go to the Farmer's Market more often

Because I’ve made a habit of going, and I don’t think that will change anytime soon (except for when the Market closes in a month or so).

Bought:

a loaf of Jewish Rye from Styria Bakery. An Austrian couple here in the area runs their own European-style bakery. I need to find out if they’ve got a retail bakery so I can get their breads when the Market is over. They’ve got some lovely loaves.

one zucchini, one cucumber, and one eggplant from Monroe Organic Farms, LLC.

a bag of peaches from Pothook Farms. Morton’s was done for the season, and this was Pothook’s last week. :( No more good peaches until next year, I’m sad to say.

Went. Bought:

half a dozen ears of corn. A little chewy (it’s late in the season) but the flavor was great.
a big organic zucchini for stuffing later in the week.
a bag of peaches from Morton’s (they were out of seconds, I showed up too late)
a loaf of multigrain bread from Sunflower Bakery. I haven’t had any yet, but I’ve had their other breads before, and they were quite good.

Got an 11 lb. box of peach seconds from Morton’s Organic Orchards. I am so pleased to have organic stone fruits available locally. If these are seconds, well, the firsts must be GORGEOUS, ‘cause they’re damned pretty. They are a little hard yet. My plan is to make them into jam sometime this week, once they soften up. I’d like to make both plain peach jam and peach w/ habanero. Any other ideas as to what herbs/spices to add to this peach jam? Like I said, that’s 11 lbs. of peaches. Probably enough for several small experimental batches.

Also got some organic eggplants. Broiled one for dinner last night, and had it with basmati rice and spinach-tomato-yogurt sauce. YUM.

Got a med. basket of peaches and half a dozen ears of peaches and cream corn. The corn will be used in a salad this evening. Peaches…are good any time!

I got there later than I would have liked and it was crowded again. From now on, 10 a.m. arrival is a must!

And took my parents. They thought it was cool, too. My dad bought me two dahlias. :) I myself bought:

- a small basket of peaches. Don’t ask me which farm it was, I forgot to check! It was maddeningly busy. I was lucky I got there when I did – they had brought a whole pickup full of peaches, and when I got mine, were down to 3 or 4 boxes. I will be getting peaches from them again, though, for they were SUBLIME. Plan is to get a bunch and make peach pie, ice cream, etc. Maybe peach butter too, YUM!!!

- pasta: some porcini mushroom linguini, and a pound of rainbow orzo. That rainbow orzo is becoming my favorite pasta salad ingredient.

Got a great haul this time. Spent more money than I maybe should have, but I’m pretty sure it was worth it. I got some good, good stuff.

- 2 lbs. Colorado cherries from C & R Farms. Oh man, oh man. These cherries are soooo good. I had my appetite whetted when Chilean cherries showed up in King Soopers a few weeks ago. These particular cherries are much, much better. No squishy ones – each cherry is big and plump, with equal amounts of sweet and tartness.

- a half-pound of toasted onion-whole wheat pasta and a cup of Mediterranea orzo from Pappardelle’s. Made the orzo into a pasta salad last night – VERY tasty.

- a half-pound of mixed mushrooms from Hazel Dell. I can always use those for something.

- and my favorite, a hunk of Sweet Clover sheep’s milk cheese. I had a thick slice of it for dessert last night, along with a handful of cherries and a few squares of dark chocolate. OH MAN. This cheese is amazing. It has an indescribable crumbly-yet-creamy texture, and a nutty taste that I can only describe as…sheepy. Less tangy than a goat cheese, but with more character than a cow’s milk cheese. I’m going to eat my way through Bingham Hill’s catalogue as well. Thankfully they have a shop here in town, so I won’t have to fit in all of that cheese this summer – though I would love to try.

Once a week is just a lot for me! I can’t be both a conscious consumer (which, for me, means buying what I need) and go to the market every single week. At least not yet. Maybe when there’s a larger variety of produce available.

Twice a month is a good frequency to shoot for.

Didn’t buy pasta; now that it’s getting warmer, I haven’t been craving it quite so much. Plus I still have a bit of spinach-garlic and tomato-pepper left over. I’ll mix them together in a dish this week sometime.

I did buy:

-another $5 bag of lettuce. What a great deal. It’s young red and green oakleaf, plus some romaine leaves, and it’s a biiiiig bag. Moreover, the lettuces keep wonderfully, better than any supermarket bagged salad. It’s a bit more work than bagged salad because you have to wash the leaves in at least 2 changes of water – very sandy. But if you only wash what you want to use, it’s pretty quick. AND CHEAP!!! I just used up the last of the first bag that I bought several weeks ago, and while it was getting a bit bruised and worse for the wear, a good soak in cold water perked the leaves right up. I’ve gotten into the habit of having at least one salad a day, and it’s wonderful.

-1/2 lb. of shiitake mushrooms from Hazel Dell. For “cold soba and shiitakes” later in the week.

I really wanted to get tomato plants, but I didn’t have time to plant yesterday. About 3 different vendors have plants, a lot of different varieties too. I’ll figure out how many I can fit into my space, and maybe I’ll try to go to the Wednesday market…

Or just wait until next Sunday.

It was rainy, and I had way too much food in the fridge already. Haven’t made the tomato pasta yet – that’s on the list.