either place regularly yet, so I'll have to get acquainted. I might also order some stuff from Bluebird Grain Farms in the Methow Valley.


• Finally, I'm going to be using the Puget Sound Fresh searchable Web site a LOT more often. I think it is the single best resource for finding local food in the region.