farmers' market: at my favorite vegetable stand
There are a couple of new people working at my favorite vegetable stand this year. Three weeks into the market and they already know me.
the new guy: Hey, it's the ramp queen!
the new woman: That is a great hat.
h.l: Thank you. Are the ramps still three for five?
tng: Of course. What did you do with them last week?
h.l: Pizza again. Oh, and then I used the last of them in this really great soup with potatoes and a handful of sorrel.
tng: Do you cook somewhere or just at home?
the experienced woman: She's not with a restaurant.
h.l: Yeah, I just cook at home.
tnw: But you cook well at home.
tew: And she doesn't invite us, which I think is a shame.
innocent bystander: What are ramps?
h.l: They're wild leeks! They're really good. You can use them in...
tng: Here she goes.
tnw: This is our job, you know.
h.l: But I'm standing right here. And I like ramps.
tng: We know.
The final tally: ramps, watercress, spinach, button mushrooms, criminis, and a lot of asparagus. And had a really interesting conversation about onions with a different vendor (he's just planted his this week and they need rain; he lost a third of the crop last year after planting during what turned out to be a dry week).
I'd been expecting morels, and in fact there were a few, but my favorite morel vendor wasn't around, and anyway I think I'd rather wait until next week and use them for a dinner party; it seems too decadent to keep morels all for myself. I should have some people over for mushroom strudel with morel cream sauce. Which means picking up puff pastry sometime soon.
I came home to find six plum-colored irises blooming behind the house.
the new guy: Hey, it's the ramp queen!
the new woman: That is a great hat.
h.l: Thank you. Are the ramps still three for five?
tng: Of course. What did you do with them last week?
h.l: Pizza again. Oh, and then I used the last of them in this really great soup with potatoes and a handful of sorrel.
tng: Do you cook somewhere or just at home?
the experienced woman: She's not with a restaurant.
h.l: Yeah, I just cook at home.
tnw: But you cook well at home.
tew: And she doesn't invite us, which I think is a shame.
innocent bystander: What are ramps?
h.l: They're wild leeks! They're really good. You can use them in...
tng: Here she goes.
tnw: This is our job, you know.
h.l: But I'm standing right here. And I like ramps.
tng: We know.
The final tally: ramps, watercress, spinach, button mushrooms, criminis, and a lot of asparagus. And had a really interesting conversation about onions with a different vendor (he's just planted his this week and they need rain; he lost a third of the crop last year after planting during what turned out to be a dry week).
I'd been expecting morels, and in fact there were a few, but my favorite morel vendor wasn't around, and anyway I think I'd rather wait until next week and use them for a dinner party; it seems too decadent to keep morels all for myself. I should have some people over for mushroom strudel with morel cream sauce. Which means picking up puff pastry sometime soon.
I came home to find six plum-colored irises blooming behind the house.