By Lucette
One of the unexpected pleasures of taking on the ELC has been my conversations with other people--sellers, farmers, bakers, grocers, passers-by, and, of course, my hapless friends and family. I'm the sort of enthusiast who, once interested in something, can't keep her mouth shut about it. So all this month I've been making a harmless (I hope) nuisance of myself.
The people at the farmers' market were good at this dialogue--happy to tell me about their products, even down to what kind of baking powder they were using, if I asked, and happy to pass out samples. Last week I spent time eating bites of chocolate croissant (local chocolate maker: Malleys) and sipping kale and sausage soup from a tiny paper cup while the vendor told me about his Italian grandfather's sausage recipe, and then tasting the last of the nettle pesto before I bought a pint.
I've discussed the care and feeding of Ohio-raised bison, the best way to prepare ramps ("simple and plain--let them shine"), and what to do with the several varieties of dried hot peppers I couldn't resist. 
And I now know a great deal more about mushroom culture than I did in April.
Grocery trips too have offered a chance to gab. Just asking "do you have any local..." cheeses, wines, produce, varieties of cereal, etc., led the way to a deeper appreciation for the folks who try to provide these things (in the Cleveland area, especially the Mustard Seed Market and Nature's Bin). I even had 
a conversation in Giant Eagle with the cashier who was curious about why I was buying some nuts that looked dirty to her (black walnuts, grown down near Columbus).
Maybe less benignly, Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, has prompted a lot of conversations that start with me saying something like "Do you know what cattle feedlots are like?" as well as discussions about what organic really means. (I've been informed that no one really wants to hear any more about fecal dust.)
In a way, the ELC has been as much about education as about food--maybe even more. I feel like a student starting a new class, and as can happen in a great class, seeing the world in a different way.
Lucette writes, teaches, and gardens in Cleveland, Ohio, and blogs at www.vintagecook.blogspot.com.
