SATURDAY MORNING 8:30am
I have been excited about the Farmer’s Market opening all winter! I couldnt wait to wander through the stalls looking at all the amazing produce the farmers in my area had spent all winter tending. I was not disapointed! I got to the market when it opened at 830. It was PACKED. As i tried to find a parking spot i saw so many people walking like bits of metal to a magnet, carrying their cloth shopping bags and pulling wagons, in anticipation for the bounty.
First i needed to walk through and see what was there…and get coffee! PLEASE! I only had a small amount of cash and was in search of 2 things really…besides the coffee. I wanted Fiddlehead Ferns and Wild Garlic. First coffee (does it seem obvious?)
OK after coffee i started to take some pictures of the mountains of beets and greens, and mushrooms and it was such a beautiful morning. I stopped at a pastry tent and had an Asparagus, Roasted Tomato and Blue Cheese Tart. Then i found my fiddleheads and GASP, TRUFFLES. i think the smell led me there. $3 for 1/20th of an OZ. i had to be careful here. i had spent 2/3 of my cash and still wanted to find onions. but what the hell, the woman told me it was one of the best years for truffles she has seen in years. I got a small truffle delicately wrapped pillowed in rice and a plastic bag.
I settled down to eat my tart and people watch for a minute. I had my fiddleheads and my truffle and i spotted a huge bunch of red radishes that i had to have $1.50 for the bunch of them. Worth every penny.
Sadly i was out of money and time on the parking meter so i headed home. The small bounty sat waiting in my fridge while i focused on other tasks.
SUNDAY MORNING CAME AT LAST.
I had the day to myself. No responsibilities. i spent a good portion of the day weeding, playing with chicks and plotting my meal in my head.
i also had a gallon of lucious farm fresh milk in the fridge and needed to make some cheese. FETA.
So, i decided upon fresh egg pasta with sauteed Fiddlehead Ferns and Asparagus and a pork chop.
I got busy making the pasta and laying out the sheets to dry so i could cut them up. I decided to invite my friends Denise and Johnny over for dinner and i wanted someone to taste these ferns with me! They were ready to dig in! I love them!
As i was making my pasta it dawned on me, 4 eggs go into a batch of fresh egg pasta…4 chickens will lay 4 eggs a day (we hope). This means technically i could make fresh pasta every single day and only buy the flour! Yes, these things get me so excited i have to use the exclamation point.
The pasta was great, the fiddleheads were very earthy, a bit like spinach. but the coils were slimy. i would like to try them again sometime… and as Denise so generously pointed out. “I like them, but a little fiddlehead goes a long way”. Again, i love her.
I also got my Feta in the fridge and was asleep by 11…body exhuasted!
MONDAY HAS ARRIVED
oh so early and COLD! it has rained. My 3 days of sunshine are gone, back to work for me. BUT secretly i know, at home waiting for me are four fuzzy chicks who have much to tell me about their day, half a bottle of my favorite white wine, a small bowl of fresh egg pasta and 1 dark earthy nugget of a truffle. Ahhh Bliss.
