farmers' market: three posts for the price of one!
July 31 market
First market after the move, so I went... a little nuts, yeah. Fresh garlic (3 or 4 heads, I think), lacinato kale, zucchini and yellow squash, jalapeños, beets, green beans, sweet onions, mushrooms, cauliflower, potatoes, tomatoes (nothing fancy), lots of corn, and some tiny early apples (red bird and yellow transparent). I made yellow squash and corn soup for the first time this season - yum. And picked up a loaf of russian black bread, which wasn't perfect (too dry and too sweet; I like it sticky and savory) but toasted up nicely.
August 7 market
Cippolini onions, shallots, yellow tomatoes, more corn, more jalapeños, crookneck squash, mushrooms (not as many, though), an unbelievably cute butterscotch melon, apples (red bird and june wealthy), and presents for some people I'll be seeing at VividCon.
apple notes
The yellow transparent is, as the name suggests, quite yellow; it's crisp-hard and tart, so I expected to love it, but the flavor didn't actually do anything for me. I preferred the june wealthy, also crisp and tart; it's yellow with an orange-red cheek, and just... tastes better. But my favorite of the early apples is definitely the red bird, which is so red it almost looks candied, is tart with sweet undertones, and very crisp - but unlike the others it's crisp and flavorful rather than just tasting... crisp.
tomatoes on demand
Yesterday truepenny and I stopped at the Tuesday market in our old neighborhood on our way through town. My favorite tomato vendor was there, but I didn't see any of the heirloom tomatoes I fell in love with last year. "Are you going to have heirlooms this year?" I asked, possibly a bit plaintively. He said that in fact he had a few with him that he hadn't put out because he'd picked them for a photo shoot (long story), but that I should take a look at them; and then he opened up the van so I could check them out.
I love knowing the people who grow my food.
I ended up with green zebra, black zebra (new this year!), the only wapsipinicon peach he'd picked, pink ping-pongs, yellow ping-pongs, flammé, a tiny pale yellow tomato that is *not* a lemon drop and that he couldn't remember the name of but is "white something," and a couple of black plums.
truepenny can vouch for the fact that I was really (no, *really*) gleeful about these tomatoes. I think I may have to make an heirloom tomato pizza with good olive oil, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, and nothing else. Yum.
First market after the move, so I went... a little nuts, yeah. Fresh garlic (3 or 4 heads, I think), lacinato kale, zucchini and yellow squash, jalapeños, beets, green beans, sweet onions, mushrooms, cauliflower, potatoes, tomatoes (nothing fancy), lots of corn, and some tiny early apples (red bird and yellow transparent). I made yellow squash and corn soup for the first time this season - yum. And picked up a loaf of russian black bread, which wasn't perfect (too dry and too sweet; I like it sticky and savory) but toasted up nicely.
August 7 market
Cippolini onions, shallots, yellow tomatoes, more corn, more jalapeños, crookneck squash, mushrooms (not as many, though), an unbelievably cute butterscotch melon, apples (red bird and june wealthy), and presents for some people I'll be seeing at VividCon.
apple notes
The yellow transparent is, as the name suggests, quite yellow; it's crisp-hard and tart, so I expected to love it, but the flavor didn't actually do anything for me. I preferred the june wealthy, also crisp and tart; it's yellow with an orange-red cheek, and just... tastes better. But my favorite of the early apples is definitely the red bird, which is so red it almost looks candied, is tart with sweet undertones, and very crisp - but unlike the others it's crisp and flavorful rather than just tasting... crisp.
tomatoes on demand
Yesterday truepenny and I stopped at the Tuesday market in our old neighborhood on our way through town. My favorite tomato vendor was there, but I didn't see any of the heirloom tomatoes I fell in love with last year. "Are you going to have heirlooms this year?" I asked, possibly a bit plaintively. He said that in fact he had a few with him that he hadn't put out because he'd picked them for a photo shoot (long story), but that I should take a look at them; and then he opened up the van so I could check them out.
I love knowing the people who grow my food.
I ended up with green zebra, black zebra (new this year!), the only wapsipinicon peach he'd picked, pink ping-pongs, yellow ping-pongs, flammé, a tiny pale yellow tomato that is *not* a lemon drop and that he couldn't remember the name of but is "white something," and a couple of black plums.
truepenny can vouch for the fact that I was really (no, *really*) gleeful about these tomatoes. I think I may have to make an heirloom tomato pizza with good olive oil, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, and nothing else. Yum.