Monday, August 04, 2008

Local Harvest

Like most people, it takes a good kick in the wallet for me to mend my lazy ways.

Those planets aligned perfectly this summer with painful gas prices and expensive groceries at the local mega mart. This inspired new, loyal patronage of our Wednesday Farmer's Market.

I figure, if I'm heading to the poorhouse because I've got this crazy habit of eating every day, then why not waddle toward that proverbial poorhouse after a few stellar meals?
When you live in a small town (whether you like it or not,) you get to know people. My Farmer's Market is filled with real farmers. Once I became a familiar face, they began to share sweet stories about my groceries. Be it a bell pepper or a bag of luscious peaches, these are their babies, their pride & joy, like my flowers are to me.

I'd never really thought about it before... where my food comes from and that growing it was a labor of love. This is the first summer of my life where I truly enjoy grocery shopping. New flavors, new veggies, new challenge! I wander curiously from booth to booth, discovering what's in season.

Like Parsnips. I've never eaten a Parsnip - have you? We've got a crazy lady at the farmer's market hawkin' Parsnips! (Apparently they take a whole year to become 'perfect' so she's pretty excited about this harvest.)

Parsnip Shoestrings:
  • 1 pound fresh Parsnips, rubbed, tubbed, and scrubbed!
  • 1 tablespoon celery salt
  • 2 teaspoons fresh dill
  • Lemon pepper, to taste
Slice 'em up like French fries, drizzle with olive oil, roast 'em in a 425 degree oven.... and fall madly in love with your dinner.

2 comments:

Wunx~ said...

Here's another roast parsnip recipe:

Cut up carrots, red potatoes, parnsips, purple onions, place in baking pan, add a bunch of peeled garlic cloves, some thyme and a grinding of fresh pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 400 for about an hour, stirring occasionally.

Yum!

Anonymous said...

I also have added sweet potatoes/yams and sea salt to Wunx's medley which I think is great too! I got the recipe from The Barefoot Contessa. KC