thoughtful consumption

Saturday I went to a holiday market in Carrollton. There were crafts and other gifts, but I’m a food girl. And I’m starting to think it’s good that I don’t get to go to a farmers’ market very often – at least for my wallet’s sake. Everything looked so pretty and interesting! I wanted it all!

Here’s what I got.

• mushrooms (Shitake, I think)
• chestnuts
• 5 pounds of sweet potatoes
• 5 pounds of honey
• arugula
• mixed lettuce
• mini pumpkins – cute and edible!
• pea shoots
• herbal tea mix
• a dozen Ezekiel muffins! (Not pictured. And no, it’s not because I ate them all before I could take the picture. I just forgot.)

Chestnuts are new to me, but I couldn’t resist. I’m going to bake them in the oven at some point. And hopefully remember to score them first so they don’t explode.

Sweet potatoes are the ultimate local convenience food, so it’s good to have a bunch around. Wrap in them plastic wrap, put them in the microwave, and you’ve got the makings of a quick delicious meal. We make small meals out of sweet potatoes and salad. Sometimes we add eggs for a bigger supper.

I was happy to get some honey, too. I love it in porridge and just about everything else.  I’ll just keep refilling the 2 pound jar I have now. (Or only two and a half times, really; it’s not a magical jug of honey.)

The arugula is for Thanksgiving. I’m taking the Barefoot Contessa’s arugula and butternut squash salad. I’m also breaking the cardinal rule and taking something I’ve never made before. But it’s just the six of us, and there will be plenty of other food.

We’ve been mixing the pea shoots with the lettuce for salad. The shoots are sweet and tasty. I may add them late to some upcoming fried rice, too.

The herbal tea mix is lemon balm, peppermint, fennel, rosemary (Yep, rosemary makes tea!), and a bunch of Pennsylvania Dutch tea thyme. I separated it into four batches: one of each of the first four herbs tied together with some tea thyme.

This way, I’ll get to try all the different tastes with the tea thyme.

Saturday supper

I hadn’t planned to cook Saturday night, but after taking these pictures, I couldn’t resist whipping up a little something. We had sautéed mushrooms with garlic and par-cel and peashoot, arugula, goat cheese salad.

And we were very happy.