Tomato circle

Tomato circle

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Farmers Market * March 26, 2011

The market is coming back to life in great and springy ways! This week we got their a little late and was happy to see the crowd was good sized!


There was a sense of Easter in the air. We even got to see some baby duckling at a booth that sells duck eggs.


There were so many veggies this week - always makes for a spring feel and makes for awesome colors!




Beautiful Beets as Art!



Now that we have had all these veggies - its time to indulge in some amazing gluten-free Italian Cream Cake! All the food there is free of gluten but tasty amazing! Check out their menu!


And their pretty cute too so even more reason to buy from them!


We are also happy to see that Aunt Nita is back at the market! Addy did an awesome job over the winter but its nice to see both their smiling faces! Look at all the goodies they had this week!!


We didnt bring the pups this week but had to stop but Poochie Trends for a few treats and of course we were greeted by Miss Fashion herself! We both had painted nails!


And one of the highlights this week was one of our favorite musicians - Ulrich Ellison. There is nothing like being all tired in the morning and hearing the great tunes that sound something like Jimmy Hendrix with a faint Russian accent.
You can hear his music here


Here is our beautiful bounty of food this week:

Porkbellypalooza!

One of the absolute highlights of my week is getting up early and head a few blocks over to our farmers market but about 2 months ago, I woke up and was simply too sick to go. Husband to the rescue! He says to stay in bed and he will conquer the market himself.

Over all - he did awesome but he also bought a piece of porkbelly that was larger than our dog! This thing was huge! It quickly became the center piece of our freezer as well as many inside jokes.

Recently, I had to go to NY for work and as I called in to chat with my hubby, I find he has decided to take on the porkbelly beast! He defrosted it, sliced half of it and left the other as a huge chunk. He made porkbelly in oven and in the skillet. By the time I got home, he had lived off porkbelly for 3 days.

As I mentioned before, this slab was size of my dog so I still had many lbs to play with.

I cut the porkbelly into thick cubes and put them in two bowls.
One marinade was with BBQ spices and Worcestershire sauce.

The second marinade was maple and soy sauce.

I seared both sides and then put them in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 min.



They were tasty and fatty and a wonderful treat! My husband can splurge on porkbelly anytime!

New spring garden 2011

I am so excited to get my new spring garden going!
In Feb, I bought a series of seeds from a website that carries only no GMO seeds.
Within days, I had lil crops of cucumbers, kale, cilantro, okra and many kinds of peppers.

In mid March, my husband and I spent a Saturday at a local gardening store called The Natural Gardener. I got many bags of new soil, compost and some transplant plants.

First, before I could plant anything - it was time to pull up my winter garden which was down to a few tiny carrots and an awesome yield of green garlic! Look Ma - Im a farmer! ;)





The new soil makes the garden look so good! Like a blank slate.


I was able to transfer all the veggies over! All nice in a row for now before the weeds come in.


From left to right:

Cucumbers, Red Onions, Jalapenos, Tomatoes, Habaneros, Sunshine Tomatoes, Okra, Kale, and Cilantro


Sushi has agreed to be the watchdog for the veggie garden!


I really enjoy container gardening too! Last year I grew everything in pots b/c I wanted the options to move them in and out of the sun. Plus, I love pretty lil flowers! Above photos are two kinds of tomatoes and our favorite Basil!


I will continue to post photos of the garden - its already grown so much in just a few days!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Farmers Market * March 11, 2011





March is one crazy month for me! My work gets very busy and my blogging life apparently really goes down. I try very hard to update every week but it is evitdent that I didnt do that in the month of March. After I get back from my work trip to NY - things always simmer down.

This week was the weekend before St. Patrick's day. Dog were decked out with green mohawks, people were wearing green beads, and there was tasty green food all over the place! It was also a sign of spring that more veggies were available.



We took the puppies and they were so happy to get treats from Poochie Trends. Even if it was super bright outside! :)


Bison Burgers - our new obsession


We have been eating Bison Burgers like crazy these past weeks. Our favorite way to each them to mix the ground bison with chunks of hot pepper and small cubes of cheddar cheese. Toss in some salt n pepper and grill!

So wonderful with a lil mix of onions and tomatoes on top. A wonderful and quick meal - all from our market! Give it a try tonight!!