Monday Market Haul - 2/23/2015

Well I went MIA there for a bit, I’m sorry. I have no excuse other than, well, life.

Work, was the main culprit, it was just “one of those weeks” for two weeks in a row. And then sometimes I take the work life “home with me.” It makes it nearly impossible to scrounge up the least bit of creative energy, and then I let this space wander. The following guilt makes things no better.

Hoping to get back to a regular routine over here.

Going to the market in the beginnings of an actual snow storm was a magical and refreshing start to the weekend. In a stroke of luck, I was able to get all I needed at the market, even though I got there much later than usual, due to work, and then there was snow. More snow.

I figured all the farmers were going to pack up early to avoid a slippery drive back. But I hauled ass down to Union Square as soon as I could just to see if anyone was still there. While some stands were missing and others were wrapping up, I was still able to score sausage, syrup, squash, and the prettiest greens in existence. The Vermont syrup guys had no plans to leave too early -- hardcore New Englanders. #represent

Since I missed about two weeks here, I’ve built up quite the backlog of things to share, so I’m hoping to get my act together and get them out to the world, asap. Those cute, little nasturtiums that came in my greens (via, Two Guys From Woodbridge) and the days staying brighter longer is certainly helping my motivation right now.

Although my initial positive outlook for 2015 is at times waning away, I can still feel change in the air. I’m desperately trying to stay close to that feeling as I move throughout my days. Just keep cooking, just keep cooking, just keep cooking...I tell myself.

Monday Market Haul - 2/9/2015

Again with the snow on Saturdays! It was surprisingly not as frigid as it has been though. It’s pretty sad when 30 degrees doesn't feel so bad. Some vendors that had stayed away due to the cold were back this week and that was pretty sweet. I love the produce at Lani’s farm and I was so happy to see them again. They have wonderful greens. I got the nicest batch of baby kales that worked themselves into the loveliest of light salads this weekend.

Do you see how many butternut squash I lugged all the way home? Guys, I am bursting at the seams to tell you what I made with those babies. I guess I’ll just have to show you one day soon.

I ended up with some extra squash and I roasted some of it in cubes for the first time and geez, what a revelation! They were like roasty and crispy on the outside, then all kinds of mush on the inside and then with the salt and the sweet. And the, and the! Oh man! What took me so long!?! I also had so many squash butts leftover. So I just scooped those out and roasted whole. I then scraped out all that roasty flesh and made squash hummus. Because, common sense.

Happy Monday all!

Monday Market Haul - 2/2/2015

Monday means Monday Market Haul!!

So for the once in in a blue moon situation where I want some jam on toast, I stopped by Beth’s Farm Kitchen jam stand. It was pretty awesome there. After trying nearly every jam they had, I finally settled on one jar of black raspberry. The moment I tasted that one, it brought me straight back to Connecticut summers where my mother has wild black raspberry bushes all over the property.

A whole nother discussion in itself is the fact that food and memory is a pretty profound thing. I swear, even though Saturday was a bitter cold January day in the middle of New York City and I was covered from head to toe in winter weather wear, it was like the second it hit my tongue, I’m seven years old, dripping wet fresh out the pool on a hot July day, sun warming my back, grass between my toes, and I’m feasting, popping one by one tiny black raspberries into my mouth.

picking berries this summer from around the yard

Anyways, back to Beth and her jam, I can get behind anywhere that has a frequent “jammer” card. To top it off she served me a tiny cup of homemade squash soup and a two-bite sample of a grilled cheese sandwich that had some of her jam on it with the cheese. Genius. It really sorta made my day.

It still astounds me what I can get on my weekly market run --- jam, wine, short ribs, sausage, and all the seasonal veggies and fruits I could want, all the while supporting small, local businesses and farmers.

I’m pretty excited about those short ribs. Are you?

Monday Market Haul - 1/26/2015

Sweet italian sausage, eggs, honeycrisp apples, bosc pears, yellow onion, yellow and orange carrots, ricotta (not pictured)

It’s Monday!

And for that you get a Monday Market Haul! Guys, the things I had to do to get this haul this weekend.

While Saturday was not, ahem, a "snowpocalypse" or anything (which I am experiencing currently.) It was still bitter cold and on top of that raining. What I coulda done was slept in, stayed in my pajams, made some coffee, and tucked in to a new book (Cat’s Cradle.) But what I did was --- head to the farmer’s market. Because if I didn’t, there would be nothing to blog about or eat for the week!

I don’t know if it comes across, but I’d say 90% of all the food that I create for this blog as well as what I consume on a daily basis comes directly from the farmer’s market. That's why I show my Market Haul on Mondays. It's important for me to show that I do my best to practice what I preach and that I am committed to my local, seasonal eating mission. Obviously here and there, I purchase things through regular means -- citrus is anything but local and I don’t always buy my meat from the market. But overall I’ve found it’s a very important part of my life now -- it gets me out of the house even in the middle of winter, it forces creativity in the kitchen as I am forced to cook only with what’s available in the season, and I’ve learned how important it is to support local sustainable farming when at all possible. 

So many farmers were so appreciative for the people that came out this past weekend. It’s important to support their hard work and presence at the market especially on a cold rainy day. As a creature of habit, I’d gotten used to going to the same vendors all the time for the same things. This past weekend, not all the farmers could make it into the city because up North it was snowing and icy. I had to broaden my search for what I was looking for and I found some different farmers and producers I hadn’t met yet.

p.s. how cool is that cutting board?! many thanks to mah girl, Jack!

Monday Market Haul - 1/19/2015

honey crisp apples, yukon gold potatoes, yellow onions, granny smith apples, spinach, lacinato kale, curly green kale, curly purple kale, and red cabbage

It’s a mid-winter miracle!!

I somehow was able to pick up pretty much every color of the rainbow this past market visit! So much more inspiring than my last visit where I got maybe the ugliest carrots and some squash.

My excitement translated into my cooking and I was able to pump out some super fun things that I can’t wait to share.

The rest of my long weekend included --- Michael C. Hall in fishnets, naughty pizza eating in a cathedral, and visits from a best friend. Not too shabby for a January weekend.

Monday Market Haul - 1/5/2015

Shhh...I totally know it’s Tuesday.

Bah! New, New Year’s Resolution! Be more consistent here.

Sometimes it’s hard for me to get going, especially when it’s not a recipe post, but rather showing you all the amazing things I dragged home from the market. I might’ve hit that winter slump I had been worried about since I started this seasonal eating mission.

It was bitter cold at the market on Saturday. And everything was just sorta gray and sad and many vegetables looked downright frostbitten. I came home with a few apples, some very scraggly carrots, and not much else inspiring.

I miss summer.

The weekend itself was super cold and dreary and also not so inspiring. My new year’s kick in the ass slowly seemed to wither away.

But then, yesterday, my lovely boyfriend and I started our morning by watching the first montage sequence from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (his idea.) The one where he runs off to his first adventure after a life of not really doing anything else. That is inspiring. That got my day started off on the right foot. That sequence is how I want to start all my days. Anything is possible.

That ricotta went into something pretty inspiring. Are you ready?

I am.

Monday Market Haul - 12/29/2014 + Brown Butter Blondies

Full disclosure: This is LAST Monday’s market haul.

After that whirlwind of a Christmas I barely know what month it is. So last Monday Market Haul it is!

Panic shopping quickly turned into panic wrapping and then panic delivering. Between that, the baking, and the making of lasagna -- Christmas day is always a stressful event. And somewhere in there, I turn another year older. Covered in powdered sugar, red sauce, and brown butter, I'm now 27.

I’m a notoriously grumpy Christmas baby, but throughout the years, I’ve cobbled together a fairly amazing group of friends, so now this time of year I am spoiled rotten to the core. Between New York friends, work, home, and then home again, I received no less than 4 cakes. I’m pretty freakin’ lucky. Being a Christmas baby wasn’t so bad this time around.

In an effort to spoil myself, I took to daydreaming about my dream cake, which consequently would not be a cake at all. Don’t get me wrong, put cake in front of me, I will NOT refuse. Never. Not ever. But in a perfect world, cookies would probably top my list with ice cream or really good donuts just trailing behind. 

So to christen my first birthday with my blog running, I decided to make some dreamy brown butter blondies for my special day. Which I had big plans to photograph, but as mentioned, my Christmas day was cray, so all you get is a shitty instagram below. Many thanks to Dash and Bella for the "hella" good recipe. This is of course in addition to the classic pudding bundt cake my mother makes me every year. (See above: spoiled rotten.)

I’m now confident that I know what heaven smells like. And it’s brown butter and brown sugar mixed together. Make these blondies just.for.that.

These are filed directly under the “treat yo’ self” category. There is a dumb amount of butter, sugar, and evil gluten in these and I’m not sorry. They’re essentially half baked cookie dough. They are irrationally good.

Hope everyone had some amazing holidays! And since the season is not quite over, I think it’s more than okay to make these blondies for no good reason. You can find the recipe here. When the resolutions begin on January 1st these might seem gluttonous and extravagant. But right now, they are life affirming in the best way.

I atone my blondie sins with lots of brussels sprouts, squash, and tart honey crisp apples as shown! I finally got around to using all those b.sprouts I’d been bringing home, there will be evidence of that eventually. As soon as I’m done licking brown butter sugar from my fingertips.

Monday Market Haul - 12/15/2014

Lacinato kale, spinach, sweet italian sausage, sage, brussels sprouts, butternut squash (not pictured...oops)

Oh man. I had so many plans. So.many.plans. I left real life on Friday legit pumped to be awesome and productive and the best blogger around.

Aaaaannnnnnd then unlike last Saturday where I was the earliest of birds, I got off to the latest of starts. Nearly nothing got done, other than a speedy greenmarket run.

Me looking at brussels sprouts photo cred: Sean Gallagher

I had to rush home to make a cake for a holiday party and I can’t even tell you that my Winter Fruit Salad test was a success because, like a big failure, I didn't bring it! I cracked open the pomegranate on Saturday afternoon and it was rotten inside. And because I am not a good adult, I had not left myself any time at all to get another pomegranate. What would have been great is if I had followed my own suggestion and made it ahead of time and found out then! Responsibility at it’s finest ladies and gents.

I did get ONE thing off my weekend bucket list and that was to get some bone broth at brodo in the lower east side. I tried all three offerings -- the chicken, the hearth, and the beef and they were all inexplicably delicious. I ended up going with the grass-fed beef which was bolstered with the hefty taste of ginger. For a chilly December day it was really warming and the savoriness of it made it stick to your ribs in that comforting way. Seriously, you should get some now.

Sunday was better...maybe? Depends on your definition of better.

Last Wednesday, I started “oil pulling.” Have you heard of it? Google away my friends. You can get these wicked detox headaches when you first start and I think it’s safe to say I had one Sunday morning. I was the slowest of snails doing anything no matter how much coffee I consumed. After dropping an entire sheet pan of butternut squash on the floor I only got one recipe completed and one tested. Calm down. I washed it. But seriously I could not get it together. Both things were AH-MAZE though, and one just needs a smidgen more work before it can get to your lovely screens.

Here’s to hoping I can get my act together next weekend as I am up to my eyeballs in brussels sprouts and plans for them!