Farmer's Market

It is strawberry season! 

This morning, I stood above the rows of green cardboard boxes huffing the scent like a middle schooler would an expo marker (was that just me?). 

Strawberries + Ronnybrook coconut ice cream = Summertime Yum!

Good Eats

Lunch. 

Saturday 1pm: I can't even contain myself right now. I wish I could bottle the smell of my apartment and share it with the world. Zach and I just got back from the Farmer's Market, but before leaving, we put baby back ribs in the oven to braise in Prosecco and honey. I rubbed them down w/ paprika and some other delicious things last night, with the intention of eating them for dinner. Then realized that we wouldn't be eating until 9 and Zach hatched the genius idea of having ribs for lunch. Baller!

Blue Grass band at the Farmer's Market

The Union Square Farmer's Market is a place of inspiration. You can't really take a list because crops vary as the season progresses. We have our regular spots, but always wind up making something different depending on what looks good.


Go To Vendors at the Union Square Farmer's Market:

• Cato Corner Farm for off the wall blue cheese
• Flying Pigs for pork products (ribs, bratwurst)
• Grazin' Angus for beef products and the most phenomenal, orange yolked eggs
• Ronnybrook Dairy for yogurt
• and veggies from wherever they look best

While I was in Colorado, I bought a super spicy Ethiopian spice blend called Berbere, but I have yet to use it. I don't really know how. While at the Farmer's Market, we went to the Flying Pigs stand (they are awesome at giving cooking recommendations- they are the people who recommended the braised ribs recipe) where they suggested cooking ground pork in the spice. I started picturing something like a sloppy joe. But fancy. A fancy joe.

After a lap around the Farmer's Market and a time out to strategize, we had a delicious food plan for the week.

Radishes for pineapple and radish slaw, to be served w/
Fancy Joe sammiches.

Dinners this week:

Sunday- Fish Tacos by bakedbree

Monday- Gnocci w/ mushroom and spinach ragu

Tuesday- Blue Cheese, yummy bread and sauteed broccoli rabe 

(yes, the main ingredient here is cheese)

Wednesday- Beer (we have softball)

Thursday- Fancy Joe (spicy pork) Sandwiches w/ pineapple and radish slaw

Friday- too far away to think about

This week is going to be a pretty intense week at school, with our Quality Review and testing going on at the same time. However, it doesn't really matter what happens during the day because at 3:45, I'll be thinking about dinner :)

Volcano

Saturday was a pretty big deal. Living right on the edge of my comfort zone. I had to see the volcano before leaving and I really only have one weekend left here, so Saturday I packed a bag and set out on my own to go see it. I had a few possible plans, but decided to see where the day took me. I figured as long as I had a knife and a rain fly, it didn’t really matter where I wound up.

I stuck my thumb out at the top of the farm's driveway and got picked up by an Australian who was driving around the perimeter of the island for the day. Since he didn’t really have a plan, he took me all the way to the farmer’s market in Kolani (about an hour and a half away from the farm). The market was in an open, colorful building and filled with hippies and surfers and other colorful personalities. I found some free kitties in a box and was told to go walk around with them. So I did. As I wandered around the space, picking up papayas, an avocado and some banana bread, I developed a trail of 10 year old kids following the kitten that was sitting atop my backpack. I passed the kitty of to them and went to sit on a stump and people watch.


I hitched a ride to go see the lava flow, but was discouraged from going during the day- too much effort and not really worth it unless its dark out. So, I rerouted to Volcanoes National Park, where I got cell service WHOO HOO! I took the advice that my ride gave me and walked through the Kilua Iki crater. I’ve always gone hiking with the Anderson clan or Zach. Hiking alone was a new and exhilarating version of a familiar activity.


The crater floor was a wild expanse of broken sheets of lava and the trail was marked only by those little rock pyramids. I bounced along, snapping pictures and climbing on rocks. I really couldn't have asked for a better afternoon, except maybe for a pink Jolly Rancher from mom's fanny pack a la 199. After the crater, I cruised through a lava tube, checked out the sulphur vents (cool, but nothing compared to the crater) and made my way toward the observation deck at the Jagger Museum.


It started getting cool as soon as I got to the Jagger Museum (a 4+ mile walk from the lava tube/crater that I misread as closer to 1 mile on the map). I was toying with the idea of leaving the park and heading to a beach, where I knew I would be warm and sleep comfortably, but doubted that I would be able to get a ride out of the park.

I changed my mind about ten times as I walked, checked the weather (low of 60 degrees) and threw a mental temper tantrum. I felt stuck and was definately not prepared to camp in the cold. I grabbed an extra sweatshirt in the gift shop and decided to make the best of it. I spent the next few hours snacking on my delicious farmers market buys and the bag of lychees one of my rides gave me. I watched the sun go down (not fantastic) and the volcano begin to light up (fantastic).



I listened to some impressively smart 10 year olds name constellations (Scorpio, Summer Triangle and the Souther Cross were all new to me) before hiking through the pitch black night to the campground. I slept for about three hours that night. I was about as layered as I could have been, but didn't have a warm sleeping bag. I wrapped myself in my rain fly to try to cut the wind and keep in my body heat. Realistically, I was in no physical danger. But WOW! what an incredible excercise in mental vs. physical! I finally decided to "get up" at about 4:30am and watch the sunrise over the volcano. As I did, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment that set the tone for Sunday. Needless to say, it was a good weekend :)

Farmer's Market

Farmer's Markets are on my list of favorite places (not to far on the list from Wegmans). I like that they are a way to support local farmers, find delicious, home made food, and bring a community together. I spent Saturday am at the Farmer's Market in Waimea. It was a slow, sunny Saturday and my help wasn't really needed, so I spent the morning lazing in the grass, people watching and listening to the Saturday morning news between neighbors (common topics of convo: recent hikes, beaches, and their dogs). The people here greet everyone with hugs and kisses (even strangers, which throws me off when I go in for a handshake :) They offer to share picnic tables with one another. I like how the people of the Big Island genuinely love their community. It's infectious. New Yorkers show their love too, but here it's love without so much ego.


Super fresh spring rolls from the Vietnamese food tent, Rosemary Gorgonzola foccacia and passion fruit tea cake.