Get a 100 mile turkey and brine the holy shit out of that dude, a brine of salt and brown sugar (maybe maple syrup?) for 12-24 hours before will give you a miracle turkey. Then make a sick and fancy stuffing out of mushrooms, pork sausage, cranberries, whole wheat loaves, onions and apples. I'm not really a full on recipe cat, as I think you know. Also bake apples and pears and drizzle them with maple syrup. Mashed potatoes and parsnips with a little bit of shallots and a drizzle of butter and cheese. Jesus Christ I'm so hungry.

No one should have to live without Scotch from Islay and wine from somewhere with (blessedly) more Italians and Frenches than we have here on the east coast though, I'm going to have to insist on that exception. Also, no coffee afterwards? Anti-semites, I see.

Carrot and some kind of squash soup is outstanding. What do you 100 milers do for seasonings? Outside of garden herbs I mean? Nutmeg? Cinnamon? It's an interesting constraint.

Basically I'm of the mind that thanksgiving should be a a large meal of a few really nice, simple, quality things that someone has really spent a little love on. So maybe the thanksgiving meal (other than the spices) is really perfect for this kind of thing. Local food IS the best food, I find, quality-wise.

Maybe use maple syrup candy in your brine so it doesn't just sink to the bottom but dissolves and gives off that good ass sugar flavor in a more even way? Can you use 100 mile salt?

Great suggestions, DW. Yeah, we have salt, sea salt.

We did this event last year and at first it struck everybody like a privation in a way, as you say: "no sugar? cinnamon? cloves? coffee?"

But at the end of the meal everyone was kind of stunned and astounded at the sheer deliciousness and creativity it brought out. It was a FEAST. An eye-opening experience, and after all, it's only one meal and it's meant to be a challenge. A few people still used the traditional spices, even though they come from south Asia and the West Indies and all that, but mostly the spicing depended more on thyme, sage, rosemary, savory, parsley, and stuff like that than the exotic spices. Maple sugar makes a good stand in when granular sugar is needed.

And even the wine and Scotch aren't missed for one day, not when you have locally made hard ciders in several fragrant varieties, and liqeurs made from Maine vodka infused with strawberries or angelica (which makes Chartreuse).

I'm with you on the coffee, though.

Love the stuffing idea.

No I'm totally into it, I've encountered it before and thought it was a neat idea and possibly our future want it or not, I'm just fishing for ways to see around the limitations. Coffee is hard times for sure. I sometimes wonder about what I would miss most and I guess it's certain spices, seafoods, coffee, Islay scotch and Caribbean tobacco. I think it's funny that long distance commercial trade has been a part of our human experience for such a relatively long time that a person has to go back fairly far to find a recipe that isn't in some way dependent on it (or invent their own).

Ps with all due respect a Maine vodka infused with strawberries is simply not on the same playing field as 12 year old Bowmore, but any port in a storm as they say.

As much as I love and support the idea of a 100-Mile meal, I have to find some wiggle room for the "no spices or wheat flour" rule. Long distance spice and grain trading is the basis for human commerce - it's the fundamental reason why anyone ever bothered to see what was over the far ridgeline from the orginial Ur-village.

(If you're going to go with self-imposed limitations for the sake of historical nostalgia, unplug the fridge and earn some carbon karma ;-) )

So in my book, if you can figure out how to get ahold of a camel-train leaving Kandahar, you should have no reservations on putting in an order.

It's true about the Scotch, but a pleasure all its own.

Yeah, it's funny, with the history of worldwide maritime trade there has been good availability of exotic products for centuries, milennia even. So doing these challenges is even more stringent than living and cooking 200 years ago was - in some ways.

On the plus side, in a society rife with choices and abundance, it's kind of neat to start planning a meal by limiting your options somehow.

I love it. I'm down. Assuming funding allows I'm going to take it up for this Thanksgiving. My wife and I (the kid is at camp) just demolished a meal of grilled Long Island corn, big ole Long Island tomatoes (magnificent bastards), steamers and tuna (it might have been caught beyond the 100 mile limit but it could have easily been close), Fresh food has a vitality and flavor that cannot be defeated.

Oh god, yer killin me. We only got the first ripe tomatoes here last week - but that first taste transports. The summer-veg season here is so short, especially for a Jersey girl. First Caprese salad last Saturday -- kneebuckling.

I didn't know there was a kid! Awesome. Camp - awesome.

Oh, also, DW - if you do the challenge and you're planning to have turkey, it's best to order one now. The places that do pre-order do it really early, and they run out really early to as all their birds get, um, 'booked'. I think there are at least a couple good farms pretty close to NY - Long Island has a few turkey farms, IIRC.

For coffee why not go with a local roaster? That would only be half-cheating.

I used a lot of apples in my turkey last year. In the stuffing and then I basted the bird in cider while it rested on halves of apples and onions, and some carrots. It was great. And apples are so so common to the Northeast in general.

If no flour how about, hm... a cheesecake of some kind? Maybe a pumpkin-maple one, so the flavor of the maple can stand in for the usual pumpkin pie spices, and it's not too bland.

Wegmans, a big local grocery chain, has recently started featuring produce from local farms. It's a great idea, but it isn't always cheaper since the local places here tend to be smaller family-run types still, and don't get to buy everything they need in massive bulk like the big guys. it's cool buying, say, asparagus and seeing it came from a town my roommate grew up in, though.

Ahhh cheesecake...now that is smart. At the museum we actually make cheese from milk - super easy - and it makes an incredible lemon cheesecake. Damn. No lemon.

*thinks of something else*....

Local stuff definitely isn't always cheaper monetarily, but if you can make the sacrifice, it is worth it in many ways. The price actually accurately reflects what it costs to produce food in your area. The quality's better, and the money stays in your local economy and keeps land from development.

Stop me before I continue proselytizing...

I agree completely. I'm also a big fan of the "needing less fossil fuel to bring it to me" part, too. I try to buy local whenever I can, but for me money is an issue, so if it's between no veggies or out of town, I'll go with the out of town.

How about a cobbler of some kind? Apple-maple, maybe with some other fruits? You can use oatmeal in the topping instead of flour.

(also, I made a pumpkin cheesecake a couple years back that was shockingly popular for being my first attempt at cheesecakery and not quite set. I could dig out the recipe if you're interested)

I'm looking up turkey farms right now, and if I cheat and violate the 100 mile limit it will be only with the greater rules of the game in mind.

Assuming you can get local flour, because if the bread is local etc... An apple/pear crumble with a strong dose of maple is going to be huge winner.

Miko, I bought Jersey tomatoes and corn on my way back from a little wedding anniversary in New Hope, Pa two weeks ago and they (just some highway stop, not even the true hunted treasures) were unbelievably good. As a son of New Jersey, if not an actual resident (my dad, who is shaky on genealogy details generally, just told me my great grandfather on his mother's side was the publisher of a Hoboken newspaper, I've just now learned I'm Jersey Irish on my dad's side back to the 1880's at least, Kids talk to your parents about where you come from!) I am a super-booster of Jersey produce and culture (such as it is) even though I'm a born New Yorker and therefore a first line dick about the Garden State.

On preview: See, apple/maple cobbler, even with a little cornmeal, gotta be good.

if the bread is local

Yeah, it's surprising, but turns out it's hard and expensive to grow wheat along the Eastern seaboard. Even the local bakeries bake with flour from the Midwest. Even King Arthur Flour, in Vermont, mills grain from Kansas.

an incredible lemon cheesecake. Damn. No lemon.

How about experimenting with locally available flavors? Maybe a blueberry cheesecake? (Is local but out-of-season permissible, on the grounds that they can be preserved? Canned blueberries would make a nice sauce over plain cheesecake.) Or maple?

A truly gorgeous and simple harvest dessert: pears baked with a knob of butter and a sprinkle of sugar. Honey or maple sugar would work. (If you decide to allow lemon, or you find a local producer of brandy or sherry, splash some over the fruit before putting it in a slow oven. Use hard little fists of pears so they soften and caramelize; soft ones would disintegrate. The sugar and butter and the pear juice will turn to a rich brown sauce, just barely enough to line the baking dish. Serve with simple ice cream or barely sweetened whipped cream.

Have you a source of localy produced oats? Divine Wino's gorgeous idea for a fruit crumble could be made with oats, some ground and some whole, rather than flour.

I'll check back after I've had coffee and a think. What an exciting challenge!

Is local but out-of-season permissible

Yes indeedy - anything you can preserve in-season is AOK.

No flour at all? That's really tough. I ran through all my cranberry-cornmeal tarts, cookies, breads &c and didn't find one that could survive with no flour at all. Most of my cranberry relishes have citrus, too, or red wine. I'm also stumped without cinnamon or nutmeg or allspice.

You can probably adapt this cornmeal pudding, though and add fruit:

4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup molasses
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, more for greasing pan.

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, put 3 1/2 cups milk. Add molasses and sugar, and stir; when they are incorporated, turn heat to low. Heat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Slowly sprinkle cornmeal over warm milk mixture, stirring or whisking all the while; break up any lumps. When mixture thickens after 10 minutes or so, stir in all remaining ingredients, except for the remaining milk, and turn off heat.

3. Grease an 8- or 9-inch square baking dish or similar size gratin dish and turn warm mixture into it; top with remaining 1/2 cup milk; do not stir. Bake 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until pudding is set. Serve warm, cold or at room temperature. Wrapped well and refrigerated, this keeps for several days.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

I bet you could do a nice warm, raisiny bread pudding with maple syrup in place of sugar. You can make raisins from Concord grapes, right?

Mmm shallots. I could just eat roasted shallots, a big plate of them. What about a roasted shallot soup as a starter? With garlic and bread and oh holy hell I want some right now.

Miko, are you seeking recipes for particular categories? Over my coffee, I was thinking: if I were writing an article like this, I might structure it so I provided recipes for

- a central roast: local turkey brined with sea salt and herbs, roasted with herbs and butter slipped under the skin);

- a harvest vegetable like baked delicata or sweet dumpling squash with cranberry, or parboiled baby onions baked in cream laced with hard cider;

- a relish or savory: cranberry sauce, or corn relish, or herbed walnuts --- can you get local walnuts?

- a dessert: baked fruit, fruit crumble, bread pudding, cheesecake, etc.

Given a framework like this (or one quite different, of course), people would be able to add on their own ideas for local dishes.

One section of the article is like that, Elsa, sort of a utility how-to section -- and GREAT suggestions, I am indebted to you.

Okay, so you're open to any recipe so long as the ingredients are local?

Some thoughts: that cheesecake might be very nice indeed made with local hard cider, if you don't mind including alcohol. The baked pears I described would benefit from a splash of hard cider (or perry) before their sojourn in the oven.

One of my staple dishes: braised greens with mushrooms. Thoroughly wash a big bundle of greens (beet greens, chard, spinach, or kale). Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil; salt generously. Blanch greens for a minute or two, except kale, which may take up to five minutes to become tender.

Drain and shock in ice water. Drain again. Coarsely chop.

Saute sliced mushrooms in butter (and oil if available). I also use oregano, black pepper, chili powder, and a grating of nutmeg, but those sound like they're out of range for your menu. It should be perfectly fine without.)

When mushrooms are golden and tender, increase heat and add drained greens. Toss, add 1 or 2 cloves of minced garlic, toss again and cook until thoroughly heated. At this point, I give it a squirt of lemon juice, but apple cider would doubtless make a nice sweet-acid finish. If you have a local Parmesan-style hard cheese, top the dish with shavings of it for style points. Ooo, fancy.

The same greens can be mixed with a simple bechamel, turned into a buttered casserole, topped with breadcrumbs, and baked for a warming gratin. that would be a bit fancier, suitable for a holiday table, and possible to make in advance.

oh, hell --- no flour for the bechamel. Thinking.... thinking... Aha! Beat cream or a simple local ricotta (is this one of the cheeses you make at the museum? Want to visit this museum!) with an egg! That would set nicely in the oven.

Or the same greens tossed with cream or ricotta would be smashing over polenta made from your local cornmeal.

Oh, and in lieu of coffee, I find hot cider (with or without lashings of applejack) just the thing after a rich meal. Or, of course, tea steeped from dried mint.

Re: brining.

Be aware that different brands of kosher salt have different volumes, so a brine recipe made with, say, a cup of one brand may be intolerably salty if made with a more compact brand of salt. Cook's Illustrated covered this within the past few years, so it should be fairly easy to find the article. If you can't lay your hands on it, let me know; I have it somewhere in my study.

Now I'll shut up for a while.

Okay, so I've got a question, and this is probably as good a place to ask it as any. My library wants to buy a cooking/food magazine. We're already pretty well-covered w/'womens' magazines, so we want something that's pretty strictly focused on food. It's a small public library branch in a predominantly lower-income, African-American section of Little Rock. I'm pulling for Cook's Illustrated, but I don't know jack about food magazines--is there something else that would be a better choice?

Cook's Illustrated is a great mag for the sort-of OCD cook - a how-to done in rather obsessive detail. I love it, but I have to say it's not much of a sit-down-and-leaf-through magazine. However, as a local library reference, I think it's a great pick. But I'm not sure it would be all that useful to your audience, now that I look at your library's description again.

My current favorite food magazine is Saveur. i love their approach, which is food as a window to culture. There are plenty of recipes, but also profiles, comparisons of different foods, stories about regions and ethnic communities, stuff to read that is really interesting. Great photography too. More of a general-interest food magazine, beacuse it will appeal to travelers and culture types too.

At home, I get Cooking Light. Though it's build around the idea of healthy living, the recipes are hands down the best developed, best explained, best tasting ones in any current food magazine, consistently. It's a very approachable, reader-friendly magazine and features lots of good ideas for suppers you can make in 20 minutes, baked goods, regional favorites, etc. I think it might be a better choice for your library.

You can't really go wrong, unless you get Gourmet or Bon Appetit...which I think are pretty stuffy, though I read 'em anyway when they're around.

Thanks for the advice, Miko. Quite a few of the other branches get Cook's Illustrated, and we've got a lot of cookbooks, so I don't think we really need it as a reference source (plus we don't keep old periodicals at my branch anyway). I'll take a look at Saveur and Cooking Light.