The summer has gone so quickly for me this year and I find that – unlike most years – I’m sad to see it departing. I didn’t camp at all, grilled only once, went nowhere near a large body of water…in fact did very few ‘summer’ things. Alas and alack, cry me a river already.
One of the wonderful things to come late in the season, however, has been my access to delicious, fresh, local produce – and other goodies, as it turns out! The CSA this week has honey in it, and okra and jalapenos. Combine the peppers with the tomatillos and onion from the Farmer’s Market this morning, as well as the garlic and cilantro I’ll have to get from the store (why did no one have either one? Weird.) there’s bound to be a bright little salsa verde in my immediate future.
And since the veggie packets turned out so well the other night I think the okra, carrots, beans and potatoes will go into another round of those. I ate the last of the last batch cold from the fridge the other day – they were even more lemony than when I’d heated them.
Working every Saturday morning means not many opportunities to go shopping myself at the market, but thanks to the rain today, I was able to sneak off for half an hour or so and grab some tasty treats for myself. Since lamb’s not very widely available in the stores, I grabbed a pound of ground for some lamb and feta burgers (only $5.99/lb.). And I haven’t had wild chokecherry jam in – well – decades, so I was tickled to find this little jar. I was sorely tempted by the pints of wild plums, but wasn’t sure I’d get them used well in time. The farmer said that neither fruit did very well this year, which is surprising, because it seems that everything else did, especially the weeds.
I got hedge apples (4 for $1.00) to help with the spiders in the house. The woman at the stand said that they repel spiders and other bugs. The spiders have been just wicked this summer and I’ve had some truly scary bites, so I hope they really work. BlueHawk says his mom used to just throw them around the house – one under each bed *doink*, one behind the couch *doink*, one in the closet *doink* – so I’m going to follow suit and spread the love.
Plus, dang they’re cute!
Tomatillos in all their papery goodness – 12 for a buck.
And a final happy fresh image.
What’s not to love about some sweet little zinnias? Nothing, that’s what.
Hope you’re enjoying the dog days!
lemonpig 