lessons I have learnt

We have seen the New Year in and whilst still raw and tender, what lies ahead on the horizon? It's almost nine weeks since I commited to exclusively shopping locally. This has been an enriching experience and one to not turn my back on. It has raised some questions of ethics over local, but I think my prime concern has to be "use it don't loose it". 
I have survived without supermarket butter and got through a whole lot of Chads butter.  It was only last week that I realised his packs are smaller, 200g, which maybe explains why I got through over 30 packs.  My great love of butter continues.  I really enjoyed cooking the meals of an era in line with Turn Back Time, I loved trying out recipes and cooking new things. This has given me the desire to improve my cooking and improve my techniques and repertoire. 
For me 2011 holds a new challenge, inspired by the film Julia and Julie, I will cook my way through the classic, Elizabeth David, French provincial cooking(417 recipes).  I have always wanted the book and have been given a copy for Christmas.  It's got recipes in that I have always wanted to cook, for example, epaule d'agneau boulangere and a suckling pig.  Now I have no excuse. Lots of the recipes are seasonal so I need to be organised to cook through the seasons, from chestnuts now to quinces in September. So my challenge is to cook the whole book by the time the quinces are ready on our tree. I will endeavour to grow some of the ingredients and of course source the rest  locally.  My brother in law opens a butchery this week he will be running, eventually as Hobbs House, it is what was Nelsons in Chipping Sodbury,  I will become his worst customer with requests for wild boar, bone marrow, fats to render, bones for stock to teal. I look forward to feeding this to my four children, hopefully not growing in girth, and seeing whether this way of cooking is sustainable for todays families.  
My children will continue with Little Chef Friday, where they can choose and cook what they want, a little light relief for them.
I will be blogging regularly about the recipes.