Market Day!

I had a grand time at the Charlottesville City Market (or as I call it, simply "the farmers' market" or "the Saturday farmers' market") this morning. With the fall break ahead of me, I was feeling optimistic about the opportunity to do some cooking and canning. I ended up spending about $120 and hauling away approximately 42 and a half pounds of food. (I made two trips to the car.)

When I got home I unloaded all of my purchases onto the dining table and weighed them on my kitchen scale, just to revel in the bounty of it all. I took pictures, but I can't upload them just now because I neglected to bring the camera with me to the library.

Among my purchases:

• almost 15 lbs of tomatoes (from Waterpenny Farm and the Farm at Red Hill), to try canning


• a petite three-pound whole chicken and a dozen eggs from a farm whose name I can't remember; I'm thinking about doing a recipe with chicken, apples, and bacon


• a piece of pork (Boston butt) from Babes in the Wood; I'm planning to slow-cook it somehow with Bone Suckin' Sauce from North Carolina


• fresh herbs from Brightwood Vineyard and Farm and Radical Roots


• figs (!)


• a pound of "free" chevre from Satyrfield Farm


• chestnuts


• loads of apples (about six and three quarter pounds)


• just over four pounds of peaches: when are those trees going to quit for the season?


• a whole bunch of different vegetables

Earlier today I made myself a late lunch / early dinner of stir fry with:

• onion from Radical Roots


• yellow summer squash also from Radical Roots


• carrots from Roundabout Farm Roundabout Farm


• green beans from the farmers' market


• baby bok choy from (the embattled) Double H Farm


• red bell pepper from the farmer's market


• tofu from Twin Oaks


• ginger root


• some soy sauce, vinegar, salt, etc.

The colors of all the veggies were so pretty, I should have taken a picture, but I was in too much of a hurry to eat the beautiful food, not photograph it!