Summer’s Bounty

This weekend was exactly what I needed to kind of recharge my batteries and get myself sorted out.  It will be a work in progress I’m sure, but a couple of days of family time made it all seem just a little bit easier.

The weather ‘round these parts is slowly but surely getting cooler, and the mornings are beginning to feel like (dare I say) Fall.

I’m not a coffee drinker, which I realize is tantamount to blasphemy to some, but I do love tea.  Cool mornings are a perfect excuse to dig out my stash of tea, and start reacquainting myself with some of the long forgotten varieties.

 

 That’s right people, “Pumpkin Spice.” 

With a belly full of tea and oatmeal, we headed out the local farmer’s market with the kids to see what we could dig up.

Our market is small and held outside at the local fair grounds.  There are rusty buildings, wooden booths, and painted picnic tables, and a stage for local musicians to torture entertain market goers.  It’s small and cheesy, and really quite fabulous.

After wandering around for about an hour, we headed for home with what I consider a pretty serious haul of fresh produce. 

Tomatoes ready to be roasted for tomato sauce and used in salads this week. 

I’m hoping we can find more of these next week.  Ours aren’t quite ready, and these are so fantastic!

 The most delicious cherry tomatoes.  We didn’t grow any this year, and I forgot how amazing they taste when you grow them yourself.

 Pattypan squash that I can’t wait to try later this week.

Basil.  Glorious basil. 

Those tomatoes were screaming for fresh basil and the plant I have growing on my windowsill is looking sick, so I was thrilled to run across this huge bunch for $1.  I may have also purchased some fresh mozzarella cheese at the grocery store later in the day….can you guess what kind of salad I’ll be making?

I love beans, but the kind you buy in the store really don’t taste the same as fresh ones.  Two big bunches of these for $1 each. Yes, please.

 Isn’t the colour incredible?  I’m not a big potato fan, but Mr. T. loves ‘em so we purchased a few of these.

Everything was kid approved :)

I had planned to make chicken curry last night, but after I found so many great things at the market (all of it for $16, if you can believe it) I knew I had to use some of it for dinner.

Barbecued pork chops, steamed yellow beans, and delicious red potatoes. 

It’s pretty amazing how much better food tastes when it hasn’t travelled 2,000 miles and sat in trucks for days.

Do you shop at local farmer’s markets?  Can you notice a difference in the taste of fresh, local food?