Open Fridge

I read about a movement to showcase an "open fridge", exemplifying the adage "you are what you eat". I decided to open our fridge, today on Thursday, September 27, to tell you what was inside.

We are always trying to eat as local as we can, and even though it's nearing the end of the harvest season, there are still many good local items available in terms of produce, dairy, eggs, fruit, grains, honey, and seeds for winter sprouting. Of course, root crops will be available at the farmers market for the course of the winter, and we have also purchase some bushels in advance to store in our house. Since we have just completed a bountiful apple harvest, the open fridge will display an assortment of homemade apple products.

We have not been able to find local sources for all our grains (e.g. rice), baking supplies (e.g. chocolate, vanilla, sugar), nuts (e.g. almonds), or other assorted items (e.g. lemon juice). We also won't ever have local coffee, but our compromise is to buy it green from a local fair trade supplier and roast our own within 1-2 days of drinking it. We grind it minutes before it's used so it's as fresh as it gets.

I also want to note that I have a small business doing "slow-food" vegan baking & catering, which accounts for the large selection of flours, nuts, chocolate chips, and baking supplies.

Open Fridge - main compartment:
- roasted vegetables (red peppers, potatoes, garlic, onion, carrots, sweet potato) all from our CSA
- assorted tomatoes (green zebra, red & orange cherry, yellow pear, Mennonite orange, longkeeper, Cherokee purple, Yukon red) all from our garden
- snow peas from our CSA
- eggplant (Italian Vittoria & Japanese) from our garden
- green beans (Cherokee Cornfield & French Filet) from our garden
- pears from our CSA
- prune plums from our CSA
- applesauce; apple cider; apple jelly from our wild harvest
- homemade blueberry sauce from organic berries from our CSA
- homemade mulberry syrup from wild harvest
- homemade black current & raspberry jam from our CSA
- pure amber maple syrup from our local farmers market
- arugula from our garden
- fresh herbs (basil, chives, oregano, thyme) from our garden
- fresh eggs (3 dozen!) from our backyard chickens
- homemade pickles using cucumbers from the local farmers market
- canned pickled beans from our garden
- local bee pollen
- organic ketchup
- nutritional yeast
- organic stoneground dijon mustard
- homemade wholewheat seed bread
- organic lemon juice
- traditional bread yeast
- chili (made from organic dried beans, our own tomato sauce & cayenne peppers)
- hummus (made from organic dried beans & garlic/cilantro from our local CSA)
- organic yogurt from a nearby farm (we also make our own sometimes)
- Braggs, tamari, miso and green curry paste
- flax and hemp oils
- soya margarine
- rice milk
- applebutter made at the local cider mill
- organic brown rice syrup
- hemp seeds (Canadian - from Manitoba)
- homemade "dragon" hotsauce from our hot peppers in 2006

Open Freezer:
- frozen fruit (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, sweet cherries, peaches, red & black currents from our CSA)
- frozen fruit (rhubarb from our garden, sourcherries & mulberries from local harvest)
- bread & bagels made in our wood-fired oven
- tortillas organic wholewheat flax from the health food store
- apple cider from our local harvest
- green beans from our garden, peas from our garden
- roasted red peppers from our CSA
- shredded zucchini from our garden
- pear compote from wild harvested pears
- plum chutney from our CSA plums and garden produce
- yogurt starter
- fair trade coffee beans

Open Cold Cellar:
- home preserves (wild grape jelly from our garden; wild apple jelly from local harvest; tomato salsa & sauce from our tomatoes; peaches from local farmers market; applesauce from wild harvest; pickles made from local CSA cucumbers)
- organic carrots (our garden)
- four varieties of potatoes (purple, french fingerling, red, yukon gold) from CSA & our garden
- onions from our CSA and our garden
- 7 varieties of garlic (Saltspring, white Polish, red Russian, Chinese rocambole, Yugoslavian, suda artichoke, and elephant hardnecked) from our garden
- 6 kinds of squash (butternut, red & green hubbard, acorn, pumpkin, delicata) from our CSA

Open Cupboards:
- 10 kinds of dried beans (kidney, lentil, cherokee cornfield, soy, blackbean, black eyed pea, jacob's cattle bean, mung, adzuki, chickpea), and 2 kinds of lentils (green & red) all organic, from our garden, from our CSA
- 8 kinds of dried grains (couscous, bulghur, brown rice, quinoa, millet, buckwheat kasha)
- 8 kinds of organic flour all Canadian other than brown rice (whole wheat, all purpose, spelt, rye, oat, barley, brown rice, hemp)
- white sugar & brown sugar (yes, refined sugar made it into our house)
- chocolate chips & cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla
- dried tomatoes & kale from our garden
- dried fruit from our CSA (apples, pears, peaches)
- seeds for sprouting (radish, red clover, alfalfa, sunflower, wheatgrass, mung)
- dried basil, oregano, fennel, thyme, etc from our garden
- hot cayennes, jalapenos, and scotch bonnets from our garden
- organic Thompson raisins
- natural peanutbutter
- local honey
- homemade granola
- dried nuts (almond, walnut); and seeds (sunflower, flax, pumpkin, hemp, sesame, poppy)
- whole oats, wheatgerm, wheatbran
- organic popcorn
- nori sheets and rice paper wrappers
- dried spices, sea salt, black pepper
- dried herbal teas, yerba mate, and roasted chickory root drink