Farmers Markets

[bloviatrix]

It seems I'm becoming a regular at 97th street.

Lemon verbena

Dill

Beets

Scallions

Green Leaf Lettuce

Butter Lettuce

Sugar Plums

Green and Yellow Beans

A loaf of Pugliese

[alacarte]

I passed by the Union Square market earlier this week, en route to the subway, and I saw huge buckets of peaches!!! how exciting!

guess where I'll be tomorrow AM....

[snowangel]

We have had our first local sweet corn, picked 2 hours before cooking (I know it should have been picked after the water started boiling...)

As sad as I was to leave the cabin today, this meal made me smile. We ate it with green beans from my garden (picked while the water was coming to a boil. I ate some of my ears plain, the other's dripping in Hope butter (unsalted).

Those That Don't Know Any Better had a burger as well.

For the next month, I will eat sweet corn at least once a day. I will be happy, and I'm sure my colon will be clean! Sweet corn and bacon are my hugest crave foods. The sweet corn must be local and picked within hours of eating, and the bacon must be really good.

[Malawry]

Back home in Takoma Park, MD today:

French fingerling potatoes

2doz eggs

Green beans

Slim zucchini and summer squash

2 bunches very dirty, very small carrots

Salad mix with nasturtiums

Fresh oregano and basil

White freestone peaches

Nectarines

Tiny, sweet apricots

Burpless cucumbers

[jess mebane]

okra and sunflowers as big as me arse, so we went home, the car being full and all.

[KatieLoeb]

Yesterday between Head House Square Farmers Market (I only got beautiful red field ripened tomatoes) and Reading Terminal Market (carrots ($1), 2 bags yellow tomatoes ($1/each), shiitake mushrooms, fresh thyme, a big melon, gigantic bag of Brokly Wokly ($1), fresh eggs, dairy fresh heavy cream, habanero jack cheese (made a killer quesadilla for lunch today with this cheese and a sliced yellow tomato between two corn tortillas), and chicken livers. Couldn't find the duck livers I really wanted so I had to go to the Italian Market and D'Angelos butcher shop. Three markets in two hours. YIKES! I was all shopped out by the time I got home and took a nap!

Made a couple of pates from the livers, eggs, cream and shiitakes with some jarred truffles and truffle oil I already had at home. Tried one this evening with friends and it was a hit. A bit underseasoned for my taste - next time lots more salt and white pepper, but nonetheless the texture and flavor was pretty good. Never tried my hand at charcuterie before so I was relatively pleased for a first effort.

[bloviatrix]

Today at Union Square:

Corn

Yellow Cherry Tomatoes

Eggplants

Apricots

Carrots

I've been waiting for the eggplants. I want to try Marcella Hazan's recipe for eggplant parmesan.

[alacarte]

I'm really disappointed with the peaches this year.

[mjg]

First time posting on this thread, but I figure I'll represent for the 'burgh (Pittsburgh, that is) farmer's markets.

Yesterday:

Cherry pie from a sweet oldish lady

Sweet corn

A sack of crimini mushrooms

Something called kermit eggplant....even though I hate eggplant. I'm a sucker for something I've never seen before

Yellow cherry tomatoes

I was happy to see some new faces at the local market yesterday including some organic or grass-fed or some variation thereof beef farmer. Do you "farm" beef? Well, you get what I'm saying.

[bloviatrix]

Today I bought:

Mint

Lemon Verbena

Basil

Zukes

Zuke Blossoms

Musk Melon - I've already cut it up. It's delicous.

Assorted Plums

Apricots

Walnut Raisin bread

[Malawry]

A canteloupe

A sugar baby watermelon

White peaches

Nectarines

Blackberries

Zucchini

An assortment of red tomatoes

Bibb lettuce

Red leaf lettuce

Yukon Gold potatoes

Eggs

Cucumbers, European

[Toliver]

Red & Gold organic tomatoes

organic garlic

an organic red onion

Chinese green beans

Thai basil

shallots

incredibly large "champagne" (white) peaches

a large jar of local wild flower honey

and two pieces of a fragrant spiced linzer tort made by a german woman who lives up in the mountains and cans everything from sauerkraut to apple butter. She also bakes wonderful desserts and breads like the linzer tort, peach pies, scones & streudel. She is a goddess of baked goods!

[tanabutler]

Mmmmmm. It's a good thing pixels don't have calories or I'd be sitting here like Mike Meyers' Fat Bastard, ballooning up from all the reading I've done today. (First day posting at eGullet.)

Last Wednesday at the farmer's market in downtown Santa Cruz, with a friend:

Several varieties of heirloom tomatoes from Happy Boy Farm(Green Zebra, Brandywine, Purple Cherokee—though I suspect they're Black Krims, which are smaller, and yellow Brandywines, along with Sun Gold cherries)

Fingerling potatoes from Route One Farms

Peaches from...I forget. My friend bought them and they weren't organic (gasp!)

Two dozen of the big oysters ($20 for two dozen)—the ones that are as big as a dog's tongue—from Bill, the Oyster Man

A bag of sourdough dinner rolls

Two bunches of baby golden beets

I usually prefer the market Saturday mornings at Cabrillo College, as it is patchouli-free and not peopled with so many aggressive petioners. "Are you a registered voter? Are you a registered voter?"

One guy answered, "I don't vote, I pray."

My friend answered, "See where you got us last election?!"

heh

[Malawry]

This morning, Takoma Park, MD:

Mideast cucumbers, small and sweet

Hansen lettuce, a headlike type I hadn't seen before

Bibb lettuce

Sweet little carrots

Three tart apples

Three sweet peaches

Haricots verts

Eggs

And a flat of apricots, for jam batch #3 (tomorrow or Tuesday)

[SobaAddict70]

thanks Jason

I'm afraid people get up way way too early for me to ever take part in all of this.

I'm not a morning person. I have no idea how the rest of you manage to do it though.

Maybe next weekend, if I can drag myself out of bed. Saturdays are for sleeping in.

Soba

[bloviatrix]

Friday I bought:

Zukes

Nectarines

Musk Melon

Assorted Plums

Apricots

A loaf of Pain Rustica

[jango]

Fresh, green peppercorns in little bunches.

I found them in the Prahran Market (Melbourne) on Saturday and smashed up some for a tequila sauce for BBQ steak that night - now have to find other ways to use them.

Wow, what a zing they have.

[melkor]

Last week in Napa I got

santa rosa plums

blueberries

raspberries

valencia oranges

and eggs

[bloviatrix]

The market at 97th street is up and running, albeit with fewer stands.

I bought:

Basil

Cukes

Lettuce

Musk Melon

Nectarines

Corn

Apricots

Tomatoes

[hannahcooks]

Eggs, peppercorn goat cheese, shallots, garlic, and heirloom tomatoes.

And it being Used Cookbook Day, $1.75 got me: The Graham Kerr Cookbook by the Galloping Gourmet, James Beard: How to Eat Better for Less Money, The James Beard Cookbook, circa 1959, The Chinese Cookbook by Craig Claiborne and Virginia Lee , The French Chef Cookbook by Julia Child, Craig Claiborne's Favorites from the New York Times, vol. 2 and The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, 10th Edition.

I wish every day was Used Cookbook Day.

[bloviatrix]

Yesterday in Teaneck, NJ:

Sugar Baby watermelon (these things weigh a ton. I can never buy them locally because I can't carry them and all my other purchases home. But, since I was throwing it in the the car, I could indulge.)

Today at 97th street:

Spearmint

Assorted heirloom tomatoes

Sungold tomatoes

Kirby cukes - for pickles

Corn

Red Leaf letuce

basil

A large cucumber (I don't know the type)

Rosemary boule

[Suzanne F]

At Liberty Plaza, lower Manhattan:

Peaches. mmmmmmmmm

Tomatoes

Okra

Kale

Green Swiss Chard

Kirbies

Flat-leaf parsley

Onions.

The guy at Migliorelli's said the arugula was all washed out.

Almost forgot to mention: HWOE was in San Francisco earlier this week, and at a farmers' market near Civic Center bought some tomatoes for a snack -- at 50¢ a pound. [/jealous]

Edited August 22, 2003 by Suzanne F (log)

[Toliver]

'Tis a sad day indeed

Today I saw the first signs of Autumn at the Farmer's Market: Raisins. -sigh-

This means the days of tantalizing tomatoes and picture-perfect peaches, which have been so omnipresent, are numbered and they will soon be fading away. Next we'll see the arrival of pecans, walnuts and almonds. Then potatoes, squash, carrots, apples and pomegranates.

And Summer will be but a memory....

Bought at the Farmer's Market:

green beans

baby bok choy

lemon cucumbers

thai basil

organic peaches

organic tomatoes

organic pluots

huge organic shallots

organic garlic

and two pieces of spiced linzer tort made by the german woman who sells fresh-baked goods.

[bloviatrix]

Yesterday, at a stand in Hillside, NJ, I bought a delicious cantaloupe (I think there's a sliver left), corn, garlic, and cherry tomatoes.

Today, at the the 97th street market, which has been temporarily re-located to Columbus between (97th and 98th):

Fingerling potatoes

Green and Yellow Beans

Assorted Plums

Sun Gold Tomatoes

Bell Peppers

A loaf of Pugliese

[NHCountryGirl]

I go to what we call the "farm stand" fairly often in the summer for fresh produce and flowers.

But the only actual Farmer's Market around here is held every Sat. where local farmers and tradesmen set-up next to the Capitol and sell their goods.

Last time I bought: herbed goat cheese, NH maple syrup and some home brewed ginger beer.

The goat cheese was great. NH maple syrup is always good. (personally can't tell the difference between NH and Vt syrup, but it's a big marketing differentation around here.) Couldn't even finish the ginger beer - too strong and earthy tasting.

Looking forward to the fall goods coming soon to my local farm stand.