Suddenly Sunday

Day of Rest?

I don't know if our Sunday can ever be considered a day of rest. We may take it a little easier, but usually we're still checking things off the to-do list. Today, we're off to my parent's house to pick up a big hydrangea my mother didn't want anymore. Then we'll have to come home and plant it. After that, we may plant our kale and spinach seeds. We don't usually plant seedlings until Memorial Day weekend (because around these parts there is always chance for frost), but I think planting the spinach and kale seeds should probably be ok. I did have kale that overwintered last year, so if it can handle snow, I would think it could handle some chilly nights. Fingers crossed.

How does Sunday get here so fast? I love Sunday but I wish there was one more day in between Saturday and Sunday.

Luckily, we did fit in a good bit yesterday including our trail walk.  Lucan was a pretty happy hound.

Last night, we had our farmers market dinner.....grilled lamb burgers on top of fresh greens with roasted garlic ramps and red potatoes on the side. Delicious.

Wish I'd remember to top it off with the pickled red onions when I had better lighting for the picture.

They really gave it that extra yummy factor.

Sunset Meadows

We also got to enjoy the sunset in our adirondack chairs last night. It was a lovely sunset as usual and even lucan sat there watching the sun go down last night.

However, Thursday night's was quite spectacular. It had such a pretty glow.

This may be one of my favorites.

Any big plans for the day?  In addition to what I mentioned above, we'll also be trying to get a trail walk in towards the end of the day.  Everytime we hit the trail, both of us say, 'I love these trails'. We are so happy to have finally found them.

Have a great Sunday,

To Market, To Market

Jiggity, Jig

Today was the last indoor farmer's market of the 'winter' season. As always, so much wonderful food from which to choose.  We had our list and we did pretty good sticking to it, though we did buy a couple of extras.

Our take included:

alderwood smoked salmon

2 lbs of ground lamb

one duck confit (they only had one left or we would have gotten 2)

duck pastrami (to make up for the lack of second confit)

Bolognese with veal, pork and bacon

Cheddar Stout stuffed ravioli

We met friends including my bookclub/champagne ladies pal Kath Gallant , as her restaruant Blue Moon Evolution was sponsoring this week's market.  We met some new people too, including Michelle Splaine from Valicenti Oganico who makes a fantastic variety of ravioli, pasta, and sauces too. Michelle and her partner Dave are both trained chefs who began their business in a garage and have now bought a lovely farm in Hollis, NH. You can read more about their pasta making operation and their farm on their website and their facebook page.  Lots of great pictures too.

When I say Michelle had a long list of pastas to choose from, I mean it. It didn't take long to make a decision once Gar saw the Cheddar Stout. It was a done deal.

The other goodie bag held:

brocolli rabe
kale
garlic ramps/greens
mixed 'naked' greens
yukon gold potatoes
red bliss potatoes
white lace cheese
arugula & pistachio pesto
dark amber maple syrup
maple pecans (OH MY.........heavenly)

All we could smell the whole way home was the garlic ramps which we're going to grill up tonight with lamb burgers. It is sure to be divine.

We passed one of my favorite pastures on Frying Pan Lane. Usually there's a couple of horses right up at the fence, but today they were all towards the back including a wee little pony. 

That's how our Saturday has begun. Now Gar is going to see if he can fix the lawn mower, while I do bookwork. Doesn't that sound fun?  Later, a trail walk followed by margaritas, which sounds infinitely better.  What's on the books for you?

Get out and enjoy your Saturday,

Just A Note: Another Free Printable

Need To Jot Something Down?

Hi guys. If you're anything like me, your constantly grabbing whatever piece of paper is closest to make note of something. I started to think, why on earth am I writing on the back of another credit card offer envelope when I can write on something much nicer than that?

That being said, I designed a little note card to keep handy when I need to quickly write a thought, a name, a number or what have you.  It would make an equally nice gift if you know of anybody else that does the same thing.

'Just A Note' is designed 4 to an 8.5 x 11 page and has light gray trimming guidelines.

I would suggest printing on cardstock for the nicest results.

You can right click on the image below and save the image file to your computer, or left click on the image below and it will bring you to the pdf which you can download.

via Bates Mercantile Co./Mercantile Muse

Enjoy. Feel free to share a link to this post with others who may be in need of a place to jot things down!

Fabulous Farmer's Market Dinner

The farmer's market this weekend provided us with some seriously good food. We enjoyed the goat & cranberry pate while playing dominoes. Now, you hear goat and you might think 'gamey', but it wasn't at all. We absolutely loved it and come to find out, Chef Ted McCormack from my friend Kath's restaurant Blue Moon Evolution, is the one who made the pate for Riverslea Farm. Love it!

Last night we cooked up lamb burgers, wheat berries and roasted root vegetables. It was absolutely delicious. If I had to describe the wheat berries (which you cook like rice) I'd say they're like little pearls. It could even be confused for some type of pasta when they're cooked.

We had the lamb burgers with the smoked cheddar cheese, open faced on top of the wheatberries. The carrots and turnip on the side had carmelized perfectly in the oven.

If you have Farmer's Markets near you, I suggest taking a stroll through the next one. You never know what you might find and it might just make your next meal spectacular.

How's your Monday going? Ours is very windy and cold. Not as cold as yesterday though and my fire is cranking, so there are no complaints here. By the way, have you entered our current giveaway yet? There is still time!

Have a good one,

Stock Market

Our Take

There is nothing quite like shopping at the farmer's market. The colors, the sounds, the smells. The hustle, the bustle.  Seeing people you know. Meeting people you don't know. Farmers Market has its own sort of rhythm.  It's part of its appeal. So is the fact that you get to talk to the people who grew, raised, caught and prepared your food.

You get to learn about their farms, their practices, varieties you've never seen before. It's exactly the kind of movement this country needs. It seems that Europe has been able to keep a better grasp on that connection. The US has not been so lucky.  We need a rivival of getting back to the basics with our food, having a connection to how our food is grown and to its producers.  To know where it came from, if it was raised in a humane and caring manner, that it was grown sustainably, organically and in a way that is kind to our earth- these are all really important things at this juncture in our food history in the US. 

We brought home:

carnival squash (which I used in a squash souffle last night)
smoked cheddar (also used in the souffle and will also top our lamb burgers tonight)
caerphilly welsh cheese
apaloosa beans
wheat berries
ground lamb
charred leek sausage
maple syrup
white heron's cranberry ginger tea
lettuce
scarlett turnips
carrots
pure new hampshire maple syrup
goat pate
kohlrabi
a biggo cup of fair trade dark roast coffee

We've never had kohlrabi, but I asked about it at the stand we were at and the couple next to me in line were more than happy to tell me about. It sounds wonderful and worth trying.  See what I mean? Meeting new people and learning new things.

I also have to say, after roasting the squash for the souffle I made last night, I did as my friend Kath suggested in her video and roasted the seeds. I've been nibbling ever since.

Farmer's Market makes me long for Spring even more, when I get to start digging in the dirt.

On A Sad Note

The news of Whitney Houston's death makes me sad.  Although I've always appreciated her talent, I was never a huge fan. That said, she always brings me back to a place and time--to the college apartment I lived in with Sara, Lia and Rufina. Sara played that first Whitney ablum over and over and over again. It drove us nuts.  It makes me very sad that Whitney faced so many deamons in her life. That she seemed to be her own worst enemy. It makes me sad that her beautiful gift-from-God voice has been silenced. It makes me even sadder that nobody was able to get through to her and that she's left her young daughter behind and mother-less. There's not much else you can say.

I hope you are able to enjoy some downtime today, and spend some time with people you love.

ttfn,

To Market, To Market

Winter Farmer's Market

We are lucky to live in an agricuturally rich area. There are still quite a few farms raising everything from turnip to cattle, herbs to lamb. We also have a very active fisherman's co-op that offers fresh off the boat seafood. Even luckier, this variety of farmers, producers, and fisherman were all taking part in the Winter Farmers Market.

Gar and I brought home two bags of goodies. (More on that tomorrow).

Tonight's menu plan is squash souffle........my friend Kath's recipe.

Here's a link to her video if you're reading by email. She's as good as gold, an real 'Earth Mother' and a wonderful chef.



I hope you're all having a fabulous Saturday. Lots of on the list today, including chilling later!

Over and out,

Farmer in The Dell, or was it Jersey City?- NYC Part 3

Fresh Picked Goodness Right Outside Our Door

I thought the Farmer's Market Gar found while we were in Jersey City deserved some more attention. After his report that there was a farmer's market, but he had nothing to show for it, I went back downstairs with him. You could see the farmer's market from the stoop..............how's that for happiness? A mere block away. 

This farmer's market was small, but packed with good stuff.  Vegetables galore, fruit, home baked pies, breads, jams and even meat and homemade sausage. I could have gone nuts there.

Had I not been travelling, these eggplants would have come home with me. Yes, vegetables can most definitely be beautiful.

Ah, garlic. One of the best ingredients on earth.

Green cabbage looking lovely. Isn't this variety pretty with it's green leaf and purple veining?

This okra was just looking for someone who was ready to make gumbo. Yup, and more eggplant too.

Here comes the sun.

Big, beautiful, happy sunflowers.

Once we'd bought our lot of fresh goods (peach butter, tomatoes,pepper and bread), we walked along the water.



I love the tip of Manhattan. Love the view from Jersey City too.

Along the walkway, we found a nice harbor where we eventually picked up the water ferry/taxi to Manhattan.

All in all, we really enjoyed Exchange Place, the Jersey City neighborhood we stayed in, much to our surprise. Lovely brownstone apartments, waterfront, nice neighborhood cafes (if you go, stop into the Lighthorse Tavern, nice place), easy access to Manhattan....we'd stay there again in a heartbeat.

More Tomatoes Please

When we got home from the weekend, our first tomato was finally ready. We planted a little late this year, so we've been waiting and waiting.

I didn't want to mess with it too much. Had some iceberg in fridge (Yes, I like iceberg. I don't discriminate against any lettuce. Iceberg has great crunch!).  Just sliced that tomato up with a couple of cherries Gar had picked too.

We declared that first tomato delicious! I do hope you're starting to enjoy the crops from your gardens if you have them. Nothing like it.

Sunset Meadows

Last night's sunset was a lovely end to an otherwise gray, ugly, damp day.

Happy Wednesday. Enjoy the middle of the week!

The Blue Box

More From The Weekend Treasure Hunt

When I saw this box, it reminded me of the 70s.  When I saw the masking tape with writing on the top, I knew I had to open it to see what was in it.



Dirty, but kind of cute in a retro sort of way.



Men and masking tape. Giving me more work to do.

Of course if there was a vast selection of nails in this box, they must be sorted and stored in some sort of box within a box.

Score!

Do you have Prince Albert in can? You do? You better let him out before
he suffocates! Remember that one? Gar had no idea what I was going on about.

As promised on the masking tape, nails.

Sure, the tins also have masking tape labels but I'm hoping a little goo gone will take care of that, and of course a little elbow grease.

It was one heck of a hot Sunday yesterday.  Thank goodness for the pool for quick cool offs. It was needed. Especially after the U.S. Women's Soccer team lost the World Cup to Japan (we watched the game on the small basement TV just because it was a good bit cooler down there). We thought it was our gal's game to lose because they played really great, it just wasn't meant to be. And Japan took care of business in the shoot out.  Congrats to them.  None the less, our gals had a great tournament, so it was a big disappointment.  We were both a little hot under the collar after such a hard loss and were thankful for the pool.

Then we moved on.  We watched one heck of a fireball sunset.....

...... and then fixed up some lamb burgers with the meat we got from Riverslea Farm at the Farmer's Market on Saturday. They were divine.

Make it a marvelous Monday!