The farmers market has been teaming with loads of summer vegetables begging to be put to use in all kinds of ways. And, they're cheap.
One argument I sometimes get from hubby against the farmers market is that I'm paying too much to buy specialty food. That's balogna (a.k.a. processed crud I won't touch).
On Monday, I filled my basket with one ginormous head of cabbage, that screamed "try freezer slaw" as I walked by; a half dozen green pepper destined for various uses; zucchini, yellow squash and eggplant, sought out as I had in mind to try ratatouille. I knew I could get some tomatoes for a little cheaper at the farm stand down the road.
And, there's fruit too. Saturday my little man helped me pick blueberries. Unfortunately, we were a couple of weeks late and were just in time to pick the bushes clean. But, at least we've been snacking on these yummy treats all week. And, they made a superb blueberry buckle.
On Monday, we picked up the first apples of the season and a watermelon, which I think we'll crack open tomorrow.
So, while I said to myself at the end of last week, "No bulk cooking this week. The house needs work. There are so many boxes to unpack and painting to be done. The summer harvest will still be there next week," I found myself coming home from the market with vegetables in need of attention.
Monday night, I scoured the Internet for freezer slaw recipes and had one ready when I chopped up that cabbage Tuesday afternoon. The result was more slaw than my freezer was really ready to handle. But, I jammed it all in there some how.
Wednesday, today, I sent hubby down to the farm stand to gather some tomatoes, while I chopped up a vat of veggies to make my first batch of ratatouille. While I hadn't made it before, I decided there was little that could go wrong with a stew of some of my favorite veggies, banked on that, and made a double batch. Some of that's going to need to go into the freezer, too.
I'm definitely suffering from a fever that can only find relief in the kitchen. But, I need to stop cooking for the rest of this week. My freezer can't take it anymore.
Might I'll even skip the market on Saturday? Hmmm .... That remains to be seen.
