Award Winning Peach Blue Berry Pie

So I won a baking contest...

My award winning pie awaits judgement. 

I've always wanted to enter a baking contest. I'm just a wee bit competitive. Not because I need to be the best at everything (though that would be nice), but because I want to know how I rank against other people and what I can do to improve. I'm the nice kind of competitive. But there just hasn't been a good time for me to enter any kind of cooking contest until this summer, when the Roswell Farmers and Artisans Market decided to host a pie baking contest. Perfect.

I wouldn't consider pie to be a specialty of mine, because I don't get a chance to make them very often. (I also don't own a rolling pie, so I used an empty wine bottle to roll this out....) But I have a tried and true recipe for crust and no filling is simpler than fresh fruit. I knew I could enter this contest. I didn't think I would win, but I knew I wouldn't embarrass myself either.

So now I had to think about what kind of pie to make. The rules of the contest said that your pie had to feature at least one local ingredient. It didn't have to be in season, so if you had put up some peaches or pumpkin or something, you could use that. But it had to be local. Well, the peaches are especially fine this year, so I knew I wanted to feature those. But I had to assume mine wouldn't be the only peach pie on the table. I needed a hook.

My first thought was a peach jalapeño pie with oatmeal crumble topping. I love the combo of sweet and spicy and jalapeño and peaches are both good right now. I wanted to be sure of it though, so I made a "practice pie" with peaches from the grocery store. Big mistake. Those peaches were flavorless and watery. They drowned out my jalapeño.  It wasn't tasty at all. So I went back to the drawing board.

This tasted of failure. 

I was pretty turned off on the idea of a peach jalapeño pie after that. I also didn't quite have enough peaches on my counter for a pie. But I did have some blueberries left from the market, and I always think things that grow in the same season are meant to be together. My other change was to toss my fruit with a little cornstarch before it went in the pie shell as insurance against wateriness.

The only thing I kept was the oatmeal crumble topping. I am not good at making things pretty, so I didn't want to mess around with fancy lattice tops or cute shapes cut from pie dough. I just wanted an attractive, tasty top that still allowed you to see the pretty fruit inside the pie. It also meant my pie might still standout against any other potential peach or blueberry pies. (Also, oatmeal crumble anything automatically means butter and lots of it. Nothing is tastier than an entire stick of melted butter, and this pie has one in the crust and one in the topping. You're welcome.)

Spectators had a chance to sample all the pies. 

When the Market Manager started announcing the winners, I still didn't think I'd win. My pie looked pretty good next to all the others, but there was a tomato goat cheese pie that was just mind blowing. I was sure that was the winner. The manager announce third and second and my heart sank a bit, because I didn't think I'd placed at all. Then she said my pie! I was very excited.

My award winning pie earned me $20 in vouchers for the farmers market and an invitation to compete in the Tri-County Farmers Market Championship next month. I'll have to check my calendar to see if I can do that.

But anyways, enough jibba jabba. Here is the recipe to Award Winning Peach Blueberry Pie.

Peach Blueberry Pie

Crust

6 ounces all purpose flour

4 ounces unsalted butter

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 pinch salt

2 ounces ice water

Filling

4 peaches, peeled and sliced

2 cups blueberries

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Oat topping

1 cup rolled oats

2 tablespoons brown sugar

4 ounces unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon Penzey’s Cake Spice

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 425.

Freeze butter and flour over night. Pulse flour, sugar and salt in food processor until blended. Add butter and pulse until butter is incorporated. Drizzle in ice water until it becomes dough.  Remove from processor, shape into a wide disk and place in freezer bag. Place freezer bag in fridge for at least an hour or until ready to roll out.

Score four peaches lightly across the bottoms to form an X. Place in boiling water for about a minute to loosen skins. Quickly drain and add crushed ice and cold water to stop the cooking process. Once peaches are cool, you can easily remove the skins. Thinly slice peaches. Add two cups blueberries. Mix gently with 1 tablespoon cornstarch.

Combine oats, melted butter, brown sugar and spices.

Roll out pie crust. Add pie filling. Top with oat mixture. Bake at 425 for 45 minutes. Allow to cool for at least an hour before slicing.

Moss Hill Farm CSA

"So what have you concocted today, Mrs. Liang?" one of my coworkers asks me as I settle into a long cafeteria table with a group of my students. School policy is that staff eats with their students every day. The kids bustle around me, pulling out peanut butter sandwiches and baggies of potato chips. My coworkers know that I cook and I'm happy to talk about my food (Obviously).

I take the lid off my piping-hot-from-the-microwave bowl of soup and say "Gumbo. I have more okra than I know what to do with in my CSA box this week, so gumbo." I help someone open a difficult container and remind one of the girls that we don't run laps around the tables, even if you're really, really good at it.

"Oh you have a CSA? I want to know more about that."Another teacher says just before biting into her salad.

What's a CSA? It stands for "Community Supported Agriculture". Basically, you pay a farmer upfront for his or her harvest that season. Then, once a week, you o to the farm and pick up your "share" of the harvest. The farmer gets reliable income and you get delicious, farm fresh veggies. Win!

We subscribe to Moss Hill Farm in Milton, Georgia, which is owned and managed by Floyd Keisler. We first met Floyd when he sold us heirloom tomatoes at the Riverside Farmers Market. Floyd is a really warm and friendly guy, so we always enjoyed stopping by his booth to pick out Cherokee Purples. But after a few seasons, Floyd's CSA business took off and he quit coming. At first we were sad. But then we realized that we could just subscribe to Floyd and still chat with him and get some of the best veggies we ever ate.

We tend to subscribe in the fall and winter when the Farmers Markets aren't in session. Why? Because we like to pick our own food and just buy what we feel like eating. You can't do that with a CSA. You bought all of it, whether or not you like it. One winter, we ended up with something like five heads of bok choi every week. It was overwhelming and my husband still looks askance at it when it shows up in our box. So that's a downside.

Another downside is that a CSA requires effort. It's not just going to the farm to pick up the vegetables. Plants grow in dirt, right? And that dirt needs to be washed off. You can also expect the occasional critter to come home, hidden in your bundle of kale and for your veggies to be less than perfect looking sometimes. If you're only used to pre-washed and bagged greens and shiny, perfectly tasteless tomatoes, this can freak you out a little bit. Just hum Elton John's "Circle of Life" to yourself and relax.  But we're still doing a "half share" right now, with pick up every two weeks, just so I can have a break from washing and chopping.

I find that having a CSA makes me more creative in the kitchen and willing to try new recipes. I had bok choi tonight and I had tofu. I could have just stir fried them together like I normally would, but my wok needs re seasoning. So instead I made tofu and greens soup. Without those limitations, I would have had a boring dinner. Instead, I tried a new recipe. It's like when we started buying at Farmers Markets. We used to just eat frozen peas and canned corn for dinner every night. Now I'm eating a wider variety of food and experimenting. This week's basket included kale, tomatoes, onions, okra, cucumbers, two varieties of lettuce, bok choi and japanese eggplant.

We did a cost breakdown when we first subscribed and while it's steep upfront, the weekly price for veggies is quite reasonable and comparable to buying everything every week at a market or grocery store.

I've sort of dwelled on the downsides here, but overall, I enjoy the experience of having a CSA. I like the variety and the creativity that goes with it. I like having a relationship with the people who feed me. There's also a definite "cool" factor to it. I highly recommend looking into a CSA. Many are listed on LocalHarvest.org, but sometimes those listings haven't been updated in awhile. So you can always try my route and develop a relationship with a vendor you like at a Farmers Market.  If committing to six to eight weeks sounds a little much, Moore's Farm & Friends lets you order week by week, but they are more of a collective than a true CSA.

Anyways, there's the breakdown of CSAs and my experience with them. I hope you find this useful!

Like my poorly lit iPhone pictures? I'm on Flickr now! And you can like me on Facebook! Here's my Moss Hill Farms pictures!

Farmer's Market Season is Upon Us

With spring comes fresh vegetables and markets to sell them at. The Alpharetta Market is in full swing and we've been shopping there for a few weeks now. The Roswell Market is about to open this weekend. Unfortunately, we have to skip both as my husband is running the Warrior Dash in Mountain City, and my job is to hold his wallet and look admiringly at him when he jumps over the fire pit.

The Alpharetta Market is doing really well this year. Several meat vendors have joined, so you can now purchase grass fed beef, free range pork and free range buffalo. Atlanta Fresh Creamery also has a booth, along with an ice cream lady and a few other goodies. The farmers aren't as plentiful as they can be at the Roswell market, but I've still managed to find broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, potatoes and more in the last few weeks.

The Roswell Market? Well, I have no idea. Partly because it hasn't opened yet, but also because the City of Roswell doesn't have any kind of serious web presence for the market. They post announcements on the city's website, but they get buried quickly. And this evening, they posted this video on the city's Facebook page. Sigh. The lack of easy to find, updated information on local markets, farmers and other sustainable, hippy food sources is a BIG pet peeve of mine. Is it really that hard to set up a Facebook for your market/farm?

If you are new to shopping at farmer's markets, you might be interested in this guide I wrote a few years ago.

Easy Leek Potato Soup with Yogurt

The last few months have seen me ridiculously busy. I've been working two part time jobs, going to grad school and chairing a fantasy literature convention. But as of yesterday, I've finished all my school work for this term (I'm on a self paced program via Western Governors University. I finished approximately two months ahead of schedule according to my pacing guide. I'll just add more classes later this week so I can get my Masters in Special Education just that much faster.), my convention was two weeks ago and for the first time in a long time, I find myself with nothing more pressing this afternoon than reading and updating my sorely out of date blog. It's kinda nice.

After some fitful half starts, spring is truly underway here in Roswell and it is glorious. The awful storms from last week have given way to warm afternoons, low humidity and light breezes. Even the pollen isn't so bad today. I'm typing this on my netbook from the back porch. With spring has also come fresh produce from farm stands and the Alpharetta Farmer's Market. My husband and I have been a little giddy at the prospect of fresh fruit and vegetables, straight from the ground, instead of the limp, pale imitations we've endured all winter.

The primary source of our spring time bounty has been a farm stand run by Floyd Kessler of Moss Hill Farm, in Milton. Every week, Floyd sends out a cheerful email update with pictures of the produce having equal weight with those of his grandchildren. We've been buying from Floyd for several years now, usually through the Roswell Farmers Market. This year, we're ordering from Floyd directly and picking up our vegetables at his charming farm every Saturday.

This week's haul includes two pounds of joi choi, an Asian greens stir fry mix, green onions so large and heavy you could club a man to death with them, and a leek. I could not recall if I'd ever eaten a leek before, so I only ordered one for this week. Today it became a delicious potato leek soup. I liked it. Leeks now have a place at my table.

1 leek, cleaned and chopped, about a cup
1/4 cup spring onion, cleaned and chopped
2 cups potatoes, diced
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
1/4 yogurt
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in pan. Add leeks, onions, cook until soft and translucent. Add potatoes and enough water to cover. Simmer until potatoes are soft. Add milk and yogurt, use immersion blender to combine and puree ingredients. Add generous pinches of salt and pepper. (I actually salt at every step of this recipe, and still needed to add a big pinch here.) Simmer gently for five minutes to combine flavors, and serve.

This soup is tangy and delicious, and is slightly lighter than the one I converted using whipping cream and buttermilk. The leeks and onions give it a nice flavor, and the potatoes add body. Over all, it's a good soup and one I'd make again. I highly suggest getting on Floyd's mailing list so you can try it yourself.

A Taste of Roswell, Elijay Apple Festival, Cumming Greek Festival and a New Farmers Market

I need to make a real post here over the weekend, but I thought I'd update quickly with some fun Northside food events this week.

First up is the annual "A Taste of Roswell." I will probably not make it to this, but I do love it. It starts at noon on Saturday in the historic square. Its fun and the food is delicious, but it's always ridiculously crowded. Still, its a great way to sample lots of local restaurants pretty quickly.

The Elijay Apple Festival has it's final weekend. This is a pretty fun mountain crafts festival with an apple theme. The snacks are pretty good too. They do sell plenty of apples and apple themed snacks.  I usually go, but I have to skip this weekend.

The Cumming Greek Festival is going on as well. This is far smaller and less crazy than the better known Atlanta Greek Festival that just passed. The food is every bit as good and there's no need to stab someone's grandma to get to it.  Give it a shot if you're in the neighborhood.


Finally, my crippling disappointment at the Riverside Market here in Roswell closing early has subsided. Thanks to a hot tip from a user named "Haagen Daaz" over at the 285Foodies community, I found where some of my favorite vendors had migrated to. They are setting up shop at the brand new "Stewards of the Earth" market which will be located at the intersection of Roswell RD and Morgan Falls in Sandy Springs. The hours are 9AM to noon. No word yet on how many vendors will be there, or what kinds, but the word is a good chunk of the farmers from Roswell's market that still had something to bring to market are migrating there. The new market plans to stay open through the winter.

Sounds like a busy weekend. Too bad I'm studying for a test for most of it. =(

Last Weekend for Roswell Farmers Market

I've been stupidly busy recently. There was a family crisis that necessitated me and my husband traveling to Texas very suddenly for a week. And I'm plugging through grad school and doing some substitute teaching on the side. Hence the lack of recent updates.

But I did want to let everyone know that this weekend will be the last one for the Roswell Farmers Market. The market manager says that attendance is dropping and the farmers aren't producing as much with the wet weather. This makes me sad, as I attend every week and do my primary grocery shopping there. Still, it'll be nice to actually sleep in for once on a Saturday instead of rushing over to try and snag farm fresh eggs before they run out.

Easy Turnip Greens and Poached Egg Recipe

So I've been a little obsessed with poached eggs lately. We've been eating them in spicy mole sauce over rice, with toasted sourdough bread and over some fresh turnip greens. Yup, over greens.

A blogger that I've been following for awhile (The Slow Cook) eats sauteed greens for breakfast with a fresh poached egg on top. Well, if he can eat that for breakfast, I can eat it for dinner alongside some roasted sweet potatoes, beets and carrots. The turnip greens are so tender right now that they barely require any time in the pan to soften. Just a little bacon and chopped garlic and they are ready. 

Fresh eggs poach better than old. I've been using fresh eggs purchased from Little Red Hen Farm in Concord, GA. Chris Wernau collects his the day before he sells them at the Roswell farmers market and labels them with that date. It's hard to get fresher than that.  

Fresh Turnip Greens

Two strips bacon

1 pound turnip greens, rinsed, and chopped

two cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup chicken broth

Cook bacon until crispy. Remove from pan to cutting board to cool. Drain excess grease from pan. Add chopped greens and garlic. Add salt to taste. Move it around in the pan to let it wilt a bit. Add chicken broth and then cover the pan.  Remove from heat and let greens finish cooking. Chop cooked bacon and then crumble it over greens. To serve, mound it up on a plate and add a poached egg. Garnish with a sprinkle of kosher salt and a couple cracks of fresh pepper.

The greens will soak up the runny egg yolk, which I think we all agree is the best part of a poached egg. But don't let that discourage you from scooping up a bit on a piece of toast too.

Changing Seasons at the Farmers Market

It's easy to tell when the seasons start to change when you eat locally. Yesterday I made my weekly trip to the Riverside Farmers Market (conveniently located a good mile or so from the actual river) here in Roswell. I'd missed the market last weekend due to my annual pilgrimage to Dragon*Con. The change in available produce seemed very abrubt.

Gone were the sacks of crisp, delicious, just picked peaches and baskets of the sweetest blueberries I've ever tasted. Our friends at Moss Hill Farm no longer had pounds and pounds of gorgeous heirloom tomatoes for us to browse either. While many of our summer favorites are still available, like green beans and peppers, we're also starting to see the beginnings of the fall crop. I bought a couple crisp Rome apples yesterday, perfect for slicing up and eating alongside a sharp cheese. Eggplants are still going strong, and we snagged a nice looking cabbage that will be the perfect side for a home made mac and cheese dinner tonight. We also picked up some beets and mustard greens and regretfully put down a head of swiss chard. (It looks beautiful, but neither one of us cares for it)

The summer fruits haven't quite given way to fall yet. Yesterday we picked up the biggest watermelon I have ever seen in my life. It was at least 30 pounds. My husband adores watermelon. It is, along with steamed white rice, his very favorite food. I told him we could buy it only if he promised he would eat watermelon with every meal this week. Even then, I'm not sure if we can eat it all before it goes bad. I took some to my gaming group last night, but I still have a fridge full of diced melon.  We'll see how well our war against it will go.

Video of the Week: Eggs!

So eggs have been in the news quite a bit lately, what with the salmonella recall and all. Food borne illness is a serious problem in our day and age. With so much of our food now being produced in large, centralized factory farms and distributed nationwide, one farm's sloppy practices can mean serious illness for Americans all over the country.  One of the ways you can protect yourself is to never consume raw or undercooked eggs. But where's the fun in that?

Another way you can protect yourself is by purchasing your eggs from a small producer that you know and trust. This is definitely not an option for everyone. These eggs are harder to find and usually at least  twice as expensive. Small flocks are less likely to be contaminated with salmonella. I buy farm fresh eggs when I can from different sellers at the Riverside Farmer's Market in Roswell. So far, I haven't had a bad egg from any of the sellers.

And of course, if you live in a place that allows it, you can always try your hand at raising your own laying hens.  You'll have to check your local laws about it. And please, think of your neighbors. Chickens can be noisy and smelly. Your neighbors might not appreciate your feathered friends.

And this isn't even getting into the differences between cage free, humanely raised, organic, or omega-3 enhanced eggs, which is a discussion for another time.

There are other benefits to farm raised eggs, which are covered pretty well in today's video link from Simply: Home Cooking. Liza posts a great run down of fresh egg options in her city (Ann Arbor, MI) and gives us a great video that vividly illustrates the differences between conventionally produced eggs and the ones you get from a farmer. So click through to the article and enjoy the video.

Pasta With Bacon Sauce

So I don't get this whole bacon obsession that gripes the internet. I mean, yes, bacon tastes good. It's sweet and salty and meaty all at once. If cooked properly, it has a nice crispness to it. But why is it the subject of obsession? I like it and all, but I've never had the urge to tape any to the cat.

My husband though is a bacon festishist. Apparently it wasn't a thing in his house. He told me the other day that he's eaten more bacon in 12 years of knowing me than he did in 24 years of living with his parents. So his is the zeal of the recent convert.

Bacon is one of those things I always have to hand. It's great for cooking along with greens, topping a salad, and yes, eating for breakfast. Recently, we're eating the locally produced bacon from BPH Farms which we obtain at the Riverside Farmers Market here in Roswell. It's a nice, thick cut bacon and far better tasting than what we usually buy at the grocery store.

This traditional Italian recipe (properly known as Pasta Amatriciana) is usually made with pancetta. However, I've discovered that it works just as well with good quality bacon.

Two strips bacon, cooked and reserved
Can of tomatoes
1 cup onion, chopped
Parsley
Parmesan cheese, grated

Cook bacon. Remove from pan and reserve. In the bacon grease, soften onions until just turning clear. Add canned tomatoes, stir. Let it simmer together briefly, then add cooked pasta (I like a whole wheat penne for this). Allow pasta and sauce to cook together for a moment, then add parsely and cheese. Add crumbled bacon back to the pan. Toss together and serve.

This is not a reasonable amount of greens...

We hit both the Roswell and Alpharetta farmers markets this weekend. I must say, this is the most impressed I've ever been with the Roswell market on a first day. Last year, it was three guys selling cutsey birdhouses and some strawberries that were too ripe. This year, we bought so much food! We bought farm fresh eggs, dinosaur kale, rutabagas, romaine lettuce, strawberries and scallions. We managed to buy a bit from all of our usual farmers and talk to a few new ones as well. Oh and there's now a guy that'll sharpen your knives for you while you shop. I think the Roswell farmers market is finally starting to come together.

We went to the Alpharetta market next to round out our purchases. We got Chinese broccoli, zucchini, cucumbers, broccoli and mustard greens.

Funny story about the mustard greens. The seller said to us. "Two dollars for a sack full" and held up a recycled, plastic grocery sack. We said "Sure!" We like mustard greens, right? And so he filled up the sack all the way to the handles. Woah! So many greens! And then he pushed down, compressing them to the bottom, and filled the sack again! So yeah, definitely got our money's worth on that. We actually have three different kindss of braising greens in our fridge right now. The mustard greens, the dinosaur kale (rawr!) and some collards we bought last week from a grower in Alpharetta.

The plan is to make caldo verde at least once this week. And I have a great recipe for braising greens that I usually do with collards, but I think will go great with any kind of greens. I have a thought of adding greens to a home made tomato sauce and then poaching eggs in it. That's a trick I discovered a couple weeks ago and it's amazing. But other than that, i am wide open as far as meal ideas go. We have so much fresh produce crammed in the fridge right now, the challenge is to eat it all before it rots.

Farmers Market Season

Miss me? I certainly missed you! Since I am determined that this blog will remain a hobby (I have a bad habit of turning interests into all consuming passions and hobbies into second jobs), I sometimes take extended breaks from blogging. Nothing against you all, sometimes I just don't feel like writing here. For half a year. Ahem.

Moving along! I am breaking my silence today to write about the wonders of Farmers Market shopping. The Alpharetta Farmers Market has been open for two weekends now, and is in a new location in the parking lot behind the Publix on Haynes Bridge Road. The Roswell Farmers Market opens this Saturday in it's new location at City Hall. And a new market in Roswell is opening up this week as well called the Green Street Farmers Market. This one will be located in the parking lot of The Swallow at the Hollow on Thursday afternoons from 3-5 PM.

I went to the Alpharetta market on Saturday was greatly impressed with the early season produce. Obviously the brokers and resellers always have good selection, but a few of the growers were out too. I grabbed strawberries, romaine lettuce and collard greens from growers. I also got tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, green beans and onions from brokers. I know from asking that the broccoli and tomatoes were locally grown. Not sure about the others.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the Roswell Market works in its new location. The former spot in Riverside park was much closer to us, but parking was awful. I'm intrigued by the Green Street Market. According to a thread from the 285foodies forum, it's going to have some of my favorite vendors from other local markets. But the hours just don't work for me. There's no way I'll be able to get out of work in time to make it before they close. Granted, I'll be done working in a few weeks (I teach middle school.), but I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem. Here's hoping Caly Road Creamery and Coles Lake Dairy are selling at other markets this year. Otherwise I will be sad.

If you're new to Farmers Markets, I wrote a short guide to them last year. EcoSalon has a list of the top ten mistakes made by Farmers Market N00bs, which is useful. If you like controversy, the Wall Street Journal has an article about brokers verses growers at Farmers Markets. Personally, I prefer to buy directly from growers when I can. But the brokers at the local markets are all small, locally owned and operated businesses, several of which purchase directly from local farms. So I feel no pain at giving them my business.

Well, that should be enough to keep you busy for a few days.

Riverside Market & Dragonfly Farms

I just got a VERY welcome email from Sunni at Dragonfly Farms, one of my favorite sellers at the Riverside Farmer's Market here in Roswell.

Hello All!

Hope you have had a great Thanksgiving and holiday season so far. Riverside Farmer's Market will be having a holiday market on Saturday, December 12th, from 9am until 1pm. I'll let you know what produce we'll have closer to the date. We will be selling our nature photography: some matted photos, some unmatted, some framed, as well as packs of notecards and bookmarks. There will be a cooking demonstration as well as live music. It should be a lot of fun. Hope to see you there!

Sunni Williams
Dragonfly Farm, LLC

I plan to be there nice and early so I can get my pick of seasonal produce. I can't wait to see what's been growing.

To get on the Dragonfly Farms email distribution list, send an email to dragonflyfarmga@gmail.com and they'll put you down for their latest updates.

Learning to Eat More Veggies

One of my projects this summer has been learning to eat more vegetables than I did before. Don't get me wrong, I eat my veggies. I love green beans, corn, carrots, broccoli, brussel sprouts, spinach and more. I think I do pretty well on eating a variety of vegetables. However, there's always room for improvement. I was especially motivated to improve my palate when I realized I was passing up so much of the beautiful, freshly grown produce at the local farmers market. I feel like I missed out on some great stuff, just because I was too picky to try it.

For some things, the problem was that of exposure. I've always said I didn't like beets, but I'd really never tried them. My mom never cooked with them. They only time I ever saw them was when they were quivering on my school cafeteria tray, oozing an unappetizing pink juice. Yuck. But I saw a couple slices on a tapas plate at Veranda in the spring and impulsively decided to try it. It was...not poison. Still wasn't sure I liked it, but I was willing to try again. It turns out I do like beets. Raw beets in a salad are delicious, but I especially like them roasted in the oven with olive oil and salt. Yum.

Zucchini...Not a success. My mom loves it, so it was on the table frequently as a kid, usually steamed. I cannot stand it steamed. Recently, I tried it grilled at home and breaded and deep fried at Figo. No good. There's something...not food about it. The flavor is too mild, the texture too soft. My brain rejects it. I think I'll try it again as zucchini bread, but then I'm done. It's too bad, because my husband loves it, but he doesn't want me to make it just for him.

Next up is eggplant, which I'm working on currently. I bought one last week and turned it into home made eggplant Parmesan. I did like it, but not as much as I thought I would. I don't think the fault was the vegetable, but the breading. It was a little bland for me. The actual eggplant wasn't terrible, just unfamiliar. I'm going to try it again, stir fried with garlic sauce. My husband loves ordering this at Chinese restaurants, so I'm hoping I'll enjoy it too.

Next summer, I may tackle the most terrifying of all vegetables: okra.

A real update coming soon, I promise...

In the mean time, one of my friends, who is a local food producer herself, forwarded this me. It also went out on the Moore's Family Farm mailing list this week as well. If you're passionate about locally produced, non-industry food, it would be a good idea to read up on this issue and make your opinion known to your representative. The representative for the 30076 ZIP code is Tom Price.

I rarely send political messages, but there’s a bill that went to the floor of the house today that will directly affect Athens Locally Grown, to the point of possibly making us stop what we do. -eric

PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE!
URGE THEM TO SUPPORT THE
KAPTUR-FARR FOOD SAFETY PROPOSAL

There is no question: our food system needs to be safer. But Congress is currently debating food safety legislation (Food Safety Enhancement Act – H.R. 2749) that could hinder beginning, sustainable, and organic farmers’ access to markets, require expensive fees, and lead to the dismantling of important conservation practices and wildlife habitat.

HR 2749 is scheduled to go to the floor of the House TODAY under a suspension vote, which means limited debate and no amendments, but a requirement for a two-thirds majority for passage. With negotiations still underway, however, it seems reasonably likely that a vote could be pushed to Thursday.

Representatives Marcy Kaptur (OH-9), Sam Farr (CA-17), Maurice Hinchey (NY-22), Jesse Jackson Jr. (IL-2), Peter Welch (VT-at large), Chellie Pingree (ME-1) and Earl Blumenauer (OR-3) last week submitted a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee with specific proposed changes to HR 2749 that addresses many of the concerns raised by the sustainable and organic agriculture community.

At the same time, the House Agriculture Committee majority concluded negotiations with the sponsors of HR 2749 that secured one of the changes proposed in the Kaptur-Farr et al request – namely, a greater role for USDA in all the farm-related portions of the bill. That was helpful as far as it went, but it did not directly address other critical concerns.

It is important that you call your Representative TODAY and ask them to join the effort to protect small and mid-sized family farmers, the environment, and consumer choice by supporting the provisions in the Kaptur-Farr proposal to HR 2749.

PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IMMEDIATELY!

It’s easy to call. Please call or fax your Representative’s office and ask to speak with the aide that works on agriculture. If you don’t know your Representative’s name, please click here http://www.house.gov and enter your zip code in the top left-hand corner of the screen. Then call the Capitol Switchboard and ask to be directly connected to your Representative’s office: 202-224-3121.

The message is simple. “I am a constituent of Representative___________ and I am calling to ask him/her to support the Kaptur-Farr proposal to HR 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. I am also asking him/her to vote against HR 2749 unless the proposals included in the Kaptur-Farr letter are included in the final bill.”

Shopping the Farmers Markets

I have a friend, who is interested in shopping the farmer's markets this year. So we took him with us on our weekly prowl, and I thought I'd post some of my strategies here as well. There was also great article in the Chicago Tribune that I found recently, that has some great ideas too.

From blog

First, get there early. Remember in "Ratatouille" when Collette is yelling about the first pick of the day? This is how you get it. It's not like Publix where they've got another hundred cases in the back, once they run out, they run out. At the Riverside market in Roswell, I've only managed to buy fresh eggs once, because he's always out by the time I make it there. Last year, I missed out on Georgia blueberries several times because I couldn't get there fast enough. I like to walk through the market once, before buying anything, looking for the best deals and at what's in today.

From blog

Next, bring bags. Most of the vendors will have thin plastic bags. Some of them are reused bags, some are new. However, it lowers their costs if you provide your own packaging. So I bring my own cloth bags. Also, you want to bring cash. none of the vendors in Roswell or Alpharetta are set up to take debit cards. We usually bring $40 and we spend it all. And you'll make them very happy if you can bring some fives or some singles.

From blog

Don't be afraid to ask what something is, or how to prepare it. I've learned alot of new ways to prepare vegetables since e started going to the markets. I as an infrequent consumer of collards, for example, and beets never made it into my bag. I only knew to simmer collards with onion and ham. And god knows what you did with a beet. Now I know a couple different ways to prepare both of these, because I asked.

Also, you'll want to spend some time prepping your veggies when you get home. We're all used to the convenience of pre-washed and chopped bag o' salad at the grocery store. You have to make this yourself. So right now I have a colander of sorrel rinsed and draining in my sink. Later on, I'll put it in a container, or bag and store it in the fridge, ready to throw in a salad or stir fry. It also helps them fit in the fridge a bit better. I always have trouble with that. Everything will last longer than you'd think. Its fresh from the ground, instead of being hauled across the country on a truck for a week, or flown in from South America. But if you don't get it into a form you'll use, then it doesn't matter how fresh it is.

From blog

You really have to embrace vegetables if you're going to shop at the Farmers Market. They become the star of the show, rather than the accompaniment. We're eating alot of salads and veggie stir fries right now, and grilling squash and peppers outdoors.

If you want an idea of when certain things will be available, you can always ask the vendors, or you can check out this very handy interactive map by Epicurious that will give you an idea of what's available this month. It also includes links to recipes, which can be very helpful when dealing with a glut of unfamilar veggies.

From blog

The Riverside Farmers Market in Roswell will be closed next weekend for the holiday. However, the Alpharetta Farmers Market will be open for business.

Northside Farmer's Markets Up and Running

The Roswell and Alpharetta Farmer's Markets have been up and running now for a couple weeks. I have pictures of both, but I can't find the USB cable that goes with my camera, so you'll have to wait to see to them.

The Alpharetta market has been open for about a month now, and has plenty of produce available. Not all the vendors I recall from last summer are there yet, but a good many are. It's not all locally produced, but it's fresh and great quality. I've also picked up some local honey and some very tasty jams.

The Roswell Market is more of a growers market, and therin lies the problem with it. The growers aren't there yet. I've managed to buy fresh strawberries two weeks in a row, and fresh herbs, but there's really nothing else available, produce wise. There are some adorable arts and crafts though, and Emily G's Jam of Love is there every weekend. If last year's pattern holds, it'll be like this until later in the season, when the real harvest season starts.

Ingredients Matter

One of the things that's so easy to forget, is that ingredients matter. I mean, sure, it's really easy to open a box, add water, then stir and call it dinner. And if you're mindlessly wolfing down food while watching TV, or driving, I suppose that's alright. I prefer to taste my food though.

Even though I know ingredients matter, I still have meals that remind me of it rather forcefully. Last night, for dinner, we had BLTs. Very simple, very basic, nothing to get excited over, right? But made with freshly baked bread from Artisan Foods, fresh salad greens and tomatoes from the Roswell and Alpharetta Farmer's Markets, and a good quality swiss cheese from Trader Joe's, it's more than just a sandwich, it's a dinner worth blogging about.

So ingredients DO matter.

Emily G's Jam of Love

Things have been crazy busy here lately, so I haven't had much time to sit and write a proper post.

However, I do want to take a moment and point you in the direction of this great profile the AJC did last Thursday about Emily G's Jam of Love, a local home based jam company. We picked up several jars of their jam this summer when they were at the Roswell Farmers Market. Our favorites were the Triple Berry and Watermelon jam. In fact, I think we still have some Watermelon in the fridge...Yum.

I've had a link up on my site to them for awhile, just because I think their jams are so tasty. Definitely pick up a jar if you can.

Farmers Market Comeback

The local farmer's markets are rallying for a brief comeback this month.

First up this weekend, the Riverside Farmers market will be back for Saturday only. I'm unsure of the times, because I've lost my flyer with the information and Google is no help to me. But if I find out, I'll be sure to let you know. Sadly, I don't think I can make it. I have tickets to see King Tut at the Civic Center for my birthday.

Next weekend, the Alpharetta Farmer's Market (who has their own, updated website. Just sayin') will do a special "holiday market" from noon to 5PM. I'm pretty sure I can make that, despite a crazy full holiday schedule creeping up on me.