Cooking With Fire in Montague, MA

I've just spent a few days with some friends in Montague, Massachusetts, a couple of hours west of Boston, near the Vermont border. Among other things, we talked about (and ate) sustainable food. As always, part of the upside of eating sustainable food is that it tastes better than unsustainable food. Some pictures: 1) A fine-looking chicken-of-known-origin. She seemed irresistibly drawn to the brightly-colored buckets. She didn't really like having her picture taken, so she is on the move… 2) Some slightly less vivacious relatives of the above chicken, seen here with Chris Martenson. Chris has thought a lot about the changes that are coming to the world in the not-too-distant future. In three broad realms—economics, energy, and the environment—current practices may be reaching the end of their usefulness. We may be facing a convergence of pressures unlike any we have seen within our lifetimes. He explores these possibilities with awesome depth and insight on his website, ChrisMartenson.com, and in his video series, Crash Course. The less appealing this sounds to you, the more I recommend that you take a look. 3) Chickens roasting on an open fire… 4) Beef season. This was some of the most delicious steak I have had in recent memory, cooked just right. I was fortunate to get the pieces right around the bone. They were massively delicious. We rounded out the meal with shrimp (of unknown origin!), super-fresh in-season asparagus, zucchini, grilled bread rubbed with roasted garlic (I won't insult it by calling it "garlic bread"), mashed potatoes with a hint of cheese, home-made blueberry cobbler, local ice cream, and more than a few bottles of wine.