Sorry, no pictures

I could have shown the big bag of green beans we bought, but we ate them for dinner on Thursday night.

I might have shown the corn on the cob, but somehow, it disappeared too quickly.

I had a beautiful caramel pecan coffee cake, but, well … same story.

The kohlrabi? They were good, too.

Onions? We still have some of them, but they're just onions, and you've seen them before. They are getting bigger every week, though.

New potatoes? Yummmm.

From our garden, we are getting a zuke each day. We also got our first green pepper this week, and a record-setting first tomato! It was full size, really truly red, and D-lish! At this point, global warming is OK with me if it means tomatoes in June.

June 21 Market - The Day It Rained (SUDDENLY!)

I shopped, I snapped, and I went indoors.

At home, we have zucchini from the garden, and a cabbage the size of a bowling ball which was a gift from a friend. Today we bought new potatoes, snap peas, and lovely blueberry muffins, bread, and buns from the market.

Plans?

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
This recipe works best if one person takes care of bun prep while the other one grills the veggies.

On the charcoal grill (and it helps to have a fine mesh grill screen over the regular grill top) ~

• zucchini strips - remove tops and bottoms, slice lengthwise about 1/4 inch thick, brush with olive oil & grill
• onion - cut into slices & grill; yes, they fall apart as slices, but no matter

Toast the burger buns lightly. Crumble cheese(s) on the bottom half of the warm bun, then spread the top half with horseradish mustard or your other favorite spread. I like to use a strongly flavored cheese like Maytag blue.

Assemble the sandwich by placing layers of grilled veggies on top of the cheese layer, topping with garden greens, and then the top of the bun. If you're quick, the heat from the veggies will finish melting the cheese.

When green peppers are available, they make a great addition to this sandwich; use cheddar cheese with peppers.

We made it!

Gosh, this FML is hard! We find time to exercise every day, get 8 hours of sleep, cook with non-processed foods, and even work on the house occasionally, but cannot figure out the method for adding in that weekly trip to the Farmer's Market or alternative food providers.

Yesterday was our second attempt in as many months. We went to the People's Co-op in Ladds Addition (the 'hood where we looked at that house, mom), where the weekly neighborhood farmer's market and an annual Solstice Celebration was happenin'. There was strawberry tasting, raw food demos, great music, and lots of hippies (so this is where they hang out - on Wed. nights). We didn't get anything from the vendors outside, mostly because they were out of everything but the obscure stuff - lemongrass, pea sprouts (mmm!), wheat grass -- a probiotic wet dream. But we did go into the Co-op and find a couple things.
Anyway, here's our take:

• Dave's Killer Bread - love the grains in it; can't even ID all of them!
  

• Yumm Sauce - a U Oregon favorite. We've been told that we must try this sauce. It's from the Eugene students' favorite affordable restaurant, so a nostalgia trip-in-a-jar. We forgot to ask our friends what it's for.

I know, pathetic take-home. Next time we'll make a list.
-A

Gettin' Closer

Behold the Local Food Sandwich (almost); from top to bottom ~

bread - FMkt
kohlrabi/radish slaw - FMkt
cheese - Shullsburg WI
bread again
greens - FMkt or my garden, I forget which
smoked turkey lunch meat - oops! -- Is there a source for local sandwich meat?
spread on the bread (hard to see it) - cilantro base from La Cruz
bread again

You can live on it.

June 14 Market

We got more asparagus, which was a pleasant surprise, and another loaf of bread, two bunches of onions (from two different vendors), and a lovely bunch of broccoli (the Capt'n's favorite). We also tried the BBQ pork burgers and had some raspberry tea.

We still have half a bok choi left from last week, along with a handful of turnips. "Someone" bought two bunches of them! We make a delicious baked side dish of new potatoes, turnips, and onions, but forgot to take a photo until it was too late. Yum!
The bok choi went into a stir fry recipe once, into a salad once, and joined the carrots in a beef stew which turned out to be quite tasty. For the stew, we used only the stalks, though, sliced into bite size chunks.

I gave many of the vendors the URL of this site. It seems only fair, since we're trying to promote their products, that they are able to see what's happening, too.

While I'm Thinking About It …

… has anyone shared this project and this blog with any of the vendors?

I think not, but could be wrong about that. Mr. Market Master, have you told them?

Another after-thought ~

if you have not tried one of the cucumbers, DO IT! They are kind of large, and I was worried about them being post-mature --- you know, wit huge seeds and that dry old alum taste/feel in the mouth, but the one we got last week was wonderful! I wish I had had two of them. It was young, juicy, tender, and very cucumberful.

Onions Onions Bok Choi Bok Choi

No market photos this week - forgot the camera on market day, but it was raining so I probably wouldn't have taken any pictures.

A small communication glitch resulted in double produce at our house. We each shopped separately but ended up with some of the same things. Twice as many onions is no problem, but two heads of bok choi is a challenge. We also purchased a loaf of raisin bread (heavenly cinnamon scent!), endive, and another kohlrabi. I also bought a small rhubarb pie, but it was gone before I even thought about pictures.

Two weeks ago, while gazing at a huge dishpan full of radishes sitting next to a box of fat, celedon green kohlrabi, I blurted out 'Kohlrabi/Radish Slaw'. The shopper on my right just raised one eyebrow and said nothing.

After a week of dithering about whether it would be too sharp or too spicy hot or if it would need a third ingredient (and is it sold locally?) ~ Voilá!



Looks like enough to serve 6 - made from 2 kohlrabi and maybe about 10 or 12 small red radishes. If you haven't tried kohlrabi yet, I can tell you that these are tender, sweet, mellow, and only mildly cabbage-y. They are perfect for your first taste of the vegetable.