Teaberries

Cherry Picking

I love eating gobs of fruit when it is fresh in season. I have decided that I would rather eat delicious handfuls of fresh cherries for only a few weeks than eat tasteless supermarket cherries every day. I learned about a cherry orchard about 2 hours away and since they were in season, I decided a visit was in order.

I thought about which of my friends might be willing to drive two hours to pick cherries ... and thankfully Jamie and Mary were both up for the adventure!

So we drove to Levering Orchard in Ararat, Virginia, got our buckets, climbed some ladders, and picked to our hearts' content!

We decided to pick only sweet cherries for eating instead of sour cherries for pies. They had sweet, sour, and yellow wax cherries. I was surprised at the size of this hundred year old orchard. 

There were ripe cherries everywhere we looked!

Unfortunately, the cherries ended up being a bit more expensive than I anticipated, so I only picked about 10 quarts. Even though they were only $2.49/pound, the price added up quickly!

I'm sure you're wondering what one does with 10 quarts of cherries ... so far I have made several batches of these cherry almond scones, which I am going to say may be the best scones I have ever made, we ate plenty of fresh cherries, and I froze the rest to use in smoothies. Delicious! 

Farmers' Market - May 14

There was so much good stuff at the farmers' market on Saturday!

Spinach and mixed lettuce - $4.30

2 pints organically grown strawberries - $5.75

Spring onions - $3 

1 lb. broccoli - $4

Strawberry lemonade - $3.50

Total: $20.55

 

The strawberries were among some of the best I've ever eaten. The were bright red throughout, juicy, and oh so sweet. I would rather eat just 2 pints of locally grown strawberries in season than grocery store strawberries every day. 

At $3.50, the strawberry lemonade was a complete splurge but it was absolutely delicious! In fact, it was so good we made our own strawberry lemonade yesterday. 

Did anyone else have good farmers' market finds this weekend? 

Linky Love - Cooking

Since its Friday, and I'm trying to share some of my favorite blogs, I'll continue with my favorite cooking blogs. I'm going to add a link to my favorite recipe from each site, because after all, its all about the recipes!

My New Roots - Although nutritionist and chef Sarah Britton doesn't post as often as I might like, I really enjoy reading when she does post. Her recipies are always healthy and delicious and I appreciate the way she explains the health benefits of different foods. My all time favorite recipe from her site is her lentil salad. I have made this more times than I can count. I love adding the lentil salad to soups - the flavor is unbelievable!

Food in Jars - I stumbled upon this blog last summer when I was navigate the terrifying process of canning. Marisa always has such practical tips for preserving food - from canning to freezing to dehydrating ... I recently used the guidelines in one of her posts about preserving meyer lemons. That would been when meyer lemons were in season and I bought 83 of them.

Canelle et Vanille - Aran is by far the best food stylist and photographer I have come across. I'm not sure that I've ever used any of her recipes, but her blog is still worth a mention because of how beautiful it is. I am always inspired by her photographs. They make me feel like taking a summer picnic in England. 

Tartelette - This is another blog with amazing styling and photography. I made these peach, blueberry and lemon thyme galettes, and well, they were perfect. They are so rustic and simple, yet the thyme infused sugar give them just a hint of sophistication. I always want to go to the beach in the south of France after reading Helene's posts, maybe because she is a French expat living in Charleston, SC. Her recipes are healthy and use local and fresh ingredients. Many of them are gluten free, but I typically substitute regular ingredients for all of the gluten free ones.

Simply Recipes - I'm going to go ahead and declare this my favorite cooking blog, because I have made so many of the recipes and they are always good! I make several batches of the strawberry shortcake sliders every spring. Simply Recipes is run by a family, and even though they have hundreds of recipes, they are always tested by someone in the family before being posted. There are so many basic recipes for everyday food. The recipes are organized by type which makes it nice if you're looking for a certain kind of dish.

Sprouted Kitchen - I love this blog because it is put together by a married couple - Sara who comes up with the recipes and her husband Hugh who is the star photographer. I love one of the statements on her about page, "I get so excited when food is the purest form of itself. An apple from a farmer's market at the end of October tastes exactly like an apple. I've worked at a grocery store and two farms in my life, and can attest to the fact that easting seasonally will change your belly." If that doesn't make you want to go to the farmers' market this weekend, I don't know what will! One of my favorite recipes from Sprouted Kitchen is the apple and smoked mozarella mini calzones. 

And there you go. Out of the 23 cooking blogs I follow, these are my 6 favorite! Any other favorite cooking blogs out there?

Farmers' Market

Saturday marked the annual opening of the farmers' market. I have to confess that I was beyond excited for this. I was practically giddy to go. Since I go to the market every Saturday I am in town, and I believe in supporting local agriculture, I thought I would start posting what I get after each trip.

I know it is more expensive to buy produce at the local farmers' market, but it also tastes better, is better for you, and supports local business. Since I go to the market regularly, I've gotten to know quite a few of the venders, and I want to support them. I always buy at least one packet of ravioli from The Pasta Wench, even though its $8, because it is delicious and is such a treat for us to enjoy. I am so proud of how she is growing her business, and I want to encourage her to keep going. If we have our own business one day, I hope people will support us.

I also buy something from the family at the end with a bazillion kids. Some of the kids are young - maybe 5 or 6, but they can talk to adults, count back change, and explain what the produce is. I want to support that. Plus its hard to say no when one of the little ones holds out a container of something green and says, "Don't you want to try a pea shoot?" in their most cute and convincing voice. I think I even paid $5 for a tiny bouquet of hand picked wildflowers from one of the little girls once because I just couldn't resist. 

Yes, I spend more at the farmers market than I would at the grocery store. But it encourages me to get out and build relationships in my community, it makes me think more about eating seasonally and locally, and it helps me support local business. Plus I ran into my friend Athalia whom I hadn't seen in way too long. 

So, without any further ado, here is what I got at the market on May 7th:

1 bag of spinach and spring mix - $3.50

1 bag of arugula - $3.50

1 head of romaine - $3.00

Spring onions - $3.00

Sun dried tomato with goat cheese ravioli - $8

Two packs of roasted red tomato and basil fettuccini - $10

Framed artwork by local photographer - $25

Total Spent: $56 ($31 if you don't include the artwork which was a complete splurge and isn't edible.)

I must tell you that it was worth every penny. That first salad I had with the arugula and spinach was incredible. After months of eating few greens, crunching on those first local greens was like tasting spring. 

Lunch

This is a little random, but I wanted to let you know what I am eating for lunch right this second. Because it is absolutely delicious - and it makes me feel like winter is finally over!

Smoothie: hand picked organic blueberries from last year, local strawberries, kiwi, yogurt, cranberry juice, almond milk, spinach, flax oil, hemp protein powder, and maca root powder. I just made and drank an entire quart.

Salad: locally grown arugula, romaine and mixed lettuce from the farmers' market, goat cheese and walnuts with olive oil and white oregano balsamic vinegar.

I'm pretty sure I've died and gone to heaven.