Reading Terminal Market (Part 1)

rlibkind · July 27, 2006

Lots of great tomatoes Tuesday at South Street market stand. Pictured, right-to-left, at Rineer's stall: Brandywines, Cherokee Purples and, mixed together, Mr. Stripey and Old German.

Blackberries (the fruit, not the e-mail device) have started to show up at stands other than Livengood's. Fair Food had some last Saturday at the Reading Terminal. MIssing from all the farm stands, however, were apricots. The season for this subtle stone fruits was more normal in length, unlike last year when they seemed to last from late spring through late summer. Over at Iovine's lemons improved in price (slightly) to a quarter apiece.

The Best Chef of Southeastern Pennsylvania competition at the RTM Saturday accentuated a market boondoggle: the kitchen located in Foster's. That kitchen was originally built, under the auspices of a prior market manager, as a "public" kitchen where demonstrations and cooking classes could be held in front of a large seating area. The demonstrations and classes were reasonably successful and became a focus of the market's public programs.

At the time, Fosters was located in the corner where Blue Mountain Vineyards now sells its wares. But owner Ken Foster was looking for a better location and cut a deal with current market manager Paul Steinke. The deal made eminent bottom line sense to both Paul and Ken in the short run, but it was penny-wise and pound-foolish. The result was, for all practical purposes, loss of the kitchen. Foster's makes some limited use of the kitchen but it is hardly the focus of activity it was meant to be.

Which brings me back to Saturday's Best Chefs' competition. Instead of using the kitchen in Fosters the competition was forced to set up a separate, temporary kitchen in the seating area across from Golden Seafood and Fisher's Pretzels. Because the permanent kitchen is now part of Foster's, using it for such a Saturday event cuts down on selling space on the busiest day of the week.

The market needs to reverse course: either build a new kitchen in a public space and give Foster's more selling space, or move Fosters and open up the current kitchen.

Bluehensfan · July 27, 2006

Because the permanent kitchen is now part of Foster's, using it for such a Saturday event cuts down on selling space on the busiest day of the week.
The market needs to reverse course: either build a new kitchen in a public space and give Foster's more selling space, or move Fosters and open up the current kitchen.
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I agree that the kitchen in Foster's is pretty much useless. The older kitchen was at least visible from the sides and not completely enclosed. And now the owner of Foster's tends to have a tizzy if you venture in and out of that passageway where the sliding doors are to get into the store if the kitchen's in use. After being chastised by him on one occasion, we don't venture in the store anymore.

rlibkind · July 27, 2006

Because the permanent kitchen is now part of Foster's, using it for such a Saturday event cuts down on selling space on the busiest day of the week.
The market needs to reverse course: either build a new kitchen in a public space and give Foster's more selling space, or move Fosters and open up the current kitchen.
←
I agree that the kitchen in Foster's is pretty much useless. The older kitchen was at least visible from the sides and not completely enclosed. And now the owner of Foster's tends to have a tizzy if you venture in and out of that passageway where the sliding doors are to get into the store if the kitchen's in use. After being chastised by him on one occasion, we don't venture in the store anymore.
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That would be Bill, the manager. Ken, the owner, is usually there only on Thursdays. The concern of those side entries is reasonable: shoplifting. It's hard to monitor the comings-and-goings back there, and Foster's does have a number of smaller, easily shopliftable items that are worth a few bucks.

rlibkind · July 27, 2006

Individual merchants at the Reading Terminal Market continue to improve their stalls.

This week John Yi installed spiffy new cases:

Note that the new cases "cut the corner", creating premium display space at a busy intersection while at the same time adding pedestrian floor space. As for what's in those cases, decent-looking sockeye $9.99, king salmon $13.99. Among the farm-raised salmonids, Canadian filets $4.99, Norweigian $7.99. Dry scallops featured once again at $11.99 (vs. $12.99 at Golden).

Over at Iovine Brothers a slight redesign in the aisles:

The new passage to an interior aisle is oppposite the office area. Necessitated moving the mushrooms and a few other items. Featured items on the outside aisle across from the former A.A. Halteman (soon to be Charles Giunta) meat stall: Jersey peaches, 79 cents, and large Mexican mangoes, $1.49 for two; excellent looking large Haitian mangoes were a buck apiece. It might be time to make some more chutney to go with that grilled pork. Also at Iovine: black figs $4.99 for half a pint (about 10-11 smallish figs); lemons dear again at two for a buck (three for that price at OK Lee). Limes 20-cents each vs. 25 at OKL, which also had Jersey peaches and nectarines at 79-cents.

Hard to believe, but it's apple season: witness this photo today at L. Halteman:

I generally don't go for McIntosh apples, except early in the season when they are still crisp (and very tart). I picked up two, and the one I bit into this evening was exactly as I had anticipated. I hope it's a good omen for the fall.

My trip to the market today was specifically dediated to obtaining Mirai corn at Fair Food Farmstand. I scored ears from Pete's Produce Farm just as Emily opened the bag fresh from the farm (picked today) for display. Immediately upon bringing it home we cooked it and served it with Brandywine tomatoes picked up Tuesday from Rineer's at South Street. Yum! This corn is both sweet and tender.

But before getting that corn home I made a short stop at the Fairmount & 22nd Market, picking up blackberries from Carol Margerum ($3/pint); Earl Livengood was selling them, too, but I didn't want to the pay the premium for his $4.50/pint boxes. The berries have been put through the food mill and combined with sugar syrup and lemon; tomorrow they become sorbet.

Dorine · July 28, 2006

Yesterday I got some absolutely wonderful peaches at Iovine's at 2 lbs. for 99 cents! Fantastic!

rlibkind · July 29, 2006

A couple ziggarats of corn (pictured above) flanked the new cross-over aisle at Iovine Brothers this morning. Jimmy Iovine said one of his managers, Charlie, thought it up and executed the design. It can withstand pulling single ears out of the base: just don't grab a dozen from there.

New fruit to me: Quenepa, also known as Spanish lime, mamoncilla, genip, chenet, limoncilla and a number of other monikers. At first I thought they were uncured olives, but they are a tart-sweet fruit. The pulp surrounds a single large seed, so you just pop a fruit into your month and suck off the pulp, discarding the seed when you're done. Iovine was selling them for $2.99 a pint.

Lemons back down to 25-cents apiece at Iovine. They also had Chilean clementines: a five-pound box for $4.99.

If you like tomatillos in your salsa, both Fair Food and Iovine had them. I spoke too soon about the disappearance of apricots: Fair Food had them today, though no one else had local 'cots. It may be late in the season, but Earl Livengood featured some sweet Bing cherries from a orchardist a bit north of him; pretty tasty, $3 a pint.

Tomorrow is Earl Livengood's annual farm tour and corn roast plus pot-luck evening meal. He supplies the corn, you supply a pot-luck dish, preferably from something you purchased from him. It runs from 2:30 p.m. to sundown at the Livengood Family Farm, 1648 Morningside Dr., Lancaster. phone 717 464-2698 for details and/or directions.

Andrew Fenton · July 30, 2006

Love the giant corn Jenga, Bob! They oughta hide some sort of prize in there... or, well, you could just get the corn, I suppose.

Anyway, friends brought over some of Flying Monkey's brownies last night. They're really, really good. I don't really know how you judge a brownie-- there's nothing avant-garde or magical about them-- but they're dense and moist, with a little snap to the crust and not tooth-achingly sweet. Me likey monkey brownie!

rlibkind · August 4, 2006

More redesign of vendor stalls at the Reading Terminal this past week. Fair Food Project largely completed their re-do. Now customers can pretty much walk through the stand with the register in the middle. Even self-serve out of the meat freezer. And lots more bin space for produce, though one has to wonder how it will look in the dead of winter when local produce is virtually non-existent except for some hothouse items. The Mirai corn was 50 cents an ear (or three for $1,25, iirc), which compares favorably with the other farm stands. Iovine Brothers was selling their farmer's corn at three for a buck. Fair Food also featured lemon cukes at 75-cents each.

Over at OK Lee, the cactus pears are of much better quality than just a week ago, and still priced at 79 cents apiece. Here's what they look like, before and after skinning:

Cactus pears (a.k.a. prickly pears) come in a variety of colors. You want to select firm, but not hard, fruits with minimal scarring. These babies peeled easily with a sharp paring knife and were sweet all the way through. Some pulp clung to the skin, so I scraped it into my food mill along with the main body of the pulp. After going through the food mill, I took unpassed seeds and their clingy pulp and pressed them in a strainer to get every last bit of delectible edible fruit. To dense juice of the five cactus pears I added the juice of two large limes and the equivalent of 1-1/2 cups sugar, in the form of sugar syrup. It will be transformed into either sorbet and/or margaritas.

Back at Iovine Brothers, green and black figs were available at $4.99 a half pint. Both lemons and limes were selling for 25 cents apiece when I visited on Thursday morning

Earlygold has joined MacIntosh over at Halteman's as the first apple of the season. Benuel Kaufman had some blemish-free pears for $1.49/pound.

Edited August 4, 2006 by rlibkind (log)

Andrew Fenton · August 4, 2006

Those are some great looking fichi d'india. I know that Sicily Month is over, but I may have to pick some of those up to make granita. Umm.

KatieLoeb · August 4, 2006

Hmmmm....

There's some good infusing fruits you've mentioned. I think I want to make some dark cherry rum and then try make a Cherry Dark n' Stormy.

I want to try do something with those quenepas. Hey Bob - do you think they'd make an interesting infused vodka?? Is there enough flesh on them that if I cut them in half and threw them in a big jar with some vodka they'd create some flavor in a couple of weeks?

Dorine · August 5, 2006

More redesign of vendor stalls at the Reading Terminal this past week. Fair Food Project largely completed their re-do. Now customers can pretty much walk through the stand with the register in the middle. Even self-serve out of the meat freezer. And lots more bin space for produce, though one has to wonder how it will look in the dead of winter when local produce is virtually non-existent except for some hothouse items. The Mirai corn was 50 cents an ear (or three for $1,25, iirc), which compares favorably with the other farm stands. Iovine Brothers was selling their farmer's corn at three for a buck. Fair Food also featured lemon cukes at 75-cents each.
Over at OK Lee, the cactus pears are of much better quality than just a week ago, and still priced at 79 cents apiece. Here's what they look like, before and after skinning:
Cactus pears (a.k.a. prickly pears) come in a variety of colors. You want to select firm, but not hard, fruits with minimal scarring. These babies peeled easily with a sharp paring knife and were sweet all the way through. Some pulp clung to the skin, so I scraped it into my food mill along with the main body of the pulp. After going through the food mill, I took unpassed seeds and their clingy pulp and pressed them in a strainer to get every last bit of delectible edible fruit. To dense juice of the five cactus pears I added the juice of two large limes and the equivalent of 1-1/2 cups sugar, in the form of sugar syrup. It will be transformed into either sorbet and/or margaritas.
Back at Iovine Brothers, green and black figs were available at $4.99 a half pint. Both lemons and limes were selling for 25 cents apiece when I visited on Thursday morning
Earlygold has joined MacIntosh over at Halteman's as the first apple of the season. Benuel Kaufman had some blemish-free pears for $1.49/pound.
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I first met these lovely cactus pears in souhern Spain, where they grow wild on the mountainsides. Street vendors sell them to eat outof hand. Whwen you ask for one, they strip off the long thorns then cut it open for you to take with a paper napkin and eat out of hand, seeds and all. Aren't they wonderful!

And using in sorber or margaritas, ahhh, delicious!

rlibkind · August 5, 2006

Hmmmm....
There's some good infusing fruits you've mentioned. I think I want to make some dark cherry rum and then try make a Cherry Dark n' Stormy.
I want to try do something with those quenepas. Hey Bob - do you think they'd make an interesting infused vodka?? Is there enough flesh on them that if I cut them in half and threw them in a big jar with some vodka they'd create some flavor in a couple of weeks?
←

Wish I could give you advice, but I didn't buy or try them. That said, I did a quick Google search and came up with this, translated by Google from the Spanish on a Puerto Rican website, so it appears you're on the right track if you switch from vodka to rum:

Bilí
Ingredients:
20 to 30 quenepas
3/4 sugar cup
1 liter of rum Bacardi, target
Procedure:
1-in a crystal bottle, with wide cover, it places quenepas after clearing the rind to them.
2-Add the sugar and the rum. 3-Cover and moves well. Every day it shakes the bottle smoothly. It lets age by 3 or 4 weeks.
Note: The cover of the bottle must be plastic and not of metal. In order to remove quenepas it uses a plastic wood spoon or not of metal. It serves in you cotoot or glasses pequeñitos.

KatieLoeb · August 6, 2006

Thanks Bob! Curiosity got the better of me and I stopped at RTM this afternoon and picked up the quenepas. Here's what they look like:

I've tried a couple and they're kind of interesting. Similar to a lychee (which makes sense because they're a similar plant species, apparently) with a peachy colored flesh that is a bit slimy, fibrous and tart and tangy. There's not a whole lot of flesh - the seed takes up practically all of the space beneath the thin green rind which is quite similar to the skin of an avocado. But they're fairly easy to peel and quite tasty. They seem like an awful lot of work for very little payoff. Kind of like getting the really small steamed Maryland crabs. :laugh:

I have both some rum and some cachaca in the house so I might give that recipe a whirl in a small batch just to see how it turns out. But honestly, I don't have the patience tonight to experiment and will likely make myself some other form of immediate gratification cocktail instead. :smile:

I also bought some nice looking dark cherries so I just have to go fetch a bottle of Gosling's tomorrow and the Cherry Dark and Stormys will be ready in a couple of weeks. :wub:

Iovines also had some nice strawberries and blueberries for $1 a box today. The strawberries are the sweetest I've had this summer. Delicious!

There's a pressure cooker filled with ratatouille on my stove right now that was the prize for finding several great $1 grab bags of eggplants, tomatoes, and peppers on the rack today. I picked up a big sweet onion and couple of zucchini and I was good to go. I'll be enjoying that shortly on some tri-colored couscous I found at the Spice Terminal. Should be delicious. The whole house smells like it!

Dorine · August 6, 2006

Thanks Bob! Curiosity got the better of me and I stopped at RTM this afternoon and picked up the quenepas. Here's what they look like:
I've tried a couple and they're kind of interesting. Similar to a lychee (which makes sense because they're a similar plant species, apparently) with a peachy colored flesh that is a bit slimy, fibrous and tart and tangy. There's not a whole lot of flesh - the seed takes up practically all of the space beneath the thin green rind which is quite similar to the skin of an avocado. But they're fairly easy to peel and quite tasty. They seem like an awful lot of work for very little payoff. Kind of like getting the really small steamed Maryland crabs.
I have both some rum and some cachaca in the house so I might give that recipe a whirl in a small batch just to see how it turns out. But honestly, I don't have the patience tonight to experiment and will likely make myself some other form of immediate gratification cocktail instead.
I also bought some nice looking dark cherries so I just have to go fetch a bottle of Gosling's tomorrow and the Cherry Dark and Stormys will be ready in a couple of weeks.
Iovines also had some nice strawberries and blueberries for $1 a box today. The strawberries are the sweetest I've had this summer. Delicious!
There's a pressure cooker filled with ratatouille on my stove right now that was the prize for finding several great $1 grab bags of eggplants, tomatoes, and peppers on the rack today. I picked up a big sweet onion and couple of zucchini and I was good to go. I'll be enjoying that shortly on some tri-colored couscous I found at the Spice Terminal. Should be delicious. The whole house smells like it!
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Where did you get cachaca? I'd *love* to be able to make a caipirinha! I've never seen in in the PA sate stores!

KatieLoeb · August 6, 2006

Thanks Bob! Curiosity got the better of me and I stopped at RTM this afternoon and picked up the quenepas. Here's what they look like:
I've tried a couple and they're kind of interesting. Similar to a lychee (which makes sense because they're a similar plant species, apparently) with a peachy colored flesh that is a bit slimy, fibrous and tart and tangy. There's not a whole lot of flesh - the seed takes up practically all of the space beneath the thin green rind which is quite similar to the skin of an avocado. But they're fairly easy to peel and quite tasty. They seem like an awful lot of work for very little payoff. Kind of like getting the really small steamed Maryland crabs.
I have both some rum and some cachaca in the house so I might give that recipe a whirl in a small batch just to see how it turns out. But honestly, I don't have the patience tonight to experiment and will likely make myself some other form of immediate gratification cocktail instead.
I also bought some nice looking dark cherries so I just have to go fetch a bottle of Gosling's tomorrow and the Cherry Dark and Stormys will be ready in a couple of weeks.
Iovines also had some nice strawberries and blueberries for $1 a box today. The strawberries are the sweetest I've had this summer. Delicious!
There's a pressure cooker filled with ratatouille on my stove right now that was the prize for finding several great $1 grab bags of eggplants, tomatoes, and peppers on the rack today. I picked up a big sweet onion and couple of zucchini and I was good to go. I'll be enjoying that shortly on some tri-colored couscous I found at the Spice Terminal. Should be delicious. The whole house smells like it!
←
Where did you get cachaca? I'd *love* to be able to make a caipirinha! I've never seen in in the PA sate stores!
←

Dorine:

Pitu is a listed product and available at State stores. I'd only use that to soak off a tattoo though. :rolleyes: There's another "listed" brand but the PLCB website seems to be down at the moment so I can't look it up for you.

edited to add:

The other listed brand is called PIRASSUNUNGA CACHACA 51. Never tried it so I don't know a thing about it, but it's the same price as the Pitu and you generally get what you pay for... :rolleyes:

Recently the Fazenda Mae de Ouro became available in PA as an SLO and is well worth seeking out. It tastes like a fine Cognac compared to the well brandy that the Pitu would be. It's incredibly smooth and flavorful. I had a couple of passionfruit caipirinhas last night that I made by adding a splash of passionfruit puree to the mix. Muy delicioso!

Cacahca Dave is the importer and he posts here in the Fine Spirits and Cocktails thread pretty frequently. I'm sure you could e-mail him with questions, but there's a pretty good Q & A on the website as well as some great cocktail recipes.

rlibkind · August 24, 2006

It's been a while since my last full report, so there's a bunch to catch up on:

John Lohac of Green Valley Dairy is back from three weeks in France. He spent two of the weeks on a family vacation in Provence, but the other week was in Meaux where he learned more about making brie. He'll be putting those techniques to work soon, so expect some interesting cheese to emerge. As it is John thinks his Noble, which is a cheddar, tastes like French Comte; while both cheeses are pressed, cheddar's curd is cut (cheddared). In addition to hawking his cheese on Saturdays across from Golden Seafood, Green Valley Dairy cheese can be found at the Fair Food Farmstand.

The Reading Terminal Market will inaugurate a new ad campaign next month under the theme "Make It Your Market." Samples of the campaign can be seen on the wall behind Salad Express and across from Foster's. The current campaign utilizing old-fashioned produce illustrations will be largely abandoned.

O.K. Lee Produce and Earl Livengood have cut a deal where Livengood has an acre under contract to OKL. The deal enables OKL to sell some produce under Pennsylvania's WIC Farmers' Market Nutrition Program, which provides additional food subsidies for low-income, nutritionally at risk pregnant, breast-feeding and certain postpartum women, infants and childen up to age five beyond the normal WIC program.

Stopped by the Down Home Diner for the first time in a while and enjoyed perfectly done peach and blueberry pancakes with a side of scrapple and that 200-mile coffee. Jack McDavid is easing out of the Down Home Diner operation and, for all intents and purposes, it's now being run by a young man whose name I failed to remember. But he's doing a great job. He's been tweaking the menu (Philadelphia cheesesteak omelet added), but it's the same approach and quality and largely the same staff, including in the kitchen. There are also card inserts on the tables explaining what scrapple is (and isn't) and the wonders of thick cut, high quality bacon. If you haven't been to the Down Home Diner in while, treat yourself and stop by.

Charlie Giunta is moving ahead on his natural meat store. As of last Saturday, all the old cases from the former A.A. Halteman's were gone and work was about ready to start on roughing out the space in the aisle between Iovine Brothers and L. Halteman. Also as of last weekend, work had yet to begin on moving Spataro's. The reason: continuing permitting and equipment delays for the Jewish style deli that will go into Spataro's space. Spataro won't be moving until the deli is ready to begin work.

Now, onto the pricing...

Over at Iovine's Saturday. California strawberries continued to be featured at two pounds for a buck. For a buck, I picked up a bag of shredded cabbage (white and a little red, plus some carrot) for making coleslaw. Clementines $4.99/box. Although local tomatoes are at their peak, Iovine's was selling bagged Canadian hothouse Romas for a buck a pound. Also from Canada, Ontario grapes for $4.99. Local purple eggplant 79 cents. Italian prune plums $1.49, West Coast Bing cherries $1.99. California Mission figs, $3.99 a pint. Washington State blackberries $4.99 a half-pint.

The blackberries were a better deal almost anywhere else Saturday. Over at Fair Food Farmstand organic berries were selling for $6/pint; Benuel Kaufman had conventional blackberrries for $4.99/pint. It's salsa-making season, and you could do worse than make some from the Fair Food's tomatillos, $3.50/pound. Low-spray peaches $2.50, conventional nectarines and white peaches $1.25. Organic plum tomatoes $2. Concord grapes $3.50. Small lemon cukes pricey at $1 apiece.

In addition to blackberries Benuel Kaufman featured donut peaches for $4.99 a pound or $6.95/quart. Nectarines and yellow peaches $1.99/pound or $3.95/quart. Prune plums $2/pint.

On the seafood front, John Yi offered deals Saturday on Canadian farmed salmon: $3.99 for center cut filets, $2.99 for tails. Meanwhile Pacific NW fish were selling for $13.99 (king), $10.99 (sockeye) and $8.99 (coho). Large seabass priced decently at $3.99, softshell crabs $4 apiece. Over at Golden the soft shells were also $4 apiece, with a four for $15 deal to save you two bits per crustacean.

rlibkind · August 24, 2006

Found at this afternoon's Fairmount market: summer and fall. At Earl Livengood's, these concord grapes (photo above) could be found next to the peaches. Also for sale, carrots and tomatoes:

Another harbinger of autumn: celery and celeriac. The celery was incredibly fragrant and sold with the full roots attached with thin stalks and profuse leaves ($2.50 for a small bunch). I'll be chopping them up to go into some salmon salad tomorrow.

Today's Fairmount market had four different produce vendors. I also purchased corn, yellow pear tomatoes, individual fruit pies, cucumber, garlic, blackberries ($3.50/pint). I restrained myself from overbuying, because the peaches and yellow plums and brandywine tomatoes looked good, too, but I've still got some at home. I'll wait 'til I hit the RTM Saturday.

wkl · August 25, 2006

bob,

will livengood's still have heirlooms this w/e? i made it up two weekends ago and they were amazing.

anyone try the chicken pot pie or the fresh birch beer from the amish? delicious!

rlibkind · August 25, 2006

bob,
will livengood's still have heirlooms this w/e? i made it up two weekends ago and they were amazing.
anyone try the chicken pot pie or the fresh birch beer from the amish? delicious!
←

I'm sure he will. The brandywines are coming in strong. Also try the Fair Food Farmstand and Benuel Kaufman, both usually have a nice selection of heirlooms. Benuel has one that's particularly interesting, which he calls a "stuffing" tomato. It's perfect for it's name. Red with yellow streak exterior, very thick strong walls, virtually no pulp or seeds -- the interior is a big, vacant space. Tomorrow I'm making salmon salad which I intend to stuff into a couple of them. On Tuesday afternoon you might also want to try the South Street & Passyunk market where Rineer's offers some excellent heirlooms, especially the Black Cherokee. I'm not sure, but Rineer's may also show up at the Saturday market at Rittenhouse Square.

rlibkind · August 26, 2006

Late season raspberries much in evidence. Best deal was at Iovine Brothers, $3.99/pint for what appear to be locally grown berries. Over at Fair Food Farmstand a half pint sold for that amount. Earl Livengood also had some. Blackberries $6/pint or $3.75/half-pint at Fair Food, $4.95/pint at Benuel Kaufman's. Lima beans, shelled or not, plentiful at Livengood's, Kaufman's and L. Halteman's.

Benuel Kaufman continued to have donut peaches at $4.99/pound or $6.96/quart, nectarines and yellow peaches were $1.99/$3.95. On the plum front, prune plums $2/pint, Santa Rose $2.50. Nice variety of cherry and pear-shaped tomatoes, $3.95/pint (photo below).

Over at L. Halteman there were all types of plums as well as peaches and pears for $1.89/pound (a dime cheaper if you buy three pounds). Also, another sign of autumn: acorn squash, 59-cents. Also, Bartlett pears and three different types of apples: ginger gold, sansa, "tydomen". The last one is actually Tydeman's Red, a crispy, juicy McIntosh type apple. Sansa is a cross between Gala and Akane, slightly more acidic than a Gala. Ginger gold is a Golden Delicious-Albermarle Pippin cross originally found on Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains.

Another good deal at Iovine's: dollar bags, weighing about two pounds, of mixed red and green U.S. seedless grapes (presumably from California). Local peaches 79 cents. Figs $2.99 pint. Bell pepper survey: local greens 79 cents, non-local reds $1.99, oranges and yellows $3.99. (For colored peppers, you'll get fresher peppers at one of the RTM farmstand vendors.

mrbigjas · August 26, 2006

this week at livengood's: ground cherries, an interesting fruit similar to a cape gooseberry or tomatillo, but with a flavor all its own. delicious! also the nicest looking okra i ever did see.

Edited August 26, 2006 by mrbigjas (log)

Andrew Fenton · August 26, 2006

also the nicest looking okra i ever did see.

Isn't it gorgeous? I bought some on Tuesday, entranced by its beautiful, beautiful spell...

mrbigjas · August 26, 2006

also the nicest looking okra i ever did see.
Isn't it gorgeous? I bought some on Tuesday, entranced by its beautiful, beautiful spell...
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i think it's good enough to eat raw. a nice dish of mashed silken tofu with raw okra and tomatoes, and a little soy and sesame oil. if i weren't making stuffed mussels from the puglia thread tonight, that's what i'd be having...