July 15th Market & CSA Update

Yet another beautiful - if hot - Saturday for touring the farmer's markets.  This week, I decided to go back to last year's habit of going to the Worthington Market first, then south the the North Market.  This is because the Worthington Market gets very crowded after 9:30, and if one can get there early, one can have a nice leisurely morning at the market.  Of course, this meant that by the time I got to the North Market, everything was practically sold out. 

Ah well, I don't plan to do very much cooking this week anyway, as the air conditioning in our house has been on vacation with no repair person available until Tuesday, and it is really too hot to think about turning the oven on after 9 in the morning.  I know, I know, probably loads of you don't have air conditioning and I shouldn't be whining, but we aren't equipped with fans everywhere to combat the hottest weekend of the year.  To be true, I wouldn't really mind so much if we did have fans everywhere - I grew up without air conditioning, although in a big farm house surrounded by breezy trees . . .

But!!  I digress as I am want to do . . . This week's CSA contained 1/2 of a giant head of cabbage (which will make a good lunch in this heat), baby beets, 1/2 dozen eggs, Swiss chard, red and white onions, a bag of salad greens, cucumbers and zucchini.  I supplemented this with black raspberries, some more kohlrabi, more of those wonderful Arbor Hill potatoes - to be boiled and eaten cold, I think, with sea salt - pattypan and sunburst squash - I have been waiting for Mead Acres to begin their crop of baby squash but I just couldn't wait any longer after eating some big pattypans raw at work; they're so sweet.  I also bought the kitties a number of catnip sachets from Pop & Judy's at the Worthington farm market - the ones I bought last year finally gave up the ghost a few months ago.  Then of course there was sweet corn, and I also got a good number of hot peppers, for making hot pepper mustard, should my kitchen ever get below 88 degrees.

Friday morning my mother and I drove out to Jacquemin Farms (they are still growing rhubarb, by the way, $2 a pound) to pick up my order of sour cherries (10 pound bucket), which I brought home and put into a clafoutis which was a total flop, much to clafoutis-loving Husbands sadness.  Will try again with a different recipe.  I also bought some honey from their farm, which is mostly from squash and sweet pea blossoms.  It is so pale and mild it is reminiscent of golden syrup.  A little honeycomb with the honey slowly melting out makes a lovely addition to a cheese plate, by the way, particularly if you have some good aged bleu - Stilton, Fourme d'Ambert, what-have-you.

And lastly, I love it when I walk past something being sold for a pittance that I've been wanting for awhile - in this case, these antique blue Ball canning jars I bought from the landscaping people at the Worthington Market for 50 cents.  Okay, now get out there and see what's available in your neck of the woods!