"Local, At Long Last"

I pulled up to the small fresh produce stand in the parking lot near my son's driver's training school.

I've been counting down the days until they started popping up around town.

When you live a place like Minnesota, with a growing season that comes and goes as quickly as a rainbow after a summer storm, something as simple as a fresh produce thrills, ripe with sweet promise.

I eyed the corn and tomatoes suspiciously. Our weather's been good for growing. But not that good. No doubt that produce has been trucked up from southern climes.

"Do you have anything locally grown?" I asked.

"The strawberries," he smiled.

"And the peas."
I swooned. And bought them both.

The berries will go on cereal. And ice cream. Or straight into the mouth. Why mess with a good thing?

The peas I will shell and either stir into a risotto or serve in a light cream sauce. I would give anything for my grandma's pea salad recipe.

In celebration of finally bringing fresh, local produce in to my kitchen I am giving away a book that explores the local food phenomenon.
It's called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.

In this book award winning novelist Kingsolver documents the year her family tried to eat virtually exclusively local food, much of which they grew themselves.

And while I did find myself thinking frequently as I read the book, "easy for you guys to do, you live in the South where you can harvest a garden for longer than, like, two weeks," Kingsolver does have me radically rethinking the way I eat and shop for food. And I'm grateful for that.

For a chance to win a copy of this book answer the following question in the comment section below.

What is your favorite vegetable?

Good luck!