The farmers market here in Ballard is un-frickin-believable. Like a dream come true. I have worked toward this goal for a long time, but for the first time it feels within reach! The displays and colors alone are breath-taking. Not only is there beautiful produce and drop dead gorgeous flower bouquets, but rolled-in butcher counters with local farm raised meets and dairy and eggs. And of course lots of beautiful cuts of fresh fish.

I bought 6 oysters caught yesterday off the east coast of the sound and we ate them on the half shell as soon as I got them home. YUM! I found almost all the ingredients for Italian Wedding Soup for our first of a new tradition – Soup Sundays. Turned out wonderfully! I spent most the afternoon in the kitchen. Froze a bunch of blueberries, which I hope to keep stocking up for the winter. The peaches are so good right now, I would love to learn how to do some canning. I baked a quiche with really good cheddar, spinach, wild mushrooms (my favorite booth), broccoli, and ham. Froze some extra filling for next time. And dinner for the rest of the week is planned – marinaded pork chops served with braised red cabbage with apples and lime, potatos au gratin with ham served with grilled radicchio, okra and eggplant curry, tacos with three colored beans, and brats with corn on the cobb.

Next week I have got to take advantage of the fruit harvest and bake up something sweet.

I’ve found lots of good resources and recipe inspiration. The market has a What’s Fresh page. A great blog Eat Local Northweat. Sustainable Ballard and Vancouver’s 100 Mile Diet site.