I am a cooking addict and local food advocate......I cook and prepare foods at work and on my days off , spend many many hours cooking at home....I wild harvest as many local veggies (and weeds) as possible...we love nettles,wintergreen, dandelion greens,cress, purslane, and whatever else I can find...mushrooms, berries, local nuts,roots and tubers..sun chokes....mmm.I take eating "local" to a whole new level!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I preserve many of the products I find or grow and save seeds for the next years harvest.I grow heirloom varieties of most popular veggies, and enjoy sharing with friends and neighbors.I also grow or wild craft my own medicinal herbs.I have a garden bed of burdock.pesky plants...delicious roots!!I also grow my own flax seeds. I have a friend who spins the plant fiber into beautiful linen thread after I harvest the seeds.I grow my own mustard seed as well...a pain to hull,but makes special mustards for holiday gifts.I try to eat at least 65% raw foods. I love to make all kinds of foods...I ferment my own sauerkraut,make mustards, pickled vegetables, kefir,cheese, yougurts and anything else I think to try!I make my own beef/turkey jerky, and dry most everything I grow for use in my stews and soups. I grow most of my own foods and obtain organic free range and raw milk for what I cannot produce myself, when ever financially possible.I grow all my own herbs, garlic and onions....I also grow my own burdock root...if you have never tried it...do so! it is great in soups and stews...lends an earthy sweet/carrot like taste and so good for you.I make my own beer,wine and vinegars...I also roast my own coffee beans and flavor them when the mood stikes! Thanksgiving...while the boys (hubby and son) go out to play football at the annual neighborhood game, my daughter and I cook up a storm and have some quality bonding time. Eggplant parmesan, my homemade pasta sauce...(not bad for Scot!) and my soups and stews get rave reviews,especially my miso soup!.My roast lamb is a family favorite. Biggest failure...breads!... I am not patient enough to wait for the dough to rise and end up with "dog Treats"...sometimes even the dog doesn't want 'em! lol.....I finally broke down and got a "BreadMaster"....problem solved!...also, I had some "well-meaning" friends tell me that my family ate to much animal product..I listened to their reasoning and decided to try to convert myself and my family to Vegan...what a disaster....they simply refused to live without meat,butter,cow's milk or my cheeses....I gave that idea up very quickly!Plus I missed making my own dairy delights(and eating them!)...What was I thinking!we are meat/dairy eaters,but not regularly.I have succeeded in getting them to drink rice or almond milk on occasion,and I try to make sure that our meat and dairy is humanely grown/made/slaughtered,we eat local venison and buffalo as often as financially possible and as much organic/free range as I can afford.I have friends who hunt,andlove to share.