Saturday Market

The theme today was green. Our kitchen is well-stocked with green. New today was baby bok choy, which I have never prepared before, though I think I have had it at an Asian restaurant. Also new is that I got shiitake mushrooms instead of portobello. And also, I have no idea how much money I spent today. I have the most horrible cold/flu/plague I believe I have ever had in my life. It's been raging since Wednesday. I have missed three (THREE!) days of school. It's really freaking me out and messing with my sense of efficacy and self-worth. How am I going to go back to work on Tuesday and function? I could have missed so many things while I was away. I am trying not to think about it this weekend and instead to rest and focus on good food. So anyway, because of the creeping death, I did not bother to keep a running list of items and prices as I usually do. Furthermore, I am not even going to estimate. Why? Because my brain is about 5 degrees warmer than it normally is and it doesn't like that very much. I am capable of constructing a rudimentary account of what I bought, however.

Saturday Shopping List

1 lb. cranberry beans
a bunch of asparagus
1/2 lb of baby bok choy
3 heads of baby lettuce
one head of butter-crisp lettuce
a bunch of dark flat-leafed kale for juicing
6 large carrots with splits or nicks on them, for $2
1 quart basket of Kennebec potatoes (I know b/c the sign said so)
5 large tomatoes
a pint of shiitake mushrooms
a pint of strawberries
a pint of sugar snap peas
1 oz. fennel seeds
a loaf of multi-grain bread

Total: Yeah, no earthly clue. I imagine around $30 or so, just because it's usually about that and it wasn't all that different today.

There it is. I made juice this morning when I returned from the market: carrot and kale. I'm about to fix a sandwich of mushrooms, onion, tomato, lettuce, and possibly some fried tofu. For breakfast, I went to Satellite Cafe and had the vegan bike shop bagel which is vegan cream cheese, pesto, spinach, and roasted red pepper on a bagel. I thought the pesto was a little strong and also not how I remember pesto tasting. It was very vinegary. It was alright, but I would have preferred vegan cream cheese, tomato and spinach. I don't know if they make that.

baby bok choy and kale

carrot juice

A great use for rhubarb

Rhubarb Roasted Vegetables

1 small sweet potato
1 small white potato (or red, or yellow)
4 stalks of asparagus
2 carrots
a whole shallot
about an inch and a half of a rhubarb stalk, chopped
olive oil, salt, and pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Cut and combine potatoes, carrots, shallot, and asparagus in a cast iron pan. Coat with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Scatter finely chopped rhubarb over top of the vegetables. Roast for about 30 - 35 minutes or until everything is soft and the carrots and asparagus tops are a teensy bit blackened. The rhubarb is mild but gives the vegetables a sweet, fresh, tangy flavor. It goes well with the pepper.

"Godspeed all the bakers at dawn...."

I made a playlist on my iPod this morning with nothing but "New Slang" by the Shins nineteen times. That was my farmers' market playlist. I turn it off while I'm shopping because you want to interact with the vendors, but I have a nice, 4 1/2 block walk each way to listen to music. It's a rainy day in Cedar Park and I didn't get out of bed until nearly 11 o'clock. Didn't leave the house until it started raining just before one. I was afraid the vendors would pack up early, but they didn't.

Bought the last bunch of mustard greens from the high school gardening program. Their turn-out is very impressive. There are always at least five kids there staffing the table; this morning, there were more like seven. That's better attendance than some of my classes. These kids were from U. City and Sayre, but sometimes there are West kids. They tried to sell me the entire rest of their salad greens for $26... well, they "tried." It was a joke. But you don't know unless you try. Go, kids.

I didn't bring any paper and pen to make a list, but I put $40 in my pocket and spent most of it, in two places.

Saturday Shopping List

-a big bag of hydroponic lettuce from the lady who sells beans and spices - this is her first hydro lettuce harvest and she was giving samples - it's very sharp and flavorful - will go well with mustard on a sandwich - $2
-two heads of baby lettuce - one purple and one green and curly - 75 cents ea.
-a bunch of mustard greens - $2
-half-dozen carrots
-two rhubarb stalks (ruined every recipe last time, going to try again)
-a pint of strawberries - from a different vendor this time - smaller, sweeter berries, i couldn't stop eating them on the way home
-a pint of crimini (brown) mushrooms
-a portobello cap
-a loaf of sourdough banana bread (ate half of it for breakfast with my strawberries)
-a bunch of asparagus
-a large parsnip to go in a soup (gives blended soups a creamy texture and fresh flavor)
-a quart of sweet onions
-a 23-oz. jar of apple sauce
-eight large tomatoes (some red and some green, to last all week)

I think that's it.

total: around $30

And at Milk and Honey: a loaf of cracked wheat bread, a few shallots, and a cup of coffee - around $8

Saturday market, mid-May... waiting for squash

I can't wait for summer squash. I don't remember when it comes in, so every Saturday I go to the market hoping it will be there. I want to roast some with sweet potatoes. But today was not the day.

Saturday Shopping List

about a dozen large carrots
8 of the tomatoes you see above
6 white potatoes
4 red potatoes
5 yellow sweet onions
2 of the bunches of asparagus you see above
a large head of buttercrisp lettuce
a jar of apple syrup
a pint of strawberries
a pint of crimini mushrooms
1 large portobello cap
2 bunches of dark green curly kale

Total: about $27

We want to start juicing again, so I got a bunch of carrots and the two bunches of dark green kale. We haven't had kale in a while. No sense in that. It is a great source of protein, calcium, and iron. The carrots are really big and I got plenty, so there should be enough to both juice and roast.

My favorite dish lately has been to roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, asparagus and onions in the the cast iron skillet in the oven at 425 for about 35 minutes. So good. I put on sea salt, black pepper, and fennel seeds. I cut up a whole, small sweet onion, in big chunks, and put in there, and it makes the whole house smell savory and foodie. Garlic is also good to add.

Saw an apartment on Craigslist that advertises if you live there you might have to help with the vegetable gardening and composting in the back yard. Hmm. That would be awesome. We e-mailed about it. Will keep you posted.

rhubarb rhubarb

All I really know about rhubarb is that if a lot of people say it all at once, it can sound like the general muttering of a crowd of extras on a movie set.

But I've already found a recipe for cold rhubarb soup with mint (scroll to the 2nd recipe), and I'm going to get baking soda and concoct something with flour and sugar that you can bake in a cast iron skillet. Any suggestions?

Saturday Shopping List

3 stalks of rhubarb
a pint of strawberries
1 purple baby lettuce, 1 green curly-leaf lettuce
1 buttercrisp lettuce
8 tomatoes
10 potatoes (red and white)
4 sweet potatoes
2 bunches of asparagus
4 yellow sweet onions
6 orange carrots
1 giant parsnip
1 leek
2 portobellos

total at Clark Park Farmers' Market: $32, even

and @ Milk & Honey Market:

1 loaf of multi-grain bread
2 bagels
2 pears

total: $9.18

Grand Total: $41.18

On the menu or percolating in my brain right now:

-oatmeal with rhubarb & strawberries
-rhubarb scones or muffins
-potato-leek-parsnip soup
-cold rhubarb soup
-rhubarb crumble (dessert)
-pancakes with strawberries
-portobello sandwiches
-could I make a rhubarb salad dressing?
-roasted: potatoes, asparagus, onions, carrots
-roasted sweet potatoes
-roasted chickpeas

May Day Market

Tomatoes are back!
Saturday Shopping List

6 big tomatoes
1 lb. asparagus
8 white potatoes
6 red potatoes
8 giant orange carrots
1 purple baby lettuce
1 green curly-leaf lettuce
1 giant buttercrisp lettuce
8 yellow onions
1 bunch scallions (about 1 lb.)
1 pint white mushrooms
1 portobello cap
1 oz. fennel seeds.

Total: $30.65

Current Menu at Heather's House

-avocado, lettuce, onion, tomato sandwich
-mushroom, lettuce, onion, tomato sandwich
-roasted chickpeas
-edamame
-steamed asparagus and carrots
-orzo salad with carrots and scallions
-miso soup with seaweed
-cream of asparagus soup
-baked potatoes
-mashed potatoes with pepper gravy
-hash browns/home fries
-mushroom scramble on a bagel or toast
-flaxseed pancakes
-oatmeal
-hot multi-grain cereal
-banana bread
-grapefruit
-Philadelphia Water Ice - lemon
-iced coffee
-iced tea
-ice water