Spaghetti squash and sauce

My chest freezer is a thing of beauty. It’s full of apple sauce, tomato sauce, local beef, chickens I helped process myself and a whole bunch of berries.

So, when I wanted a Dark Days meal this week, I was so happy I could just dig in the freezer. My goal this year is not to be fancy. I have to keep reminding myself that simple is great for a working mom with a very busy toddler.

So, I started simple and everything turned out great.

I started with a bottle of marina sauce. It was just a simple sauce. It had:

• Organic tomatoes from Eastern Washington. I bought these as part of a co-op and getting the list was one of the best things I’ve done for my local food consumption.
• Onion from the Everett Farmers Market
• Fresh basil from the grocery store (it claimed to be from within my own county, but I’m dubious)
• Garlic from my garden

All of this cooked for hours upon hours in my crockpot made for a most delectable sauce. I’m so happy I get to eat it all year. And next year I’m doing even more tomatoes. I love that my early work will pay off all winter.

I added in some sausage from Ferndale. Well, OK, Hemplers is from Ferndale, but likely the sausage was from elsewhere. I need to do better next time. Buying a local pig is on our to-do list for next year. I had forgotten we even had that sausage in the freezer.

I also sauteed some onion and mushrooms. The mushrooms were from Washington, but the location was not more precise. The onions were from Frog Song Farm, one of my favorites. I also added in zucchini.

About those zucchini. From Mexico. Yes, Mexico. Yes, I know that’s not local. I was in a hurry at the Co-op and trusted the label above them that said “Washington.” It wasn’t until I got home and found a “Mexico” sticker that I realized my mistake. I should have know I was unlikely to get local zucchini here in December. I went ahead and cooked them because I wouldn’t get another chance to use them this week. Wasting food is worse thank not completing a perfect Dark Days meal, so they got used.

I also roasted a very nice spaghettis squash, the last of a few that a coworker gave to me. (Thanks, Bill!)

Everything came together beautifully. My husband even finally braved spaghetti squash. I’m not sure why he’d been holding out. He ate it all happily. So did my toddler. She also adored that sauce. And she always eats meat.

We also drank a nice bottle of 14 Hands merlot (well not Hazel).  I must confess I bought this wine solely for label. OK and because it was from Washington. But I’m a sucker for horses. The wine didn’t disappoint, though. It was fabulous. I’d totally buy it again.

Dinner was a hit. By the time I thought to take a photo, this is all I had left:

New this week: I’m counting the tomatoes, because this is the first year I’ve done them. Also the mushrooms, although I won’t buy them again. Jerry declared them too chewy.

Lessons learned: Slow down a bit and read labels more carefully.

Funny side note: I saw this while buying the wine at Fred Meyer. It pretty much goes against everything Dark Days is trying to do, don’t you think? How lazy are we that we need pre-wrapped potatoes?

Read more about the Dark Days Challenge.