Market Report for May 19th

Maybe it's the excitement of having my first Saturday off in more months than I can count, but I was wide awake at 6 am.  It might have been our two remaining tinies running nonstop through every room in the house in 2.7 seconds flat.  I'm not sure.  Cool and cloudy, my day was quickly brightened when I saw this (from Rhoades farm, shelter grown):

From the Worthington Farmer's Market, some asparagus, grape tomatoes (hothouse) and this rhubarb, whose thin, impossibly pink stalks made me ask if they were also hothouse grown (hothouse rhubarb is pinker, and, some think, better than outdoor rhubarb), but they are just a special variety.  Must turn those into something fun:

From the North Market, whose crowds were rather sparse owing to Race for the Cure, I picked up some wonderful frisée - my favorite green which you rarely see (sorry, already consumed before photographing) and some lovely red leaf lettuce from Toad Hill Organics, as well as some chive flowers (closeup above), which were so pretty I put them in a jar and turned them into an arrangement.  They're delicious and beautiful:

From Comb's herbs, I bought some leeks and arugula.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to cook an almost-completely local lunch for a journalist writing about the Locavore movement.  Here was my menu; alas, not photos or recipes.  I'm just including this to point out how you can create and entire meal out of local ingredients, even in May, when supplies are rather limited.

Salad of Toad Hill frisée and red leaf lettuces with hard cooked 2 Silos "Special Dark" eggs, Blues Creek Farms bacon and Wishwell Farms grape tomatoes, in simple vinaigrette.

Roasted Gerber Farm Amish Chicken (from Weiland's) on Pasta diToni's (from Pastaria Seconda in the North Market) potato gnocchi tossed with schmaltz and North Market Poultry and Game chicken stock with sauteed Ohio mushrooms (morels, beech and royal trumpets from Mushroom Harvest) and Combs Farms leeks and arugula topped with Toad Hill Chive Flowers; roasted Wishwell Farms asparagus.

Rhoades Farms strawberries over Jeni's Strawberry-Rose Petal ice cream with chocolate and raspberry rosewater macarons from Pistachio.