June 11, 2008
What's In The Bag? Otherwise Known As What We Got At The Farmer's Market!
Dear Lord it's a beautiful day! It's currently 88 degrees with 31% humidity and a breeze of about 5 miles per hour as I sit here barefoot on the front porch watching Alexis play in her sand box and type this little missive. You've gotta love a good breeze and wireless internet! This is what summer should be! ;o)
On Wednesdays from 4-7 PM there is a Farmer's Market in our local park. This is the first time we've made it to a Farmer's Market this season. We missed last week's opening, but I marked my calendar so I wouldn't forget this week and I'm so glad I didn't! The selection was amazing! There was everything from fruit to vegetables to yarn to baked goods to plants to homemade doggie treats! Oh my!
My main hope for today was to find some peas and we lucked out! I also hoped for some strawberries and wouldn't you know we got those too!
We also ended up with a bunch of radishes, some asparagus, a few bell peppers, some sweet cherries and a purple basil plant. Not bad at all and MUCH cheaper than the supermarket! (For example the strawberries were $4.50 and the same sized container at the store has been running around $5.99. The cherries were $3.50 and at the store they've been running $4.99/pound...You get the idea!) Plus it's all local...What's not to like about that?
Now...What do I want to do with all these lovely goodies? ;oP
Posted by Dianne at 5:06 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
November 5, 2007
Autumn Weekend
We had a lazy, hazy Autumn weekend. I just love this time of year. The sun was shining, but it was cool and breezy. It was simply the perfect Autumn weather! It was just too nice to stay cooped up inside.
We took Alexis to the zoo and then proceeded to take a drive out through the country. The leaves are just gorgeous! Along the way we happened upon a local orchard and of course we stopped in to see what they had!
Alexis and I got some Gala apples and we got some Granny Smith apples for Jamison. We also got some homemade grape jelly, strawberry jam and pumpkin butter. And the best part...The part I wait all year long in anticipation for are the Concord grapes! I just LOVE Concord grapes!! They are well worth the wait!
This orchard in particular is open ten months of the year. They even have winter apples through January! We will most definitely be making our way back since it's less than 10 miles from our house! Maybe next time we'll pick up some of their homemade baked goods as well. They smelled heavenly!
I hope you each had a wonderful weekend yourself. I'm off to enjoy the lovely Autumn afternoon. I'll be back with new recipes starting tomorrow!
Posted by Dianne at 1:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 1, 2007
Saturday Farmer's Market
* Thanks to A Veggie Venture for this great Farmer's Market icon! :o)
Alexis and I usually venture over to the Farmer's Market on Tuesday mornings, but this week we didn't make it so we decided to swing by Saturday morning instead. Oh my! What a chaotic mess! They even had two police officers directing traffic! We'll be sure to go on Tuesdays from now on, but we got some lovely fruits and veggies and after all isn't that what it's all about?
Alexis also picked out a cucumber, but it didn't make it into the picture because he was still hiding in the bag.
The sweet banana peppers were gorgeous this morning. They are a childhood favorite. My grandfather used to grow them each summer and now I do, though my plants succumbed to the drought this year. Alexis has grown to love them too. We usually just eat them raw as a snack or in a salad.
They called these "Fairytale" eggplants, but it's basically just a baby eggplant. I like to sauté them with a little garlic and olive oil or stuff them mushrooms and spinach. They are also good in lasagna.
The yellow grape tomatoes were also lovely this morning. I'm going to make some veggie and shrimp kabobs for dinner with wild rice.
Ditto for the red grape tomatoes.
We even lucked upon some okra! You'll be seeing that coming into play this week too! ;o)
And lastly these tiny little plums! They are roughly the size of large grapes and the lady who sold them to me told me they aren't "eating" plums, but cooking plums. I don't know what I'll do with them yet, but most likely I'll make some plum jam or something of that nature.
I hope you are all having a wonderful Saturday! I know we are! :o)
Posted by Dianne at 12:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 16, 2007
Busy, Busy, Busy!
My parents are visiting from Tennessee and we've been running about here and there doing fun things. We even swung by the Farmer's Market to grab some corn and my Mom brought some tomatoes with her when she came!
There is just nothing like a vine ripe tomato!
And fresh sweet corn can't be beat either!
I'll be back in the next day or so with some new recipes...A Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip cookie that Jamison took to work as a treat and some Blueberry Ice Cream that I made for my Dad (he's a big snacker and ice cream eater!)
Stay tuned! ;o)
Posted by Dianne at 8:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 10, 2007
Fresh From The Famer's Market
* Thanks to A Veggie Venture for this great Farmer's Market icon! :o)
This summer I've been utilizing the Farmer's Market more than I usually do since it's been so hot and dry and my garden isn't doing so stellar this summer as it did last year. Alexis enjoys going to the Farmer's Market and picking out things that interest her, but mostly she just wants more peas, cucumbers and tomatoes! ;o)
This week this is what we found:
Cherries, plums, yellow tomatoes, cucumbers and more peas.
The yellow tomatoes this year are just wonderful!
They are great as is, in salad or even as a pasta topping! They are very sweet, with just the right acidity. They are truly some of the best I've had in years.
Cucumbers!
Lovely, lovely cucumbers! There is something just wonderful about freshly picked cucumbers! I didn't plant any cucumbers this year. They didn't have them when I initially bought my plants and then I forgot to add some later. These little gems are especially tasty and Alexis and I have been really enjoying them.
And cherries!
I'm a HUGE fresh cherry fan and the ones that are local are especially delicious! You just can't beat that tree ripe goodness!
And lastly Methley Plums!
I had never had these before, but they're delicious! They are smaller than most of the plums I am used to (about the size of a walnut), but they truly are the sweetest plums I've ever tried! Hopefully they'll have some the next time we go too! I think they would make an excellent cobbler or pie!
So that was our pull from this week's market. I wonder what we'll find next week? ;o)
Posted by Dianne at 11:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 3, 2007
Fresh From The Farmer's Market
* Thanks to A Veggie Venture for this great Farmer's Market icon! :o)
This morning we set out for one of our adventures and we passed a road side Farmer's Market where there were lots of yummy things, so would couldn't help but stop!
We got peaches, peas, purple potatoes, blueberries, honey and cucumbers. Alexis picked out everything but the peaches. Those were for me, though I'll share!
The blueberries, besides just for cereal and such, are for the 4th of July desert I'm making for tomorrow. More about that then! ;o)
The stand we stopped at had a pick them yourself option. I think we'll have to go back and do that soon! We didn't have time today though.
Alexis thought the purple potatoes were cool:
Now if she actually will eat them, we'll see about that! ;o) Strangely she's not much of a potato person, though Jamison and I both are.
Peas, honey and cucumbers:
I think we're going to make some risotto tonight and use the peas since Jamison is working late. As for the cucumbers, Alexis goes through about 2 of them a day! She loves them and so do I. And last but not least honey...We didn't really need more honey, but Alexis thought the bottle was cute and you can never have enough honey! We go through it fast around here!
The main reason for the stop was when I saw they had peaches:
There is nothing like a sweet, juicy peach picked right of the tree! They had a pick it yourself option for those too (and cherries as well)! I'm going to freeze some of them for use in cobbler or ice cream later and enjoy some of them fresh or in smoothies.
What a great find! We'll most definitely be going back soon! :o)
Posted by Dianne at 3:27 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
June 26, 2007
Fresh From The Famer's Market
* Thanks to A Veggie Venture for this great Farmer's Market icon! :o)
Alexis and I made several great finds this morning at the Farmer's Market!
Heirloom tomatoes:
I lost a couple when I actually sat my backpack down on the bag of tomatoes. Rats! I'll most likely make a tomato, mozzarella and rosemary salad among other things.
Squash and zucchini:
I think I'll make some zucchini bread and some squash cakes.
And this white sage plant, also known as bee sage:
I had never heard of it before, but I'm always up for trying new herbs!
It was a nice little journey this morning. What's better than fresh tomatoes??
Posted by Dianne at 11:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack