Farmer's Market Day

When I was on a family vacation in Palm Beach recently I visited the local farmer's market on a Saturday morning, before the sun got too hot.
In my experience every market has similarities but also its own unique characteristics, depending on season and location. This market had a lovely mix of fresh produce, home-made pasta, flowers, houseplants, delicious hot food and live entertainment. Add the fact that it happened to be St. Patrick's Day as well and it was even more fun!

At this booth you could buy fresh coconut milk right in the coconut! The seller used a large machete to prepare your coconut ... pretty impressive!

 

Beautiful tropical plants, would love to have taken a few of these home on the plane with me... 

I bought some fresh Asian greens from this grower. We stir-fried them for dinner during the week, delicious!

 

I couldn't resist asking if I could take this guy's picture, so good looking in his St. Paddy's Day hat!

Kind of wish that I could do a tour of farmer's markets all over this country and other far off places. I don't think I would ever tire of the variety and general good feeling I come away with after a day at the market!

vacation notes...

This is the perfect, blue sky I got to enjoy for two whole weeks while in Florida ... so many lovely, full days to remember.  Having just spent a winter in New England, to suddenly find myself in the tropical land of beaches, blooming flowers and warm sun was pretty exceptional. I savored every moment!

Part of what I love about travel is noticing plants, birds and  local wildlife that are new and unknown to me. To see flocks of pelicans flying overhead, or small lizards scurrying for cover into hedges as I walk by ...  not what I see everyday at home! It's also interesting to see familiar houseplants growing here, like bouganvilla  or hibiscus, growing as hedges and outdoor climbers. 

 Did I mention the shopping yet? I may be more of a window shopper than a buyer in this town but even I can appreciate the wondrous variety of shops and restaurants in the Palm Beach area.

 

My personal favorite was this one below, my first visit to Anthropologie !

                                                       ...and the beach of course...

 

Many thanks to my dear sister for sharing her beautiful world with me and to my Mom, for being such an adventurous and all around great travel companion! 

Love you both!

I  have more to post about my visit to Florida, I think it will be the Saturday morning Farmer's Market next!

  See you soon!

bird angels in Maine to palm trees in Florida

                                                                                                                                                       bird angels

What a week ... I feel a change in the weather ... from a spring snow that brought the birds flocking to the bird feeder, to beautiful sun-filled 60 degree days and my first views of blooming crocuses and snowdrops.

                                                                                                                             ...so many tracks in the snow

                                                                                                                                           kitchen snowflakes

I've been cooking lots of healthy foods these past weeks, still enjoying and being inspired by Heather's workshop at Whole Food Kitchen.
 It's hard to describe the change I've been experiencing as I eat more delicious, life giving foods. It's a bit like watering a plant that hasn't had a good dose of water in awhile, you see the leaves start to unfurl and come back to life, standing strong again ... that's how I'm feeling!

                                                                                                                                              salad and khichuri

                                                                                                             falafel, salad and tahini/lemon sauce

                                                                                                                                         coconut milk quinoa

                                                                                                                                 roasting nuts and seeds

                                                                                                                                                      lovely peels                 

                                                                                                                                                          fruit salad

                                                                                                  breakfast quinoa with fruit, nuts and seeds

                                                                                                                       gluten-free blueberry seed cake                                                

Well, you see that I've been keeping busy in the kitchen this week!
In other ways I've been busy as well ... enjoying the beautiful art of Angie Lewin , and always with music I love in the background. 
Last, but not least, I'm planning a little break from winter to visit my sister in Florida! This is not something I do regularly, it's kind of a big deal I'd say!
I'll be away for two whole weeks of sunshine, fresh food and good company! Looking forward to posting about my trip when I return. See you at the end of the month! Enjoy!

                                                                                                                                         from Cathy's iphone

Thrifting...

Living in the countryside is a joy, but as anyone who is familiar with country life knows, you have to make your trips to town count when you venture out. These days I try to conserve fuel and time by running as many errands as I can while there. I shop at the food coop and grocery store, drop off the books at the library, fuel up at the gas station and do whatever else is pending that day ... sometimes I  still have a little time left for something fun, like thrifting! 
Let's be honest here, sometimes I even do the thrifting first, depending on my mood and the urgency of things.
 We have a few good thrift shops in our area and they are well maintained and well attended as a result. On the day I was in Camden, I visited a shop called Heavenly Threads. It is located in a large, white, clapboarded house that was  built during the 1800's and that once housed the minister from the church nearby. 
As long as I have been visiting this shop it has been on the first floor of the house. You'd pass a marvelous, old staircase when you entered the front hall, but it was closed off and the upper level was off limits to customers.  I was so excited when I entered the shop the other day and noticed that the second floor was now open to the public! I had always longed to climb those stairs, you see I'm truly in love with older houses and their beautiful and sometimes quirky features. I climbed the stairs and was not disappointed!

A lovely, old room ... though a little hard to see behind the many treasures you see here. I did manage to find something special to take home with me.

I instantly had visions of Chocolate Pots de Creme when I saw these!  This recipe from a lovely food blog made my vision come true, and though I didn't add the coffee or espresso, it was rich and delicious.  Yes, you MUST take advantage of those trips into town!

Some Thoughts On Pantries

I've been having a pleasant time cleaning and restocking our family pantry this week. The online course I've been taking at Whole Food Kitchen has me thinking of ways to improve the way I cook and the importance of having healthy food options on hand ... well-stocked pantries are a step in this direction for sure!

 We were lucky this year to have had a great tomato year in our vegetable garden and I tried to can as many quarts of tomatoes as I could. I just knew how much we would appreciate having our own garden tomatoes through the coming months!

I guess it's kind of a family tradition, canning the summer bounty, and I grew up hearing stories about the wonders of my grandmother's pantry and how she would can enough for a whole year's provision. This industriousness must have come from home-pride as well as necessity during the hard years of the Depression, when she was a young wife. 
When I was growing up I remember seeing my own mother 'putting up' tomatoes, pickles, salted soup herbs and root beer. When autumn came Mom would buy bushels of local apples and have us kids wrap each one in newspaper to be stored in a wooden barrel in our low - ceilinged root-cellar . Each time we wanted an apple, which was often, we'd go down to that little room in the cellar and rifle through the newspapers to find one. They kept well down there!
I think it was always recognized by everyone in our family that fresh vegetables from our own garden, or locally-grown, were the best to be had.


My Mom still likes to get her hand in on canning day at my sister's house. Many hands make light work!

                                                                                                                                             *photo by Cecile
                                                                                                                                         

My youngest sister keeps a large vegetable garden and grows beautiful vegetables and flowers. Her pantry is a work of art in my mind.

                                                                                                                        *photo by Cecile

 After thinking about pantries this week I've come to the conclusion that keeping a pantry is more than just bringing in a supply of food. It becomes a holding place for blending the traditions of the past, present and future, creating memory links from those who have passed to those who are just coming along in life. I will always feel grateful to have known the women who showed me a few things about life and living well. Here's to good eating on the way!

These ladies were four sisters who kept beautiful pantries in their time. They were my great aunts and my Memere, (grandmother) third from the left.