Wow. What amazing weather we have today. I got up at the crack of 10am and managed to pull myself to the North Market.
I perused the flowers and herbs for sale, but it seems a bit too early for me to plant things yet. I'm probably wrong, but I still fear we sill have another frost. Speaking of planting things, I discovered some of last fall's new potatoes in a market bag (and a mummified baby eggplant, by the way); they have sprouts about 5 inches long, and I was wondering if anyone knew if I could plant those successfully? I'm going to try, I just wondered if anyone had any experience doing this.
At any rate, I stopped by Toad Hill Organics to chat with farmer Tim; he's thinking about doing some farm dinners this summer, which should be really cool. I will definitely keep you in the loop as I hear more. For some reason, as I was standing there, I put my hand in a tub full of stinging nettles. I am not so bright that early in the morning. Fortunately, I didn't experience any burning. Maybe a few psychosomatic stings, but that's all. I picked up a bag of those stinging nettles - perchance to stir into some pasta this coming week - and also a dozen eggs. I bought my first giant Cuisinart 11 cup food processor this week, and I'm hoping to break it in by making a little homemade mayonnaise.
I then braved the OSU spring game traffic on 315 to head up to the last Worthington winter market of the year. I can't wait for the first "real" market on the 16th! I stopped by Blue Jacket Creamery, where I tried their new chipotle cheese; it was decently spicy and pleasant. I got some gretna grillin cheese (of course), and also picked up some of their farmhouse feta, which is very nice. Not quite as acidic as many European fetas, but nicely salty with a dry finish. While I was there, I learned that they will be making two Camembert-style cheeses this summer - a goat's milk and a cow's milk! I can hardly wait to try them.
I also stopped at Petite Boulangerie to see what was on offer (I was hoping for a loaf of their chocolate cherry bread to try, but arrived too late). I ended up with an everything bagel, which I was assured would be amazingly delicious. I brought it home and ate it for lunch. It was, indeed, very tasty. Nice and chewy, with nice garlic and sesame seed flavor. It wasn't over the top on the garlic side, the way many everything bagels can be.
Also at the market, I saw green beans, snow peas, carrots, lettuce, spinach and other greens, and of course eggs, chicken, beef, and sprouts.
These first few early markets just make me more excited for the summer markets to get here! But soon enough.
Did you get anything today?
