We started at DeFazio’s for their pasta fagioli- and then moved on to the Redfront Restaurant for pizza. The real treat came next when we visited Gelateria Lisa. They were incredibly generous in allowing you to sample any of the gelatos that they currently had to offer. I sampled the cherry vanilla and Dennis tried the chocolate coconut – they definitely won over some new customers. Their gelatos are delicious, they are creamier than an ice but lighter than ice cream and a small has less than 150 calories!! Next was Dinosaur BBQ in the parking lot of the Boys and Girls Club. They are slated to open in November in the old Fresno’s building. People rave about their food, but I’m still on the fence.

Our last group of stops included Bacchus for pizza, they were a little overwhelmed and we decided not to wait around until they were able to get another round of pizzas out. We moved onto the Ruck for wings, and then Francesca’s for Bruschetta. Holmes and Watsons had carrot cake and then the last stop for us was Brown’s Brew Pub for a beer and sausage sampler. Meka’s martini bar was the only stop we missed, mostly because we ran out of time.

For us the two winners of the evening were Gelateria Lisa and Francesca’s. We have been back for gelatos twice since Tuesday and have plans to stop for lunch at Francesca’s soon.

Lou and Jen Marquis do such a great job of running the place. They and their staff are friendly and attentive and I never feel out of place when I am there, even if I am alone. The best part about meeting someone there is that they never rush you or make you feel like you have overstayed your welcome. And they just replaced the flooring and it looks really spiffy.

They have a great lunch menu as well. Good sandwiches, soups and salads and they are always quick about getting your order in and your food to you, so no worries about getting back to work on time. They even do take-out!

As far as food goes though I have been trying to eat as local as I can. This can be difficult especially when you are in the actual act of traveling. Think about all the rest areas and what types of venues are available. On our way to Columbia SC last Monday Dennis and I stopped at a rest area and actually drove around for about 10 minutes pulling a U-Haul trailer around behind us trying to scope out a local place amongst all the chains. Finally we did – it was a Mexican Restaurant called Pueblo Vijelo. I have to admit I was a little leery. Think about it – Mexican food and a long road trip – doesn’t seem like the best choice. I can happily report that after ordering very conservatively, chicken fajitas, we were able to finish the rest of the trip undisturbed by frequent stops!

While in Columbia we found some really good local places, out favorite was the Liberty Tap Room and Grill, http://www.libertytaproom.com/ mostly because the waitress was so great. Unfortunately Liberty didn’t turn out to be as local as we thought. They have a few other locations around South Carolina as well. We were only there for a whirlwind tour of moving our daughter into her new apartment and then we were on our way home again.

Currently I am in Syracuse taking a week-long class. Not wanting to drive around much has limited my choices for food. I have to admit I go to Dunkin Donuts every morning, it is the only place where I am certain that I can get decaf tea – and I don’t mean herbal, blah! Dunkin Donuts brought up a thought for me in the whole local scope. Is a franchise that is locally owned considered local or not? For lunch I have been to the Varsity and the Pita place (not Pita Pocket) I’m not sure if that one is local or not. Last night I did meet up with a friend and we went to the empire brewing company. They had some nice light ale on tap and the special was a burrito that was filled with vegetables right from their own garden. If you check out their website, http://www.empirebrew.com/index.php, right on the home page it says drink beer, eat food, buy local. My kind of place!

One of the hardest parts of living local for me has been “Amazon” withdrawal! And I have to admit that I have fallen off the local wagon a few times. Once because my local bookstore couldn’t get the book for me and the second time because time was of the essence and I just couldn’t wait for the item to get to the bookstore.

That said I do have to say that shopping at Market Block Books is a wonderful experience. Stanley the manager is a treat to deal with, very knowledgeable and efficient. It’s great to stop in and talk about books and I have to admit that he is very patient with me when I pull typical library patron behavior – I’m looking for a book, it has the word edibles in the title and celebrate or celebration. How embarrassing, that I was so unprepared, but he found the book I wanted and ordered it for me.

The bookstore is located in the historic Market Block Building.

As you can see it is located on the point of River and Third Street. Being on the point gives it lots of windows and the inside is bright yet cozy at the same time. It’s a really peaceful place to shop. I just like being inside the shop.

Now for the bad news. Parking in downtown Troy is not easy and they just installed meters. Additionally one book I ordered took almost a week to arrive compared to a two or three day turn around time on Amazon. And the cost – well my last purchase was $81 after receiving a $15 discount based on filling up my bookaholic card. I priced out the same purchase on Amazon $68. Yikes!

However I feel lucky that Troy has an independent bookseller in its midst and will continue to support them. They are very supportive of the public library and other community events and they deserve the support of the citizens of Troy. Plus I really like everyone who works there. I can’t promise that I won’t fall off the wagon now and again, but I’ll try to keep it to a minimum. One unexpected benefit – although they may cost me a bit more on individual purchases, having to actually go to the bookstore to make my purchases has cut down on most of my impulse book shopping!

I have been a fan of David Lee’s since he won the McDonald’s All American High School Slam Dunk Contest in 2001.  He went on to play college ball for the University of Florida and stayed all four years – who thought college basketball athletes actually graduated anymore.  Anyways, I was thrilled when David Lee came to the Knicks, I love his style of play. He works hard and gets the job done, just look at his stats, he averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds last season. He made the all-star team. He gave people who had not had a reason for years, a reason to watch the Knicks. And then with one mighty blow they blew it all. So say hello to the newest Golden State Warrior Fan. I know they aren’t local but some things can’t be sacrificed in my quest. Oh and need I mention that part of the reason I am such a huge fan of David Lee is that he reminds me of my husband. (blush)

In other news – a recent perscription that I had filled cost me $9 more at Lindsay Drug, that means I am at a negative $5 for the switch. I have one more to change over until I will have a complete tally. And I have stopped over 20 catalogs from being sent to my house!! I love it when the mailbox is almost empty.

Anyways, back to my story of prescription drugs. This last year I have had a terrible time with allergies and am taking three different prescriptions, plus shots, in an attempt to get them under control. I have been using the newly opened Walgreens to fill these prescriptions until today. We only have one independent drug store in Troy and that is Lindsay Drugs. They are conveniently located along my route to work on Fifth Avenue. So today I called them to find out how to transfer my prescriptions to their pharmacy.

Did you know it’s not an easy thing to transfer your prescriptions mid-stream? I have to say we started off a little rocky when Mary Beth, the pharmacist, explained that the script could only be transferred once. Well I thought great I’m not going to be transferring it to another store anytime soon so no problem there. Well when she could finally get me to understand that a transferred prescription could only be filled once at the new location things started to go more smoothly. I had one prescription that needed a refill immediately and she said she would go ahead and call Walgreens and get that one transferred today, for the one time, but that I would have to contact my doctor to have the rest of the prescriptions, including the one I was filling today, transferred to their store permanently.

Luckily I was going for an allergy shot and I spoke with the nurse while I was there. She said they would change my drug store to Lindsay’s in my file and that when it was time to refill the other prescriptions to let them know and they would call it in.

When I got home there was a message from Mary Beth that I was all set with the one script and could pick it up today. I stopped down and Mary Beth herself came out to handle my transaction. She was lovely and very appreciative of my efforts to live locally. I truly felt that the service there was much more personal and that they would definitely be looking out for my best interest. In the course of our conversation it came out that my husband handles Lindsay’s retirement plan – I guess I should have been going there sooner! Well when it came time to pay the drug was $4 cheaper. Who knew that local drugs cost less!

The reason this came to mind today was that I actually had a chance to nap, something I haven’t done in awhile. I used to nap fairly regularly. I worked in a school for many years and prior to that I went to school for a long time, so 3PM seemed to be my nap time. I loved it and would always wake up refreshed and ready for the evening activities. Well about a year ago the school I worked in closed and I took on more hours at the Public Library and my work hours became more traditional. Goodbye nap time!

But today was different. I went to work early, attended a lunch time workshop and then stopped at the Main library to tie up some loose ends and finished work at, you guessed it 3PM. Nap Time!!!! It was great, it was done locally and it was free, what more can you ask for in an activity! I think I may be passionate enough about napping that I could devote a whole blog to it and “Crush it” as Gary Vee says.

Just to prove my point, here is a photo of me and my husband napping on our back deck (although I think this may be one of those times when we just dozed off watching the Mets game).

Napping, an underestimated activity!



With the cilantro we used some immediately and then froze the rest. I didn’t realize that cilantro does not dry well, at least that’s what I read when I was trying to figure out what to do with all the extra that we had. One website suggested adding fresh cilantro to store bought salsa to give it an extra zip, I tried it and it really did add a nice flavor.

The lettuce we used on sandwiches and salads. I tried a new salad recipe courtesy of Rachael Ray. I figure I can use her recipe because she grew up about an hour north of here, which I think makes her local! It was for Orchard Salad (recipe below).

Ingredients

• 1 head red leaf lettuce
• 1 head green leaf lettuce
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice, a wedge
• 1 crisp red apple, such as McIntosh or Paula Red, thinly sliced
• 1 Anjou pear, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons apple cider
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it
• Salt and coarse black pepper
• 8 ounces sharp cheddar, thinly sliced

Directions

Coarsely chop lettuce. Squeeze the a little lemon juice over apples and pears and toss with greens. Combine cider, vinegar and sugar in a bowl and whisk in oil in a slow stream. Pour dressing over salad and season salad with salt and pepper and toss salad to combine and coat evenly. Serve salad with a garnish of sliced sharp cheddar cheese.

Great recipe and I got to use my lettuce, local apples and apple cider and some great cheddar cheese from a new market in Waterford called Henrys, which also has the best blue cheese peppercorn burgers I have ever tasted!

There really is something quite satisfying about growing your own food. The biggest challenge is dealing with all the extra that you have without letting it go to waste. This week we did a good job of using it all!

Green leaf lettuce from the garden

]]> http://livinglocaltroy.wordpress.com/2010/06/20/it-doesnt-get-any-more-local-than-this/feed/ 0 cafagan Green Leaf Lettuce from the Garden http://livinglocaltroy.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/hello-local-goodbye-mail-order/ http://livinglocaltroy.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/hello-local-goodbye-mail-order/#comments Mon, 14 Jun 2010 01:53:23 +0000 cafagan http://livinglocaltroy.wordpress.com/?p=19 Continue reading →]]>

The quest to live local continues and as it does I realize that this means no more mail order or online shopping. Yikes! For me the biggest problem is no more AMAZON. Fortunately for me we have a great local bookstore in the downtown area called Market Block Books http://www.marketblockbooks.com/. Parking is a problem, but their service is excellent. But I digress from the purpose of this entry, which is to relate to you my experience of reducing my mail-order presence.

I don’t know about you, but my household receives way too many catalogs every day.  As I developed my strategy for living local I realized that if I wasn’t going to be shopping online or through a catalog, I might as well get off of all these mailing lists.  My goal as Scrooge would say was to  “decrease the surplus population,” while at the same time I would be reducing my carbon footprint.

I quickly realized that I needed a strategy behind this goal. In two day’s time our household had received 12 catalogs! Believe me I am not a big shopper, but we must be a prime name on somebody’s list, because we get catalogs from everybody and their brother. My strategy consisted of checking the company’s website to see if their was a way to remove myself from the list online. Out of 12 catalogs only one made it that easy and that was Orvis – kudos to you! For the rest I had to call customer service and wait for a representative to speak with. All totaled I spent about forty minutes removing my name from the mailing list’s of twelve catalogs. I compiled a list of my own in order to keep track of which ones I have already contacted, because invariably they all said it would be 8-10 weeks before the catalogs stopped.

Thank goodness today was Sunday and no new catalogs arrived. Who knew that going local was going to be this time consuming?!

At work I decide to take an informal poll of coworkers and patrons about what they would consider local gas. At the end of the day it seems that most people consider a locally owned and operated gas station the closest you are going to get to “local gas.” In almost every conversation The Stewart’s Shop comes up as a possibility. They are a locally owned convenient store with their headquarters in Saratoga Springs, about 30 minutes north of Troy.

Trying to be true to my quest my fellow worker Gary and I decide to investigate where Stewart’s gets their gas from. Nothing on wikipedia, nothing on their website. So being true librarians at heart we decide to go to the source. We call the local Stewarts Shop and they direct us to corporate headquarters.

I call – the reception answers and I politely ask if she could tell me where they get their gasoline from. She puts me on hold for about five minutes and comes back and tells me it comes from Albany! Albany is the port 10 minutes south of here – I guess I’ll just have to take my chances. Cost of gas $2.79/gallon – not bad, but definitely not local.