Local Gold Mines

Growing up, I remember going to farmers markets with my mom and sister.  I didn't really understand why we went to a farmer's market when we could just go to the grocery store and get the same food.  Now, I really appreciate and LOVE going to farmer's markets.  There are so many in the Northern Va area, so pretty much any day, I can find a market close by! Just look at some of the stalls and the beautiful displays of fruit and veggies!  One thing I love about farmers markets is that the food is local.  We don't always think about the fact that sometimes, our organic watermelon was grown on a completely different continent and probably cost a LOT of money to ship it here.  Then, there's also the fact that there was probably a lot of pollution created by having the food shipped so far away.

Another thing I love about farmer's markets is that a lot of the time, the farmers are right there!  You can ask them all sorts of questions.  I've asked them if they are organic or if they use chemicals... I've asked where they are located... I've asked what type of vegetable I'm holding... I've even asked what I could cook with a certain vegetable.  Most of the time, the farmers love answering questions and having the opportunities to brag a bit about their products.

Also, sometimes, local markets have other goods besides just fruits and vegetables.  This market had a beautiful and large selection of flowers!  The prices were very good and the arrangements were really big.  A lot of markets have local ranchers too.  I'm not sure what the difference is between a farmer or a rancher, but I always thought a farmer grows veggies and fruit and a rancher grows animals... so that's the context I'm going to use here.

I actually get my grass fed beef, pork, and chicken eggs from a local place called Chicama Run Farms.  They raise everything themselves and everything is hormone free, chemical free, and free range!  Their products are delicious and they sell products at their farm or at the farmers markets they attend.  The quality is amazing, the prices are great, and the taste is wonderful.  The eggs they sell have deeper yellow yolks and their shells are browns, whites, and soft tans.  Also, they are guaranteed to be laid by their free range hens that week, so they stay good for 60 days!  Which leads me to my next point...

Food that you get from a farmer's market usually stays fresh for longer!  I hate it when I buy some veggies from a grocery store, then 2 days later when I want to use them, they have gone bad!  Doesn't that suck?! If you think about it, when you pick up veggies from a farmer's market, they have been picked recently and brought to market on a truck that day!  Then compare that to veggies that may have been grown in a different state, picked then put on a truck to a distributing center, then taken on a different truck from that distributing center to another store, then maybe it sat in the back for a day, then displayed, then sat there for a day when you pick it out and take it home.  It's easy to see that farmer's markets are more fresh! 

Farmer's markets also offer opportunities to try new things!  Did you know that there are several different types of avocados?  This nice guy actually cut up 2 different types of avocados, Reed and Haas.  Then he told me I had to try them both and taste the difference.  The Reed were very sweet - perfect to put on a salad or eat lightly dressed.  The Haas were what I am used to.  They were very good too, but I definitely noticed a very distinct difference!  You learn something new every day!

Look at all the vendors that lined the street!  There were even people selling hand crocheted blankets and goat cheese (made by the guy who was at the booth - he milks the goats 2 times a day! - delicious!!!!)  Then there are also those people who sell cookie and breads and other glutinous stuff that I stayed away from... mainly because of the gluten, but also because there was a kinda creepy guy that was trying to flirt with me >yuck<

One last picture- look at those artichokes! I didn't know that they had flowers to them!  According to the farmer, you cut the flower off, boil it in water, then strain it and drink it as a tea... I think I might stick with my favorite mint tea personally... but at least now if I'm ever on one of those extreme cooking show where I get a flowered artichoke, I know what to do!

So... there you have it!  The best local gold mines ever - farmer's markets.  If you haven't checked one out, you definitely should.  I think the ones on Saturdays tend to have a bit more vendors at them, but you never know! 

If you don't know of any near you, just google your city or county and then farmer's markets. 

Good luck and enjoy!

The Screen on the Green

One of the things I love about living outside DC is all of the fun events that take place each day. One summer tradition is called the Screen on the Green. Several Monday nights in the summer, people from the DC area flock to the National Mall to watch classic films on the lawn of the National Mall. They bring in a GIANT movie screen and a great sound system. People and families arrive after work, equipped with blankets and picnics, ready to relax and enjoy the movie. Last Monday, Curt and I braved the metro to make a little date night of watching a movie under the stars.
Since you have to get there decently early to snatch a good spot, I picked Curt up from work and we headed straight there. I wanted to pack a great picnic dinner so we would have plenty to eat.



The Menu:


Pesto Steak Sandwiches
Brie, Salami, and French Bread
Carrot Sticks
Apple Slices
Pasta Salad
Graham Crackers with Nutella
Granny Smith Apples with Caramel Sauce
Mango Iced Tea


Pesto


I decided to make some fresh pesto because my mom grows it in her garden and she had a ton of it that she picked and needed to use. As usual, I didn't have a recipe, but I know the main ingredients, so I experimented.

• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 3 cups of fresh basil
• 1/4 cup of grated parmesan
• olive oil
  salt

This was pretty simple... I just threw the garlic, parmesan and pine nuts into my little food processor first to make sure that I could grind up the "big things" first. Once that was all ground up, I added in the basil leaves and drizzled in some olive oil (I just eyeballed it).

Once that was all whirled, it looked like pesto.I tasted it and added in some salt and a bit more pine nuts. It had a pretty strong taste of garlic, so I'll probably leave out a clove or two next time.
Anyway, this pesto only took about 5 minutes to make, so it was a success in my book! Just in case you need a "real" pesto recipe : http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1826,152188-250203,00.html






Steak Sandwiches
I'm not a huge fan of sandwiches with regular lunch meat... I think eating them every day for lunch growing up has just turned me off of them. But... since we were going to be having a picnic, you can't deny how convienent they are... I decided to make up a yummy sandwich to bring with us.
I had bought some beef tenderloin strips from the store, so I just seasoned them with some salt and pepper and grilled them on my indoor cast iron grill. I love using our indoor grill because you get the nice grill marks on them! Sinc the steaks were only about 1/2 inch thick, they didn't take long at all to grill, especially because Curt and I both like our steaks done medium rare/medium. Once they were grilled, I just let them cool for a while on a plate. You don't want to cut them too soon anyway, because then, all of the flavorful juices will spill out of the steak and you won't have as much flavor or tenderness.
Earlier in the day, I had made a run to Trader Joes to pick up a few little things for the picnic, including some fresh French Bread. Now having a sandwich on French bread is great, but I decided to jazz it up a bit. I sliced it in half lengthwise and spread some butter on each half. Then I sprinkled a bit of garlic salt and parsley on top. I was going to bake it in the oven for a bit, but I didn't want the whole piece of bread to dry out, I just wanted the garlicky side to be browned and crunchy. Instead, I cooked it face down in a non-stick pan, on medium heat... that way it browned up nicely, like a grilled cheese sandwich. Once done, I let the bread cool.
The last little twist I made was to the mayo... I love mayo, but, again, I wanted to it up a bit... I took about 2 big tablespoons of the pesto I had made and added it to 2 tablespoons of mayo, then mixed. The result was a yummy pesto mayo! This worked out perfectly too, since the mayo sort of mellowed out the strong garlic flavors.


So now, assembly time! I took the bread and spread it with the pesto mayo. Then added the steak. The steak was already very tender since it was beef tenderloin, but I wanted to cut down on any chance of messiness, so I sliced the steak into thinner strips before putting in on the sandwich. I also had two pieces of gouda left over from last week's pork loin so I went ahead and added that to the sandwich... Here's the final product! It was SUPER delicious!

Here's a picture of our whole meal on our little blanket. At Trader Joe's, I had picked up some crackers, double creme brie (my FAVORITE), and some salami. I also made some pasta salad... I cheated and bought the "Suddenly Pasta Salad" out of the box. It's surprisingly easy and good... you can add a few things to make it a bit more exciting. I added some diced pepperoni and cheese. I also cut up some carrot sticks and apple slices to have with the meal. For dessert, I didn't have time to make anything fancy, but I did have some graham crackers that I spread with some Nutella which was surprisingly good (at least in my opinion). I also sliced up another apple and we dipped it in some caramel dip. To drink, I had made a pitcher of Mango Iced Tea, so I brought that with us in my little eco-friendly water bottle. The iced tea was the perfect match for the meal... my best friend's sister, Stephanie Pool makes and sells her own loose leaf tea. Her company's called Regency Tea and it's amazing! The website isn't up and running yet, but I'll put a link up when it is so you can check it out!