The potentially lean months of late winter/early spring aside, I would say the holiday season has proven to be the greatest challenge of all for me so far. From staff events to annual galas replete with laden buffet tables, to chocolates and baking guiltlessly consumed given "tis the season" -- I have declined -- either to attend or to eat while there. That is, until this past weekend...

It has been nearly six months since we started the 100-Mile-Diet. The routine around the diet has become much smoother. Cooking and baking times have become reduced, although we still need to plan well ahead, but that too has become more of a habit. My bread-making has become more consistent and the dinner ideas have become easier. I suspect that we started at the easiest part of the road, with the harder part yet to come -- January and February. We'll see...

One of the biggest challenges of doing the 100-Mile-Diet, which we've mentioned in previous entries, is the social aspect. It's amazing how integral eating and drinking are to "going out".

Recently, when asked to meet with some friends for lunch, I attempted to make it work by contacting a local restaurant to see if they could whip up something 100% local for me --I was even prepared to bring the ingredients over, especially the hard-to-get-a hold-of ones like salt. At the very least, allow me to bring in my own food so that I wouldn't have to watch my friends while they ate [I attempted this one lunch hour to celebrate a birthday with a group of my colleagues and was told by the server that it was against health regulations(?)].

We apologize for the delay in this week's blog entry, which Ivor had been working on but was disrupted by a cold.

It takes community to make a Hundred-Mile Diet happen, and so far, so good.

When you live in the city, community is an odd thing. There are lots of communities, some more linked than others; some are spread across the whole city, while others are in a more tightly knit area. Often, the community shares the same space with others but does not seem to mix or blend.

Except when it comes to food.

What a pleasant Autumn it is turning out to be! Our Thanksgiving feast was delicious. Ivor outdid himself. What with the gi-normous turkey and an oven that may have been acting up (and is now broken), we finally sat down to eat at around 10 p.m., but the wait was well worth it. The turkey (Greens, Eggs & Ham) was tender and succulent; the stuffing (with Ivor's homemade bread and Irvings Farm Fresh herbed ground pork) moist and savoury; the gravy a food group unto itself; tasty buttered mashed potatoes, hubbard squash & turnip; cranberry-apple sauce; washed down with enSante's Mellow Gold honey wine; and, for dessert, maple pumpkin pie with whipped cream infused with Lola Canola's saskatoon honey. And with leftover casserole the following day and turkey soup after that, it was very economical too!