What Was Missing

Walked out of the apartment this morning into air like a damp dishrag, and nearly missed the bus--I am not yet used to the fact that waking up ten minutes later may actually impact my morning. A single cricket serenaded my hasty progress.

But it was a lovely weekend. Saturday began with a trip to the Union Square farmer's market, where I bought--oh, lots and lots of things, and felt ludicrously happy and very much an urban dweller. L asked for a snack, was offered a ground cherry by a man working at the stand we were in line for; she wouldn't try it, so I did, and found it surprisingly sweet. I bought her a stalk of broccoli, which she nibbled at for the remainder of our stay at the market (yes, she likes raw broccoli, at least as much as she likes anything that resembles real food). There was South American flute music, and lots of people had dogs, and some of the eggs I bought are green, not to mention huge. Lunch was a caprese salad and slices from the cutest little watermelon ever. I wish I'd written down the name of the tomatoes I got, because I actually found them okay.

In the afternoon we headed over to the Mystic River Reservation--which is a lot bigger than I realized, looking at it on this map. Maybe next summer I can start running again. The background sound was a strange, constant meld of traffic and cicadas.

On Sunday my sister-in-law and her husband joined us for lunch. I had promised L cookies, so after putting the dough in to chill, I made a corn chowder that looked reasonably good, and indeed it was so. Any excuse to use my belated birthday present:

For some reason, most of what I've bought for the new kitchen is red, I don't know why, though a straightforward interpretation would suggest energizing change.

After lunch the kids dragged everyone else upstairs--I heard a fair amount of LEGO clatter--while I cleaned up a bit and got the dough out. L ventured downstairs while I was rolling out the first bit, and very soon everyone was back in the kitchen, wielding cookie cutters shaped like dinosaurs and decorating the results as soon as they had cooled off.

It was exactly what I have spent the past few years feeling that we've been missing from our lives--casual, minimally planned social contact, in which people can come over on short notice and feel free to linger, because they don't face an hour-plus drive home from our place, and I can relax and putter and feed the people I love without making into a laboriously planned Event.

The place is still coming together--I don't think we'll be fully sorted out for another month, but we unpacked a bit more, hung up the shower curtain I like so much instead of the ugly one the previous tenants left, shoved some out of season stuff into the storage zones, and Freecyled a ton of moving boxes and packing material. We have filled another box with books we might be able to part with. There's a lot left to do, but every incremental improvement in the entropy level does good things to my stress levels as well.

In the late afternoon on Sunday, the kids watched a video while I sat at the kitchen table and leafed through old cooking magazines, cutting down the stack (am I ever going to make that? what was I thinking when I turned down that corner? do I like this entire issue enough to keep it, or can I pull out a few pages and recycle the rest?). It was pleasant and restful and productive at the same time, even if reading about fall recipes makes me want to hurry the seasons forward even more.

Supper was an adaption of a pork and bok choy stir fry I found after a brief online search. I had a ton of bok choy, beautiful little plants from the market, so didn't use any other greens. I also found that I didn't have any cornstarch or hoisin sauce--I have some restocking to do. It was good anyway.

And now it is Monday, and it's going to be 90 degrees again.

Ingredients

Yesterday was one of those happy days when a Penzey's box turns up with the afternoon mail. This time it contained one pound of Dutch cocoa--my grocery store being lame enough that I can't find it reliably there--and a pint of vanilla extract, as my last bottle is nearly gone. I love opening their boxes, pulling out the wads of newsprint (which will be set aside for the kids to scribble on), finding what small sample bottle has been tucked away as a freebie (this time, something called Greek seasoning--not sure if or how I'll use that one...). The holiday baking season will be here before we know it, right?

On our last visit to the Worcester farmer's market there was a meat seller I hadn't seen before, new to the market this year. I've already forgotten the name of their farm, but will have to find out. The prices are, well, high. I bought a pound of hot pork sausage and a dozen enormous eggs. The eggs went into cookies and a fritatta I made this week; four of them so far have turned out to have double yolks, something I had heard of but never encountered. Makes for some really rich chocolate chip cookies.

The sausage I used last night, in one of those no-recipe dishes I tend to make in the summer: I turned the sausage out of its skin and browned it, added some shallots and some sliced up summer squash and zucchini, and let it all cook until the veggies were done to my taste. Threw in a bit of white wine, cooked for a few more minutes, and served over pasta. The sausage was sweet and spicy, needing no other seasonings at all. I hope I can afford to patronize their farm again before the summer ends!

Kendall Square Farmer's Maket is Open!

I went over with another writer during a brief break between my morning meeting and the departmental lunch. There were a handful of vendors there, mostly of prepared foods and people selling potted herbs, but Lanni Farms were there, bless 'em, and I bought a couple bunches of asparagus and a basket of strawberries which, I was told, had been picked a mere two hours previously. I was even happier than I thought I would be at the sight.

The asparagus went into that night's dinner, and we nibbled the berries while I cooked. Summer is on the way!

Farmers Market Update

The Chandler St. farmer's market in Worcester appears to be in full swing, with a handful of new vendors this morning. In addition to three stands selling the usual veggies (one had corn--already?! color me suspicious as to its provenance), there was a new Hmong farm , a bread baker (looked good, but at $6.50 a loaf I'd just as soon bake my own), another baker, and a woman selling jewelry. I got bok choy, lettuce, a very ripe tomato, a cucumber, and some potatoes. Not sure yet what I'm going to do with all of them. D is having some work done on his gums today, so he might not be able to eat salads for a bit.

I meant to take a picture but forgot. I'm taking a few days off next week so should not be in such a hurry on our next visit, maybe I'll remember to do it then.

Strawberries, and a Cucumber

Those were my first farmer's market purchases of the year--the Kendall Square Market is open now, and I made it over there on my way back from the bank today. The other woman in line with me bought some tomatoes after being assured that they were locally grown. I looked long and hard at basil plants but held off. If they're still there next week I'll probably end up with one or two for the windowsill.

There were only a handful of vendors--Lunni Orchard, an organic place selling the potted herbs, a woman selling fresh mozzarella, a bread place, one or two others--and there wasn't much by way of actual food yet, but it was delight to see and smell.