Another week has begun.
Others' weeks begin on Sunday. Or maybe Monday, with the work week. Mine begins on Saturday, with my trip to the market. Apparently my brain has some sort of internal market clock. At 6:30am it sprung to life, although with no working at the market this morning, I only needed to roll out of bed at 7:30am. But no, apparently 4.5 hours of sleep were sufficient for my overeager mind, and it forced me awake and down to the CBD.
The haul for the week:
Leeks
Eggs
Tomatoes
Nectarines
Apples (first of the season)
Peaches
Sourdough bread
Also in the fruit bowl:
Cucumber
Corn
Orange pepper
Red onions
Zucchini
(Perhaps this is the veggie bowl)
Possibilities for the week:
Fresh tomato sauce! Hooray!
Tomato sauce with sauteed peppers and zucchini
Yogurt with peaches
Nectarine cobbler
Something with leeks and the potatoes under my sink
I need to be more proactive about making meals this week. I'm sick of the hospital cafeteria. I need some leftovers. I guess today's going to be a cooking day.
After I go back to sleep...
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Now playing: The Postal Service - Brand New Colony
via FoxyTunes
Showing posts with label farmer's market. Show all posts
Showing posts with label farmer's market. Show all posts
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
You know the night life is just not for me
I'm back! I have energy! The nausea's gone! There's still pain in my abdomen/pelvis so I'm sure that I'll be seeing quite a few more specialists, but compared to how I felt last week I can handle this pain.
So once again, I've done more on Saturday morning before the city awakes than most do all weekend. First stop, always the market. Veggies! Veggies everywhere! Ok, enough with the exclamation points. Since I'm reading Alice Water's The Art of Simple Food, I decided it's time to try a summer minestrone. The only minestrone I've ever made was a Rachael Ray recipe--not the best example, I've learned, and probably why I hated it. A thirty-minute meal does not lend itself to the process of creating true minestrone, which needs a base, than the veggies that cook for a long time, then the tender veggies. Pasta and beans are cooked separately. For this minestrone I need onion, carrots, a leek, green beans, zucchini, tomatoes, beans and spinach. Save for the beans and the leek, all available at the market--and I hope to find a leek at the neighborhood market. Also from the market today--broccoli, strawberries and pork roast. A side note--Amazon.com's search engine lists How to Cook Everything Vegetarian right under The Art of Simple Food when searching, which is odd when you consider that Alice Waters is by no means a vegetarian, and does not advocate a vegetarian lifestyle, but rather a local and sustainable one.
So it was market, then post office, then home to take the car in. We needed to cross the Industrial Canal into the lower 9th to find someone to pull the door panel off. When approaching, I noticed the bridge looked something like this:
Granted, the boats going through looked a bit more modern, and there was pavement on either side, but the way the bridge rises and appears remains the same. The most interesting part though was that, once I'd fought the panic of not being able to roll down the window on this eighty-degree morning (I figured out the control still functioned while dangling from the panel), I hit the button for classic rock and House of the Rising Sun was on the radio. So here I was, Saturday morning at a well-known NOLA location, listening to lyrics about the city while barges traveled from the lake to the river.
After leaving the car in the capable hands of a man who appeared to have lost almost all of his vision, we were pretty hungry, so it was off to Bywater BBQ, where Craig was shocked that I wasn't having a Bloody Mary and that the Pope was now accepting of aliens. After receiving the royal treatment in the form of $3.95 breakfast, triple berry jam, and concerned questions about my health (probably need to know when I'll be partaking of the $2.50 Bloody Mary again) we walked a couple more blocks to the Bywater Art Market, the best in the city in my obviously un-biased opinion. There we added to our collection of cemetery art with a black and white photo taken on infrared film, which causes greens to show up as bright points of white. Unfortunately Kodak doesn't make this film anymore, since the art (and smell...mmmm) of film photography is clearly dead. But the photo is cool, even if it ignited a debate as to which room is the living room. We have a living room, an open bedroom, a real bedroom, a kitchen, bath and laundry room. How one of those other rooms could be mistaken for the living room is beyond me.
I hope to wander the neighborhood this late afternoon with the camera. I've realized it's about time I share the quirks and wonders of Bywater with my readers.
----------------
Now playing: Brand New - Geurnica
via FoxyTunes
So once again, I've done more on Saturday morning before the city awakes than most do all weekend. First stop, always the market. Veggies! Veggies everywhere! Ok, enough with the exclamation points. Since I'm reading Alice Water's The Art of Simple Food, I decided it's time to try a summer minestrone. The only minestrone I've ever made was a Rachael Ray recipe--not the best example, I've learned, and probably why I hated it. A thirty-minute meal does not lend itself to the process of creating true minestrone, which needs a base, than the veggies that cook for a long time, then the tender veggies. Pasta and beans are cooked separately. For this minestrone I need onion, carrots, a leek, green beans, zucchini, tomatoes, beans and spinach. Save for the beans and the leek, all available at the market--and I hope to find a leek at the neighborhood market. Also from the market today--broccoli, strawberries and pork roast. A side note--Amazon.com's search engine lists How to Cook Everything Vegetarian right under The Art of Simple Food when searching, which is odd when you consider that Alice Waters is by no means a vegetarian, and does not advocate a vegetarian lifestyle, but rather a local and sustainable one.
So it was market, then post office, then home to take the car in. We needed to cross the Industrial Canal into the lower 9th to find someone to pull the door panel off. When approaching, I noticed the bridge looked something like this:
Granted, the boats going through looked a bit more modern, and there was pavement on either side, but the way the bridge rises and appears remains the same. The most interesting part though was that, once I'd fought the panic of not being able to roll down the window on this eighty-degree morning (I figured out the control still functioned while dangling from the panel), I hit the button for classic rock and House of the Rising Sun was on the radio. So here I was, Saturday morning at a well-known NOLA location, listening to lyrics about the city while barges traveled from the lake to the river.
After leaving the car in the capable hands of a man who appeared to have lost almost all of his vision, we were pretty hungry, so it was off to Bywater BBQ, where Craig was shocked that I wasn't having a Bloody Mary and that the Pope was now accepting of aliens. After receiving the royal treatment in the form of $3.95 breakfast, triple berry jam, and concerned questions about my health (probably need to know when I'll be partaking of the $2.50 Bloody Mary again) we walked a couple more blocks to the Bywater Art Market, the best in the city in my obviously un-biased opinion. There we added to our collection of cemetery art with a black and white photo taken on infrared film, which causes greens to show up as bright points of white. Unfortunately Kodak doesn't make this film anymore, since the art (and smell...mmmm) of film photography is clearly dead. But the photo is cool, even if it ignited a debate as to which room is the living room. We have a living room, an open bedroom, a real bedroom, a kitchen, bath and laundry room. How one of those other rooms could be mistaken for the living room is beyond me.
I hope to wander the neighborhood this late afternoon with the camera. I've realized it's about time I share the quirks and wonders of Bywater with my readers.
----------------
Now playing: Brand New - Geurnica
via FoxyTunes
Monday, May 05, 2008
Today is tasting the honey
The New Orleans Food Co-op and the Crescent City Farmers Market found some much-deserved attention in the Green Fork blog from Eat Well Guide (see my "Screaming in the Night" section for more from them). In a city that often forgets how to eat healthy, and often even takes pride in the unhealthiness of its cuisine, these are two organizations that remind us that fresh and local doesn't have to only mean beans, rice, and sausage.
The Co-op Action Team had set a goal of 300 members by May 1st, so that we would be more prepared to move forward in establishing a store. We gained 100 new members in the first few weeks of April, and we had 302 by April 24th! I've been at the tables a few times, talking with potential members. It's clear that New Orleanians want better food access, they want local food and they want to be able to own a part of their own store. It's exciting to watch it all taking shape.
The Farmers' Market is one of my favorite places in the city, and I plan to start volunteering there regularly after next Saturday. The market requires that vendors sell only what they produce, so those selling at the market are usually directly involved in food production. They can tell you when the fruit will be sweeter or how to store your carrots or that they will set aside a dozen eggs for you if you can't make it at 8am (shhhh...don't spread that one around). I love knowing where my food comes from and how it's grown, and I love that they often can tell me the best way to cook it or use it in a recipe.
----------------
Now playing: Amanda Shaw - Pretty Runs Out
via FoxyTunes
The Co-op Action Team had set a goal of 300 members by May 1st, so that we would be more prepared to move forward in establishing a store. We gained 100 new members in the first few weeks of April, and we had 302 by April 24th! I've been at the tables a few times, talking with potential members. It's clear that New Orleanians want better food access, they want local food and they want to be able to own a part of their own store. It's exciting to watch it all taking shape.
The Farmers' Market is one of my favorite places in the city, and I plan to start volunteering there regularly after next Saturday. The market requires that vendors sell only what they produce, so those selling at the market are usually directly involved in food production. They can tell you when the fruit will be sweeter or how to store your carrots or that they will set aside a dozen eggs for you if you can't make it at 8am (shhhh...don't spread that one around). I love knowing where my food comes from and how it's grown, and I love that they often can tell me the best way to cook it or use it in a recipe.
----------------
Now playing: Amanda Shaw - Pretty Runs Out
via FoxyTunes
Friday, March 28, 2008
No I can't handle three nights
Hey little green girl...how about NOT wasting your veggies this week, ok?
I'm realizing that there's more to my new local-buying life than just buying the goodies at the Saturday Farmer's Market. This past week, I didn't really glance at my calendar or take into account what I would be doing, and I bought a bunch of stuff and then did not use it. OOOPS.
So before I drag myself out of bed tomorrow morning for a buying frenzy, I'm going to take a glance at my week to decide what I need to have on hand and when I can cook. Turns out that if I want to go to the gym, I best be cooking a lot of meals this weekend, because otherwise I'm going to come home starving and not want to take the time to prepare my meals.
Currently I have:
2 lbs tomatoes
2 bunches carrots
2 onions
1 bunch broccoli
1/2 dozen eggs
Pint of milk
I plan to make a stir fry tonight. But I need to make food for five or six meals next week. The simplest things for me are stir fries, soups and pastas. I'd like to try my hand at some homemade tomato sauce. I'd also like to make carrot salad. I should probably bake something to rid myself of the dairy products at the bottom.
What I'd like to make this week:
Bran muffins
Salsa
Tomato sauce
Hard boiled eggs
Soup (but what kind)
Curry
Sigh...I really don't want to do all this...all I really want to do is climb into bed and watch The West Wing and wish that my place magically cleaned itself.
----------------
Now playing: The Refreshments - Down Together
via FoxyTunes
I'm realizing that there's more to my new local-buying life than just buying the goodies at the Saturday Farmer's Market. This past week, I didn't really glance at my calendar or take into account what I would be doing, and I bought a bunch of stuff and then did not use it. OOOPS.
So before I drag myself out of bed tomorrow morning for a buying frenzy, I'm going to take a glance at my week to decide what I need to have on hand and when I can cook. Turns out that if I want to go to the gym, I best be cooking a lot of meals this weekend, because otherwise I'm going to come home starving and not want to take the time to prepare my meals.
Currently I have:
2 lbs tomatoes
2 bunches carrots
2 onions
1 bunch broccoli
1/2 dozen eggs
Pint of milk
I plan to make a stir fry tonight. But I need to make food for five or six meals next week. The simplest things for me are stir fries, soups and pastas. I'd like to try my hand at some homemade tomato sauce. I'd also like to make carrot salad. I should probably bake something to rid myself of the dairy products at the bottom.
What I'd like to make this week:
Bran muffins
Salsa
Tomato sauce
Hard boiled eggs
Soup (but what kind)
Curry
Sigh...I really don't want to do all this...all I really want to do is climb into bed and watch The West Wing and wish that my place magically cleaned itself.
----------------
Now playing: The Refreshments - Down Together
via FoxyTunes
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Good Morning, America, How Are You?
Don't you know me?
I'm your native son
I'm the train they call the city of New Orleans...
Waking early in this city is so strange--if people are awake, it's because they have been all night. But every Saturday, a group of us are there, in a parking lot on the corner of Girod and Magazine, vying for the best produce.
This week:
Broccoli (huge crown)
Baby carrots (they are no relation to the chopped and bagged fingers of the grocery store--they look and smell like a carrot!)
Huge bag of spinach
Organic satsumas
Pint of strawberries
Pint of whole milk
I indulged in:
Oyster mushrooms
Queso d'bola (like Mexican cheese but less crumbly)
Lemon blackberry scone
So now what to make? I thawed some chicken and didn't realize just how much there was, so I'd like to make a soup, and probably a curry. With the mushrooms and spinach I'd like to do a pasta, risotto or quiche. Problem is, I'm alone this week, and there's still a giant pot of red beans in the fridge--I don't want to make a bunch of stuff that won't be eaten. Guess I should try to feed people!
----------------
Now playing: Taylor Swift - The Outside
via FoxyTunes
I'm your native son
I'm the train they call the city of New Orleans...
Waking early in this city is so strange--if people are awake, it's because they have been all night. But every Saturday, a group of us are there, in a parking lot on the corner of Girod and Magazine, vying for the best produce.
This week:
Broccoli (huge crown)
Baby carrots (they are no relation to the chopped and bagged fingers of the grocery store--they look and smell like a carrot!)
Huge bag of spinach
Organic satsumas
Pint of strawberries
Pint of whole milk
I indulged in:
Oyster mushrooms
Queso d'bola (like Mexican cheese but less crumbly)
Lemon blackberry scone
So now what to make? I thawed some chicken and didn't realize just how much there was, so I'd like to make a soup, and probably a curry. With the mushrooms and spinach I'd like to do a pasta, risotto or quiche. Problem is, I'm alone this week, and there's still a giant pot of red beans in the fridge--I don't want to make a bunch of stuff that won't be eaten. Guess I should try to feed people!
----------------
Now playing: Taylor Swift - The Outside
via FoxyTunes
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