Farmers Market Drive-Bys

Friday found me down in Watsonville—how I do love Watsonville—so I popped into the little farmers market there after a photo shoot. There awaiting me sat a bushel of the most beautiful golden beets imaginable. These are from High Ground Farm, and two bunches of them came home with me, along with some leeks and cauliflower.

A curious woman asked what I was going to do with my leeks (she was buying some, too), so I lied and made up a big story about braising short ribs from a Charlie Trotter recipe. Heh. No, seriously, that's what I told her I wished I could do.

The beets were roasted and made us very happy.

Saturday morning, Logan and I visited the big market for the first time in over a month...it's the most social market for us, and we visited with Jean Thomas of High Ground Farm, who had made these truly beautiful aprons from her own designs. Pictured here is the red bell, and here are the tomato and eggplant designs:

The aprons sell for $25 each: they are wonderful.

Lastly, I managed to be downtown with a client today, or I wouldn't have gone to the big Wednesday market downtown. But go I did, and found all the winter greens out. (Pictured below is the dino kale: I brightened them up a bit, but their dense green leaves can verge on black, in certain lighting.)

I'm not usually tempted to buy bitter greens, except chard, but next time I've room in my refrigerator, I'll try something new. The Russian curly kale looked good, too.

What do you do with kale?

Lastly, it was really good to see Jim Dunlop from TLC Ranch at the market today. I came home with a 3-1/2 pound chicken, which I am going to use to teach my seventeen-year-old daughter how to roast, so she can impress her visiting boyfriend. I rarely mention my lovely girl, but I will now: my daughter is smarter than she is beautiful, sweeter than she is smart, is at the top of her senior class, is an artist and an environmentalist (hmmm, but she eats at KFC and Burger King, so I'm getting her Fast Food Nation for Christmas, along with the Harold McGee book), and she still will hold my hand in public. She will even still call me "Mommy" sometimes.  She works in a crazy-busy restaurant, and she's been training the grown-ups since a month after she started (which was a month after her sixteenth birthday). She is one of the most amazing souls I've ever known.

Great meetings with clients today: I'm going to be doing a website for one of my favorite little restaurants here in town. Yay!

That's all for now: like I said, a drive-by.

Thanks for visiting.

Comments

[Xanthippe]

Hey, Tana, wish I'd known to look for you at the downtown market today! I was there, as I am every Wednesday, ambling up and down the aisles while shopping, chatting, and just generally digging the scene. I've never come away with anything less than a full cart and a feel-good glow that usually lasts until my next foray.

Love the bitter greens, all of 'em, including dandelion. Kale? One of my favorite ways to use it is in Caldo Verde, the warming Portuguese soup of white beans, sausage and kale. Add a lovely salad of mixed lettuces, some crusty, rustic bread, a glass of red wine -- and you've got yourself dinner.

Xan.