One Local Winter

Yesterday the Hubby and I drove to the country for some apple cider. (Ha! "Drove to the country" like we don't already live there! Let me just live in my fantasy alright?!) His family is originally from that area and knows where to get the best apple cider. So we drove three hours (round trip) to a little off the beaten path place to get two gallons of the finest cider. For those of you know don't know in April some in the South suffered a huge frost and most orchards lost their produce. Even the pear tree in our back yard lost all it's blossoms and we had absolutely no pears this year. Not exactly the best circumstances for growers, many of whom had to buy apples to stay in business.

At any rate we drove to the only place we are "allowed" to buy cider, as decreed by the Hubby. I don't mind the trip, because M is always in a fantastic mood, so he's most agreeable to anything and I enjoy the idea of supporting my "local" farmers. Although, it may not have been their produce M and I were gulping down this year, I still think it's important to support family businesses. It's a really one of the main reasons I starting "eating local." Some people did it for the environment, which is great. I did it to keep my money in the community-the better produce, cheaper prices and smaller environmental footprint are all added bonuses.

As we shopped, I noticed most of the "prepared" foods (honeys, jellies, ciders) were from areas and growers need me. What a happy little surprise! I even got myself a bottle of local blackberry cider as a little something extra.Yes, I said we bought two gallons of apple cider. The other one is sitting mostly empty in the fridge right now.