Sampler Platter Meets Pot Luck

An unexpected market haul... (4.00 / 4)

As I wrote in makettle's diary, I (unexpectedly) hit a farmers market this morning...

Today's Haul:

Loose fiddleheads, a bunch of arugula (flowers and all, upon which I happily munched while waiting for bus transfers!), some rapini, some tiny young broccoli and about 1/2 pound of mixed salad greens.  A really nice haul for about $8...

Almost hit 80 here today, and will hit that (and probably a couple degrees more) tomorrow.  And I'm off tomorrow!

:)

How's everything around your way, y'all?

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 02:11:26 AM UTC

Speakin' of 80 degrees, (4.00 / 4)

Out here in Mulino it was so warm and nice! I have trays of plants beggin to go in the ground. Planted fingerling potatoes and got a couple of trenches ready for the reds and blue potatoes. Even cut the front lawn - so I had clippings to go into the potato trenches.

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 04:24:06 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Eww arugua (4.00 / 1)

I almost can't even rec that.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 18:53:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Lol... (0.00 / 0)

I understand...

:)

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 19:00:24 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

OK (4.00 / 1)

What's the deal with arugula?

Asking as someone who's growing some of the stuff, but hasn't ever eaten any of it....

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 04:33:59 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I don't know? (0.00 / 0)

Lol...

I like it, some people don't.  I guess the same thing goes for any food, eh?

I love the smell of the stuff, though.  And at the Hillsdale market, I finally found a whole intact bunch, flowers and all, rather than just the leaves which is what I'm usually only able to find at the markets.  I love that smell!  Tastes great, too...

I was eating the flowers right off my bunch at a bus stop on SW 3rd yesterday afternoon.  Didn't give a damn what anybody thought, either!

:)

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Tue Apr 21, 2009 at 06:16:27 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Here's a sample for you (4.00 / 4)

I went into the Children's garden at the New York Botanical Gardens to learn about chocolate and vanilla.

There was a comparison between Aztec hot chocolate and the familiar hot chocolate that evolved in Europe. Aztec hot chocolate is made by grounding chocolate seeds with a mortar and pestle. Then the stuff is added to hot water and sometimes but rarely before the Spanish influence, thickened with blue corn meal.

I thought it was delicious just like that, the bittersweet chocolate and hot water. But they told me very few would agree. The Aztec flavored the drink to taste with three main ingredients, chili powder, vanilla and honey. Oddly a dash of chili powder doesn't make the drink spicy and instead covers the bitter in bittersweet. The honey increased the sweetness and the vanilla turned out to be the spiciest of the additives.

Then the drink went to Europe where sugar was first added so retailers could make a lot less of the expensive imported chocolate go a long way and the sugary powder mixed better with milk than water.

Bur really grinding up some bitter chocolate and seeping it in hot water with those three additives is a pleasant experiment and it seemed like far fewer empty calories.    

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by: Eddie C @ Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 02:58:47 AM UTC

Running out the door... :) (4.00 / 4)

But!

I think I would personally enjoy the chocolate and water, myself.  Bitter is definitely my thing, as my dandelion greens salad will attest.  Heh...

To each their own, though - and all of that.

I'm terrible with fruit, and I'm one of the very few (okay, zero...) people I know who have no taste preference for sweets...

I would like to try simple hot chocolate one day.

:)

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 03:11:10 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

that sounds like heaven (4.00 / 2)

I want some!

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 18:54:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I commented on Dowd's NYT column about food yesterday (4.00 / 2)

and it made both the editor's selections and reader's pick lists. You can read it here, comment 75 by rkzic.

Today, I'm planting beets for Barack. He doesn't have to eat them, I'll eat them in his honor.

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by: zic @ Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 12:17:08 PM UTC

Where do you live??? (4.00 / 2)

I'll come over and eat them; I love beets.  Maybe that's why I voted for Obama??

Good little comment in the Times, too.  I never read Dowd.  But the comments on her column were as usual truly amusing, many of them genuinely misinformed.

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by: DennisP @ Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 12:52:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm in Maine, the western Mountains. (4.00 / 1)

It's very beautiful here, with a wealth of natural resources, including clean, fresh water and a forest that absorbs more CO2 than the entire eastern seaboard produces in a day.

But it's also a poor place, economically. And the growing season is short. This morning, the ground was frozen solid, it's now just beginning to thaw, and I'm sure if you dig six to eight inches down at noon, you'll find the frost line.  

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by: zic @ Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 13:15:38 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm in Maine, the western Mountains. (4.00 / 1)

It's very beautiful here, with a wealth of natural resources, including clean, fresh water and a forest that absorbs more CO2 than the entire eastern seaboard produces in a day.

But it's also a poor place, economically. And the growing season is short. This morning, the ground was frozen solid, it's now just beginning to thaw, and I'm sure if you dig six to eight inches down at noon, you'll find the frost line.  

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by: zic @ Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 13:15:39 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

and I have no idea why this comment posted twice. (4.00 / 1)

ISP glitches, perhaps?  

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by: zic @ Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 13:16:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It happens. (4.00 / 1)

It happens.

It happens.

It happens.

;-P

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 18:49:19 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Nice I just read it nt (4.00 / 2)

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 18:55:41 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

And while reading Jay has made it obvious (4.00 / 2)

that the Portland West food scene should be drooled over, here's hoping they do a story on the terrific food scene in Portland East, too.

Because the food there rocks. Between farmer's markets and local farms, local artisan producers, and restaurants using that local stuff; plus a ban on any new franchises as the bases for a solid, growing "buy local" movement, plus the access to fresh seafood, Portland West has some of the best food going.

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by: zic @ Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 12:21:30 PM UTC

If you like to eat (4.00 / 3)

Portland is indeed a great place to be. I'm working on a project in my own area of Mulino/Molalla that's going to be big like Portland. More details to come....

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 14:13:38 PM UTC