Casey Farm Farmers Market

Yesterday morning I stopped at the Casey Farm Farmers Market. It was so cold and windy my walk around to all the vendors was done with vigor...no browsing, all business this morning. The wind coming off of Narragansett Bay while welcome in the summer months was not what anyone was enjoying this time! I think the Casey Farm Market is my top favorite...so many vendors...so many choices...so much activity! You never know what is going to be happening...one week I went live music was included...it was fabulous.

Yesterday live lobsters, oysters, mussels and other shellfish from local shell fishermen was abundant, baked goods from local bakers made choices very difficult, a wood fire pizza oven was set up selling the most delightful pizza, produce everywhere...kale seemed to be abundant and so many varieties...anyone that loves kale knows it is always sweeter after the first frost just like turnips...one reason to welcome the cold weather! Honey, cheeses, apples, fresh meats, eggs and so much more...a wonderful place to shop...

So home I came with a shopping basket full of wonderful items...had to wear my leather gloves to shop yesterday...just as I was leaving the cold rain started....YIKES!

My cornucopia of purchases...absolutely wonderful...love spreading everything out and just admiring my bounty!

Flowers from Robin Hollow Farm are always a treat. The selections are many and the varieties are never run of mill...each variety is kept in tall containers so you can pick and chose

Yesterday I had a bouquet made up of all things fall...mums that actually smell like mums which told me these are a fabulous outdoor perennial not a hothouse forced variety. Tall on the stalk kale heads, veronica, amaranth and a feathery filler I am not familiar with...all put together and just beautiful...wrapped in waxed tissue and I was a happy girl.

Over to Olga's Cup and Saucer and I got a huge croissant enhances with cinnamon...hard to make a choice for sure. I can remember when Olga's was next to Walkers Farm Stand in Little Compton years ago...it was a treat to go and visit then...nice the business has grown and moved...now in the Jewelry District in Providence and also at the farmers market, makes getting delicious bakery goods a little more convenient.

I always love a good cheese...today I bought a Hunters cheese from Farmstead ...a delightful company that offers more than I could ever describe here...there is also a wonderful bistro at their Providence location worth every minute of your time visiting. Check out their Farmstead website...I also picked up some salted rosemary shortbread rounds which I have yet to sample but just the thought of a shortbread with salt and rosemary seems absolutely dreamy.

Produce purchases included celeriac, garlic, little butternuts, and dinosaur kale. Plan is to make a butternut, celeriac and apple creamed soup for later this week. The dinosaur kale also know as Tuscan kale I plan to bake with olive oil, salt and pepper to make kale chips...which seem to be all the rage right now...so I figure I'll join the crowd to see what all the talk is about. Will let you know the outcome!

My gorgeous bouquet was placed in a wonderful antique silver plate basket vase. Ohh La La!!!!!

And now that all is taken care of...time to eat that croissant with a couple of pieces of hunter cheese and a cup of coffee.

What a great Saturday morning...

Elizabeth

Things I Refuse to Eat

I love to cook, I love to eat my own cooking, I love to eat other people's cooking and I love to eat at a restaurant...I think I have a pretty good palate and it includes a wide variety of foods. But then I got to thinking about what I don't like but even more what I won't eat...that means what I refuse to eat...

I was able to come up with my list quickly...why...because I know exactly what I will not put in my mouth...ever, never, not happening.

THINGS I WILL NEVER EAT

Anything so spicy hot it burns the skin off my lips.

Reptiles...and if eels are not reptiles include them into this category.

Anything from the neck up...

or anything from the knees down

Nothing that still has a heartbeat or is physically moving...

No internal organs...

No male or female reproductive organs...

Will not eat anything with curry powder in it.

So that is my list...not long, not complicated, not hard to adhere to.

Elizabeth

Cold Hands Warm Hearts - Mrs. Bartlett's Mittens

I love to knit...sweaters, scarves, hats but especially mittens. Knitting mittens is relatively simple and a great project to take to appointment waiting rooms or a get together where you are just sitting and need something to do. Watching TV is a perfect time to knit as well.

There is no left or right so that makes it easy...very little counting is required so if you get distracted no big deal and they are a great conversation starter. Someone always watches and wonders what you are making...some just ask out right and others just watch and when they see the thumb finished...that is their ah haa moment...they exclaim "Oh it is a mitten" like they just discovered the wheel!

I have been knitting this mitten pattern since I was 10 years old in the Coventry Hillhoppers 4-H Club. Mrs. Bartlett my leader taught me how to knit and I am forever grateful. She was patient and kind...two great attributes needed for teaching 10 year olds. She had a pair of embroidery scissors I envied. A gold pair which looked like a stork and when you had to use them to snip a piece of yarn the ends opened like the beak of a bird. When I was old enough to afford a pair I found them in a yarn shop and bought them. They are made in Italy and when I was a young woman I thought I was quite sophisticated using my scissors from Europe. They are tucked safely in my notion bag that I keep in my knitting bag. Whenever I use them I always think of Mrs. Bartlett and the wonderful gift she gave me, the ability to knit mittens for gifts and now I donate them to a winter program here in Rhode Island. Mrs. Bartlett's generosity of giving time to the 4-H program and teaching little girls to knit and cook is a priceless gift...I often wonder if she ever knew how she changed lives forever. Because of her I sit in a waiting room without being restless, I can make a wonderful handmade gift, a conversation between strangers ends with smiles and some little hands in Rhode Island are warm in the cold winters months.

I knit mittens all year round. I buy piles of skeins of yarn in different colors for both boys and girls...so I always have something to grab when I need it. When November comes around I pack up all the mittens and place them in the 'Warm Hands Warm Hearts" bin at our local bank. From there they find their way to some child in need...I am hoping someday I may see a pair on some little boy or girl...it will make me happy and again reaffirm just what a wonderful and generous person Mrs. Bartlett was.

Thank you Mrs. Bartlett wherever you are.

Elizabeth

Tuscan Herbs - Delightful

One of my favorite blogs to read is A Cook With A View...

I met Joseph at Williams-Sonoma one day and have been enamored since then. He is so knowledgeable and is so willing to share his wealth of knowledge always tempered with a wonderful sense of humor. Joseph also gives classes which I have yet to take but they all tempt me...he cooks in season using ingredients he finds at local shops and farmers markets. What a wonderful way to approach each season.

I was looking out my kitchen window and wondering what I was going to do with all my herbs since the cold weather is just around the corner. With the threat of a frost last week I gathered up all my basil and made another batch of pesto. I happened to be looking at Joseph's blog and decided to make his Tuscan Herb blend...since all the herbs are in my garden, my garlic is cured. and I have plenty of salt in the house...I had all that was needed to make this this recipe.

I gathered and washed the rosemary, parsley, sage and thyme. I did this in the evening so I stored most in a damp paper towel in the fridge...the sage I kept in water.

My mise en place...

The work for chopping till fine takes 20 minutes...and as Joseph says REALLY!

This is the start

5 minutes in...

10 minutes in...

15 minutes in...

After 20 minutes and one sore right arm...the blend is placed on a parchment covered rimmed baking sheet to dry...once dried I place in my tin container for storage. Since I doubled the recipe I had plenty to gift as well.

My first meal with the Tuscan Herbs...a whole roasted chicken served over polenta with gravy and topped with baked to a crisp oyster mushrooms...

FANTASTIC!!!!!

The recipe off my iPad (just click on the photo to enlarge)...or visit the A Cook With A View blog...

While this blend is drying your whole house will be perfumed with the most delightful aroma!

I made a buffalo meatloaf this past weekend and used just a couple of pinches of this herb mix and WOW what a difference.

Enjoy!

Elizabeth

The Wonderful Milk and Honey Bazaar

One of my favorite places to purchase cheese is at the Milk and Honey Bazaar In Tiverton, Rhode Island. Located within the iconic Tiverton Four Corners area this little shop is worth stopping at. There is such a great assortment of well over 100 varieties of cheeses as well as pates, charcuterie, olive oils, olives, vinegars, honey, crackers and much more.

When I drive in on the gravel driveway I can't wait to get inside. Once inside the cases beckon with so many choices. What makes shopping here so wonderful is that the owner/cheese monger is so welcoming. She offers samples before purchase, explains the varieties with great detail and experience. This particular day I visited with my nephew Seth.. We tried a 2 year and 5 year old Gouda...the difference was very noticeable and we quickly learned we like the younger Gouda...it was so much milder, something we would have never known just looking at a cheese at a supermarket. We sample a few others and once again I tried a soft spreadable goat cheese...UGH! I just can not tolerate that flavor...we learned the reason the cheese is stronger in flavor at times (most of the time as far as I am concerned) is that a male goat is in close proximity when a female goat is being milked. Apparently a hormone is released and this will account for a strong "goat" flavor. I vote all males should be on the next property when milking is going on!

A wonderful photo taken by Seth of the building...

I bought a nice wedge of parmigiano reggiano...

A great piece of Geit In Stad...a goat cheese but firmer then the spreadable "yucky" kind...

and a two year old Gouda....

a photo of the inside...

a blurb from the brochure...

the paperwork...

the facts!

So if you are in the area, make a point of stopping by...well worth the time. Oh and don't forget to go just a few feet down to Gray's Ice Cream for the best ice cream in Rhode Island.

Elizabeth