Hollygrove Market Expedition
This morning the boy and I went out to Hollygrove Market to acquire our very own box of fresh produce. I've heard of this kind of thing before, but didn't know that there was anything like that available here in New Orleans. Last week over Twitter I heard about Hollygrove, and was determined to give it a shot. Michael was skeptical, but came along to see what the fuss was about.
I had assumed that when we got there, we would hand someone money and they would hand us a box and that'd be that. Nope! Instead, we were greeted at the door with a, "Have you been here before?" I am pretty sure that it was my overwhelmed and confused expression that gave us away. The woman very nicely explained that we should grab a box and go down the line and take as many of each item as the orange cards at the end of the bins indicated.
We did that, and then rounded the corner to find a bunch of beautiful, individually-marked produce, bags of kettle corn, goat milk soap, jars of local honey, soy candles, and preserves. There was a woman from the Vintage Garden Kitchen with soups, including samples of a fantastic minestrone. A chest freezer which reminded me of the Mennonite farm near Charlottesville had lamb, pork, and ground beef, as well as the promise of fresh bacon sometime in November. A woman pointed out as being in charge explained (apologetically) that they had to buy the whole pig and have it processed in order for there to be bacon, so it was only there seasonally. Next to the freezer was a fridge with the soups, some sauces, insanely awesome looking salsa, and fresh feta, ricotta, and chevre cheeses. Beside the registers, there was a pile of gorgeous fresh bread.
Michael grabbed some kettle corn, and I picked up the chevre, and then we took our booty (arrrrrrr... yes I know what day it is) home.
This is what we ended up with:
Five satsumas, which I am not entirely sure what to do with, but might try using in a salad a la my mother's mandarin dressing.
Three Arkansas Black Apples
One bunch of turnips (I've never made turnips before... or turnip greens!)
Four yellow squash
Two sweet potatoes -- they had these tiiiny little sweet potatoes, smaller than my fist. I've never seen such small sweet potatoes!
Two tomatoes (Ripening in the windowsill)
Two green peppers
One Pattypan Squash (No clue what to do with this one, but it's so cute!)
One Yellow Zucchini
One bag of muscadine grapes (already half-gone)
One bag of okra (will be fried later today or tomorrow, I assure you)
One bag of shelled, fresh frozen lima beans
One container of white button mushrooms
Next time, I am going to bring home some of the awesome bread and a container of the salsa, if it's still there. I'm very excited about experimenting with some of the veggies I've never tried before. All in all, a very productive exploration, and hopefully one which we'll repeat regularly from here out!
I had assumed that when we got there, we would hand someone money and they would hand us a box and that'd be that. Nope! Instead, we were greeted at the door with a, "Have you been here before?" I am pretty sure that it was my overwhelmed and confused expression that gave us away. The woman very nicely explained that we should grab a box and go down the line and take as many of each item as the orange cards at the end of the bins indicated.
We did that, and then rounded the corner to find a bunch of beautiful, individually-marked produce, bags of kettle corn, goat milk soap, jars of local honey, soy candles, and preserves. There was a woman from the Vintage Garden Kitchen with soups, including samples of a fantastic minestrone. A chest freezer which reminded me of the Mennonite farm near Charlottesville had lamb, pork, and ground beef, as well as the promise of fresh bacon sometime in November. A woman pointed out as being in charge explained (apologetically) that they had to buy the whole pig and have it processed in order for there to be bacon, so it was only there seasonally. Next to the freezer was a fridge with the soups, some sauces, insanely awesome looking salsa, and fresh feta, ricotta, and chevre cheeses. Beside the registers, there was a pile of gorgeous fresh bread.
Michael grabbed some kettle corn, and I picked up the chevre, and then we took our booty (arrrrrrr... yes I know what day it is) home.
This is what we ended up with:
Five satsumas, which I am not entirely sure what to do with, but might try using in a salad a la my mother's mandarin dressing.
Three Arkansas Black Apples
One bunch of turnips (I've never made turnips before... or turnip greens!)
Four yellow squash
Two sweet potatoes -- they had these tiiiny little sweet potatoes, smaller than my fist. I've never seen such small sweet potatoes!
Two tomatoes (Ripening in the windowsill)
Two green peppers
One Pattypan Squash (No clue what to do with this one, but it's so cute!)
One Yellow Zucchini
One bag of muscadine grapes (already half-gone)
One bag of okra (will be fried later today or tomorrow, I assure you)
One bag of shelled, fresh frozen lima beans
One container of white button mushrooms
Next time, I am going to bring home some of the awesome bread and a container of the salsa, if it's still there. I'm very excited about experimenting with some of the veggies I've never tried before. All in all, a very productive exploration, and hopefully one which we'll repeat regularly from here out!