Saturday, August 07, 2010
Sorry to leave you (whoever "you" are) hanging. We did make it to Block Island for our anniversary, and it was wonderful. I will write more about it ASAP. But first I want to write about yesterday before I forget. I got to the North End Farmers' Market super late because I was racing to finish my farmers' market bag so I could use it. I almost thought I'd have to give up and just go without it when I temporarily lost my bobbin of orange thread, but instead of panicking, I went downstairs and finished getting ready to go, then calmly looked again when I came back up, and I found it on the floor way under my White Thing, up against the baseboard. I finished sewing on the binding, loaded up the bag's pockets, and made it to the market about half an hour before closing. I ended up actually liking being there so late, because the atmosphere is slightly different at different times, and it's fun trying them all! I have been to the market at a different time each week. The only bad thing was that I missed the music.
Posted at 4:02:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
As always, I was in a super-buoyant mood afterwards. Good farmers' markets are such a high for me! This week was the week for heirloom tomatoes!!! Wow! None last week, and, suddenly, a plethora! I only had $20 cash in my wallet, and no time to stop at a bank to get additional small bills, but it was enough money to buy 6 different cool heirlooms, a pint of Chaplin blueberries, a pint of Yummy Peppers, two mini-Profit melons, an O'Rourke's treat and a Klekolo coffee! I took pictures of all the different heirloom tomatoes and their labels so I'd remember which was which. Here are all the small ones I bought, today on a plate. (Clockwise starting at top: Prudens Purple, Green Zebra, Paul Robeson, Red Lightning, and Green Moldovan.) They were all from Starlight Gardens Farm in Durham (it was their first week at the market!) except the Red Lightning, which was from Cecarelli Farm in Northford and is supposedly so special that the tomato guy won't let anyone else on the farm even touch the plants, so no one knows much about them. It's sort of pepper-shaped, and has orange markings. The Cecarelli Farm guy also offered me a deal on a huge slightly messed-up Brandywine tomato, which I bought but did not photograph (it's too ugly!).
The Yummy Peppers (that's the real name, I guess!) (even though it sounds like a name Dean would make up) were also from Cecarelli Farm's table. When I asked him about them, the Cecarelli Farm guy offered me one to try first, to prove that they are, indeed, yummy. I don't even like peppers, and I'd eat these as a snack! Plus, they're so cute and colorful. Dean loves them too and wants me to buy more next week!
Tina from the O'Rourke's table was really nice as always, and I bought another "scuffin" from them to eat alongside my coffee after the market. This one was chocolate with white chocolate chips, and it was sooooooo good! I love how the scuffins are really small and dense and not that sweet. They are the perfect coffee (or tea) accompaniment. BTW, the Klekolo guy has my drink memorized now (although he thought it was nonfat... for some reason, baristas often think I look like a nonfat cappuccino person, but I'm not): single Bohemian, light on the syrup (i.e., not too sweet), with lots of foam. I like both hot and iced, depending on the weather. Oh yeah, and Izzi, the market's organizer, came up to me again to say hi (I never see her around until she suddenly appears right next to me!), and commented, "I love how your bag matches your hair!" Hahahah!! I love it! I assume she meant the bright orange binding, unless my hair looks green striped. I didn't think my hair looked that red, but I guess it looks redder outside in the sun.
I loved using my bag. It's a big improvement over using a standard grocery store reusable bag and juggling my small shoulder bag (with wallet, camera, Palm, and keys) at the same time. My new bag is based on a reusable grocery store bag, but the inside side that rests against my body has a row of pockets designed to fit all the stuff I need at a farmers' market: wallet, "piece of paper" (or small notepad), pen (very skinny pocket for this!), camera, and keys. This part of the bag is slightly padded to snuggle the items better. I can't put both my keys and my Palm in at the same time, but I don't really need my Palm at a farmers' market since I have a Piece of Paper, which is a lot quicker for jotting down notes. Photos: 1) The bag in progress, trying out the pockets. (Since I was using my camera to take the picture, the pocket only contains its empty case.) 2) A closeup of the fabric I used for the pockets. Pretty farmers' market-y, huh?? :) I love Alexander Henry designs. (And I have no idea why it's called "Willow Berries," but since I love both willows and berries, I'm not complaining.) 3) The finished bag in action at the market, all laden down with produce! It was great having my wallet, camera, pad of paper and pen super-handy. Those are Starlight Gardens' heirloom tomatoes in the background.
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Viz is poor but it looks like we'll be able to make it to our anniversary dinner if we file IFR and fly around the storms...!
Posted at 4:37:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Finished the hard part of my farmers' market bag. Now I just have to do the front side. My room is covered in thread. Also, I forgot to include this in my summer-upper post earlier: Beth and her husband from the South Kona Fruit Stand have been recognized by Guinness World Records for growing the largest soursop! So cool!! Way to go!!!
It keeps alternating between rainy and sunny today. I love it.
Dean and I were married 15 years ago today. These have been the 15 happiest years of my life!
Posted at 1:38:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Sorry I'm a little behind on ALB again. I've been kind of relaxing (and working on my farmers' market bag) since getting back from NYC Monday night. I slept so well Monday night back in my own bed. My feet didn't hurt anymore the next morning, but my calf muscles still did! (Yesterday only the left one did, and now they are both recovered.) And I was SO HUNGRY all day Tuesday and Wednesday! It was weird!
I'll post about New York soon. It was 100% great. I wish I had more pictures. Woke this morning to the sound of really heavy rain. It was nice. It rained really hard on our wedding day, so we had to have the wedding inside (we got married at home, and it was supposed to be in the yard). But it worked out great that way, because it was nice and intimate and people could actually hear me saying my vows (we wrote them together, instead of using standard ones). It had been exceptionally hot, and the rain cooled everything down. It was right before my parents moved from the house we'd lived in since 1983 to the house they built in Eastford. There were only 30 guests. Perfect. :-)
Blueberry clafoutis for breakfast this morning (I made it last night). I want to finish my bag so I can use it on Friday! Yesterday for supper, I made the Violet Queen cauliflower from last week's market. It tasted similar to the green cauliflower Big W sometimes sells, but with a hint of broccoli (broc's slight bitterness) to it. It was pretty good! We also had a face-off between three different tomatoes I got at Draghi that afternoon. Dean ranked the dark heirloom tomato as #1, the red heirloom tomato as #2, and the orange low-acid tomato as #3. And at Berruti's Harvest House, I finally bought a handful of native shell beans to try. They are so pretty, I always admire them, but I didn't know what to do with them. Yesterday I asked the farm store guy. You shell them first (which is really easy; they pop right out), and then boil them until tender. I cooked them for about 20 minutes. They have a very mild/subtle nutty flavor, sort of like cannellini beans. The bean inside is pink, but it turned pale violet when I cooked it. It seemed like they'd be really good in a pasta dish with olive oil and fresh herbs. It was neat and yummy eating a fresh bean of a style that you'd normally get canned or dried.
Okay, that's pretty much everything I wanted to post since New York, I think. Dean and I flew to Parl for dinner Tuesday night so he could test his new headset (he decided he likes his classic headset better!) and we ate outside (so many freckles!!). It was weird being in Parlin when it wasn't cold! Oh yeah, and my seeds were done drying when I got home (Dean behaved and didn't eat them), and I mailed them to Ken Love yesterday! Of course I had to make the envelope. I used one of my American Farmland Trust return address labels. :-)
We made dinner reservations at The Atlantic Inn on Block Island for tonight, but it's really stormy, so I don't know if we'll be able to do it. We'll see...
