Pleasantly cool, a spring fragrance in the air, people milling about, some visiting, a local musician singing some of my old favourite tunes. That’s how my morning began as I entered our local farmers market this morning. I get an early start, partly to beat the heavy crowds but also to be sure I get what I need from my favourite vendors. I find they also have more time to chat if it’s right after opening. I enjoyed a cappuccino from a lovely young couple who have recently moved to the area.
Waiting in the vehicle (it was a cool day but I still parked in the shade of a row of trees with windows open) was Heidi. As soon as I deposited all the lovely produce I purchased, she and I headed out on the beautiful trails that spread out from the market. Since it was so early, there were very few people we encountered along the way. We were enjoying our walk so much I almost hated to turn back to return to our vehicle.
I stopped in the downtown area to pick up a couple extra food storage containers from the hardware store before making it home to begin my food prep. After so many decades, I’ve learned it saves time and definitely prevents waste by washing, drying, and placing produce into storage containers immediately after purchasing them. I use baking soda dissolved in water to wash and soak all my produce. It leaves no taste and, according to studies, is the most effective at removing any residue, pesticides, bacteria when soaked for at least 10 minutes. While some of the produce was drying, I even made some pesto with the lovely fresh radish leaves — that’s the first time I’ve made it from radish leaves and it certainly won’t be the last time. With pine nuts being utterly expensive, and hard to find, I used walnuts instead and would recommend them as quite a suitable substitution.
With the kale, I always save the stems to add to a bag I keep in the freezer for collecting vegetable scraps. Everything from ends of vegetables, stems, tops, peelings, etc are frozen and saved to make vegetable broth once the bag fills up.
Oh yes, I nearly forgot. I also made a quick batch of homemade granola bars as a surprise for when my husband gets back home.
Because the tomatoes I bought were all ripe, those went into the fridge as well. It’s always a warm sense of accomplishment having everything washed, dried and put away in the fridge. I keep things in see-through stackable containers which makes it easy to see at-a-glance what I have to use up. Since we eat so many different leafy greens (including adding them to every single smoothie we have), they fill a few different containers. (Oops, there’s that vegan mini pie I bought.)
A good morning, all in all.
If you enjoyed this why not share it with a friend or post about it on social media. Thank you for reading and sharing your time with me. — Diane
I do love to see what on — and in — people’s fridges!
I have always been afraid to soak my veggies for an entire 10 minutes for fear they might get soggy. Your experience tells me they don’t, so I’ll follow your example from now on instead of just giving them a quick rinse.
At our place, having things washed and cut up (celery sticks, for example) before storing in the fridge is conducive to getting them eaten while fresh. We lazy people like our conveniences — so, snacks at the ready!
-Kate
exceptional photography, diane.