Old Friends, New Food

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to reconnect with old friends at a housewarming potluck in Detroit. At the potluck, I reconnected with an old high school friend who is working for a nonprofit called The Greening of Detroit where she is working on urban gardening projects. Having just started this blog and doing a lot of reading on healthy, local eating, I was very excited to see her, and we got to talking about urban gardening and local eating. The entire potluck was vegetarian and mostly vegan, many dishes made from locally-grown produce. The hostesses did a fantastic job of bringing meaning to the food we were eating by having everyone introduce themselves, what they brought, and how their dish of choice reflected something about them. There was baba ganoush made from Detroit-grown eggplants, tabouleh made from Detroit-grown parsley, a wide variety of Michigan squash dishes, and delicious vegan cookies made with oat flour, banana, and natural sweeteners. I wish I had the recipes for everything that we ate because it was all so delicious, but I will share the recipe for the roasted pumpkins I brought: Roasted pumpkins 2 2-4 lb. pie pumpkins 1 bunch green onions 2 T. olive oil 1/4 cup brown sugar salt, pepper, and garlic to taste Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut tops off pumpkins, reserving the lids. Seed and string pumpkins, reserving the seeds. Rub insides of the pumpkin with olive oil, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and garlic. Roast pumpkins with lids on for 50-60 minutes in the oven or until tender. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, roast the pumpkin seeds with green onions, garlic, salt, and pepper. When pumpkins are roasted, fluff insides with a fork and mix in roasted seed mixture. To serve, scoop pumpkin meat out of shell with seeds. I was amazed and inspired by how much meaning could be brought to food when everyone contributes. With everyone introducing their meal and eating together, I was able to be mindful of what I was eating, knowing where it came from and the love and care involved in its preparation.