The Best Remedy

Woohoo! Looky there. I’ve got two peppers growing at a rapid rate on one plant while the other pepper plants are little more stubborn and are holding out on me. On the tomato front, I’ve got about four tomatoes growing on one plant, two of which are golf ball sized and two are more blueberry sized. On my other tomato plant, the one that has super cute pudgy heirloom tomatoes, I’ve got two more golf ball sized fellows.

I think I’ve got the gardening bug now because I keep wanting to put more things out on my fire escape. This weekend I picked up some new pots while at ikea *sidenote, have you ever checked out their pots? so cute and so affordable*. I’m hoping to pick up some herbs at the market this weekend to fill them.

Check out this awesome article, 101 simple salads by Mark Bittman in the Times today. I can’t believe I’m this excited about vegetables.

Image by Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times

Here comes another daydream realized. There have been a lot of daydreams lately, so please bear with me. I guess that’s what’s kind of fun about shopping at the farmers market or using a CSA, it makes you get creative with the food you’ve got. Anywho, I had these blueberries and I had a craving for cookies. Like chocolate chip cookies, but I didn’t really want the chocolate part and I thought, hm, maybe I could use blueberries instead of chocolate chips. Once I got the idea in my head I just couldn’t wait to try it out. But then the temperature rose to 80-something degrees and our apartment felt like a sauna and I thought, hm, maybe I can wait. Well, good news. The temperature dropped a bit and I finally got to make these tasty blueberry cookies.

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New photos are still being uploaded to our flickr page. It’s such a lovely bunch of photos. Check them out here.

Let me introduce you to my new favorite meal. On our trip to the country this weekend we stopped at a farmers market where they were giving away free grilled corn. Free grilled corn?! Sign me up. Their little ploy worked quite well because as soon as I took a bite I wanted to fill the car with corn and bring it home. Fortunately for Aaron, I have a little restraint and walked away with only two ears. But that got the wheels turning about what to do with it. Sure I could make corn on the cob, but that just seemed a little hum drum. Somehow I decided on corn cakes and it snowballed into the most delicious, corny meal that has me so excited. You’re going to want to pick up some fresh corn on the cob, because spicy corn cakes with fresh salsa is calling your name.

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When deciding on what to make with my treasures from the market I tried to make things that would challenge me, both skill wise and taste wise. For the most part (minus the hot pink spaghetti debacle) I think it worked out pretty well. Throughout the week I’ve been sneaking peeks at what other people are making and some of your recipes left me salivating. Below you’ll see a list of my favorite recipes from market week.

Thanks again to everyone. If you have any thoughts, comments or suggestions on how things went, please feel free to share.

seared fig and white cheddar goat cheese panini : life according to celia
The second I read that title I practically fell off my seat. Now that sounds like a sandwich after my heart.

homemade ranch dressing : whitney in chicago
There is no short supply for salads these days and Whitney has provided us with a delicious sounding recipe for dressing that works with anything.

herbed scrambled eggs with toast : the kitchenette
Scrambled eggs cooked low and slow… they look heavenly.

white pizza + arugula : num num chronicles
I love the idea of adding greens to a pizza, add goat cheese and mozzerella and I’m sold.

vanilla ricotta ice cream with blueberry sauce : adventures in shaw
Oh my sweet goodness. Do I even need to say anything? I want this asap.

green and yellow squash stuffed with corn custard : bottom of the crisper
These little zucchinis are so cute. Corn custard inside zucchini sounds delicious.

brisket with fresh salsa, fried okra + grits : eatmakeread
Seriously, this brisket was so delicious and it makes for great leftovers.

thank you also to :
my city girl life and river dog prints for sharing your market bounty with us.

Wow. Market week was so much fun. Thank you so much to everyone who participated, whether it was going to the market and snapping photos, trying new recipes or just commenting on the progress, I really appreciate it. In the end, market week is an opportunity to reconnect with the people who provide us with delicious, fresh food and have fun in the kitchen. I hope you enjoyed it and hopefully you’ll continue market week in some way throughout the year. Woohoo! I can’t wait to do it again.

I’ve gathered photos from our flickr page and linked to the corresponding blogger. I just loved seeing the lovely photos you all took. Look for recipes created during market week this afternoon… oh boy, there’s some good stuff!

the markets:

Los Angeles, California : life according to celia

Chicago, Illinois : whitney in chicago

Boulder, Colorado : the kitchenette

Brooklyn, New York : num num chronicles

Farmington, Connecticut : RiverDog Prints

Washington DC : Adventures in Shaw

Washington DC : My City Girl Life

Manhattan, New York : Bottom of the Crisper

Portland, Oregon : wearing brown

Location unknown : allijean

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : Monavano

Brooklyn, New York : eatmakeread

Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food