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This is part 1 of a 3 part series in which I write about a potluck called the Locals are Delicious. My friend Shasta came up with the idea and very generously hosted it. It was an excellent opportunity for me to learn more about supporting local foodstuffs. I think that was part of her plan.

The Guidelines:
Every ingredient (except salt) must have been grown and/or produced within a 150 mile radius of Philadelphia.

When I thought about this initially I was like oh this will be super easy and for the most part it was. It definitely had an effect on what I ended up making. I originally wanted to make carnitas, but after consulting with Shasta, I was informed that oranges are not locally available…duh! I knew that I wanted to braise pork butt so I searched the interwebs for a delicious recipe that would not include a large list of ingredients that I could not find locally. I randomly came across this recipe from a blog I was unfamiliar with but found it fit perfectly with the guidelines of the potluck. It also forced me to make my own stock which I don’t do nearly enough. Oh and I got to spend a morning in Reading Terminal Market shopping for my local ingredients. Mmm.

I had to take advantage of some delicious Old City Coffee and my favorite kind of donut from Beiler’s Bakery.

Here are the delicious fruits and veggies from my shopping trip. I just loved the carrots and celery. These just totally fell out of their bags just like this, I swear!

Not shown: local PA butter yum!,

Let’s talk stock! I bought the meats for the dish from L. Halteman. I bought 4 pounds of pork butt, 1 whole chicken (just because) and a bag of chicken bones!!! I had to ask for the bag of bones but they were very happy to oblige. Can I just take a minute to mention how inexpensive it is to shop locally. I thought it would be more expensive but I was amazed at how cheap all the meats were.

For the stock, I used my 8qt. stock pot and threw in 1 onion roughly chopped, , 3 carrots cut in half, 3 celery stalks with leafy greens and the bag of bones (bag not included). I filled up the pot with water, added salt and brought it to a boil. Once it got to a boil I turned down the heat to medium and let it cook covered for about 45 minutes.

When I was done I strained the liquid and out came the most lovely color of broth I have ever seen. I had to add a little more salt but after that is was perfect.

Thus concludes this post. My second installment of the Locals are Delicious will involve my 1 am freakout with apples and pork. I bet you can’t wait!