Another big week in produce. Daddy came back from the Hempstead market with lots of goodies: tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow squash, a spaghetti squash, an acorn squash and a butternut squash. In exchange, I supplied him with some homemade bread and peanut butter cookies.
The tomatoes were so ripe, they wouldn't even last a day and with so many other wonderful veggies now in my possession, my immediate response was to make a big pot of soup. So I pulled out my soup pot, chopped up the tomatoes, zucchini and some of the squash, threw in a little salt, pepper and olive oil, and ended up with 16 meals worth of delicious homemade veggie soup - into the freezer you go!
I did finally finish up that watermelon, but I still have tons of citrus and a cantaloupe so there's no need for any more fruit at present. For those of you who are following my canning saga (here), I did can a couple of jars of citrus, this time using the boiling water bath and they seem to have sealed well, though I'm keeping a close eye on them. So far, so good. I'll probably try to can more of the citrus in a few days as I'd hate to lose any of it and it's great practice. (Oh, Dave came home on Thursday and told me that a co-worker is giving us his canning pot! Now we don't have to buy one. How simple, green, and frugal is that?!)
Friday brought farm fresh whole milk from the dairy. I still have some gouda in the fridge and I'm told the feta will be ready next week. Yum!
Needless to say, by the time Saturday arrived, I didn't need much from the farmers market. I picked up a dozen eggs from Joe; soaps from Heather; sage, onion, potatoes, and carrots from Lois, some green beans (first of the season, just picked yesterday), an extra squash and zucchini (just because I couldn't bear to pass them up) and a jar of olive oil (stay tuned for more on the oil later this week).
The market is really picking up. There are tons of vendors now and after missing last week, it was nice to catch up with everyone. I hung out with Joe for a nice long chat over doughnuts. He's got 50 new chicks coming this week! Lois is now making cloth bags for sale at $12 a piece. Right now, she only has green bags but she'll have a whole rainbow of colors soon. They were really cute and I'm planning on picking one up next week. There were lots of homemade breads and fresh cut flowers, jellies and jams, meat and honey, and tons of veggies like zucchini, squash, tomatoes, spinach, onions, potatoes, turnips, green beans, peppers, and more - a little bit of everything. I even saw my friend Sharli and her family there stocking up for the week. Without a doubt, Saturday mornings are my favorite - food and friends, all in one place!
Now I just have to figure out what to do with the acorn, butternut, and spaghetti squash. I've never cooked any of these before. I don't think I've even eaten them before. So stay tuned for the 3 part series, The Squash Chronicles. I'll bake one of the three different squashes in each episode, maybe toast some seeds, I don't know. From what I can tell, the easiest thing to do is split them in half, brush them with olive oil, and bake, but I'll figure something out. Other suggestions out there?
3 comments:
OMG! I went Wed to the CS farmers market and the olive oil lady was there. Wonderful!!! After a taste I was sold. Came home and made a simple salad, lettuce, tomatoes, spinach and the olive oil and lemon juice dressing. It was wonderful. Not exactly local, but I figure I'm supporting the local economy and so much better than what's on the market :-)
Isn't she nice? I loved talking to her. She even signs her bottles. I thought that was cool!
Yea, maybe I'm goofy, but having a bottle signed is great! I might have found xmas presents ;-)
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