Day 7: the promise of a full week of eating "exclusively local" - or at least by our modified rules - was somewhat exciting 7 days ago. And over the week its proven to be pretty satisfying. But today could only be described as two-thirds failure, one-third dramatic success. after sleeping in past 8, Lori wanted an egg burrito for breakfast, and who am I to deny? So off we go to Ralph's in Chatham to pick one up, en route to a family hike to see the largest waterfall in Columbia County. After a successful hike, and an hour and half nap by yours truly, lunch was in high demand. What do we have? Um, nothing. Diner, here we come! Meatloaf sandwich for me, Cheesburger and Fries for Lori. OK, so there's little chance much of the food we consumed for the first two meals originated in the north east.... and even though they were both served from local businesses who rely on local support, I'm definitely feeling like we're failing on our last day of the challenge. So, onto dinner plans. 

We still have the legs, thighs, and wings from that Kinderhook Chicken in the fridge... and the tarragon in the garden is thriving. So.... lets make Tarragon Chicken! Lori has made this Sara Foster recipe for about a year now, and I absolutely love it. Though tonight was the first time I tried making it. Its incredibly easy, and even more incredibly flavorful. I ended up making a simple risotto alongside it, and topped with some broccoli from my parent's fridge in Maine. I don't know if the broccoli was from my dad's farm, my parents garden, or the local grocery store... but it was local in spirit! And certainly the chicken and tarragon were local... so i felt somewhat redeemed, or at least marginally back in the locavore game.

Conclusion: Weakness and failure gave way to one hell of a dinner. In total the week was definitely a challenge, and legitimately opened our eyes to a few new foods in the local area. I've always liked eating local, and i think this week has solidified my yearning to keep it local when possible. There's little chance I'll continue it this hardcore, but at least in the summer its pretty easy to do so. Meat will be the hardest thing to keep getting local as its so expensive... but its also significantly better than mass-produced stuff so maybe we simply need to eat less of it! That said, I have 2 lbs of ground beef and a 3lb chuck roast in the fridge getting ready to be smoked tomorrow and I'm 100% positive it ain't from around here. More weakness.... but I'll be back!