Market Report - October 19

It was in the 40's when we got to the market this morning, and there was no sign of any of the summer fruits and vegetables, save for a small batch of the last raspberries.

I got some apples and then we had a lovely chat with the man who sells the irises and dahlias. His purple and white dahlias just glow in the early morning sun.

As Kitchenography was buying some greens, I took a picture of one of the farm-workers putting out more Rainbow chard. A shaft of light caught her perfectly.

As we checked out the incredible range of gourds, pumpkins and squashes, we saw the smallest little things nestled between them. When we asked, the farmer told us that they were little spiny cucumbers.

As I've mentioned before, I don't like odd coloured fruits and vegetables, and the purple cauliflower is no exception. It's very purple and if you were making soup for the Ravens game, it would be perfect.

This wee shopper seemed to be struggling under the weight of some greens, but was making a valiant effort!

I will be at a different market next week, so will see you the first weekend of November!

Garibaldi Biscuits

My older sister and I both remember having Garibaldi biscuits, made by Sunshine Bakery, when we were little. These biscuits, or cookies, are basically raisins or currants, sandwiched between two layers of pastry. Our father used to make something similar with leftover pie pastry, too, which are known as fly cemeteries.

When I lived in the UK, I could find these biscuits in every store and was delighted that they only cost about 70p per packet. The little bake shop down the road also had Eccles cakes, which are similar, but larger and flakier.Recently, a colleague of my sister's told her that she could find them at the Vermont Country Store, a purveyor of all things old and forgotten. I've also seen them at World Market.

I decided to make an abbreviated version using pre-made pie crust and the currants that I had found at Fresh World last week. They turned out pretty well. Perhaps a little tweaking, maybe soaking the currants before, and adding a dash of salt and more currants, but otherwise, a success.I found this picture on the interwebs, and I have no idea what it is, but it's funny!

Market Report - October 5

I am realizing that it's getting harder and harder to take pictures without a flash. The mornings are really dark and this morning's fog didn't help with the lack of light.


Tons and tons of apples everywhere. I bought a honey crisp apple that weighed almost a pound.

Again with the beautiful gourds and pumpkins. Here's a great idea for a fall table from my friend Eddie Ross, who works for Martha Stewart.

I was never a big fan of dahlias, until I started photographing them. This morning, there were some spectacular colours, including this purple-rimmed one, which almost glows.

We were talking to one of the farmers about the spiral broccoli and the yellow cauliflower and she told us that they were both old varities. She also said that the more "perfect" the produce is, the more likely it is to be a new variety, since we can breed out the imperfections. Hmmm.

Market Report - September 28

I never posted the pictures from the Market last week, so this will be short! It was a gloomy, rainy morning, so not great for taking photos.

It's really fall now and the fall produce is crowding out almost all of the summer stuff. Pumpkins are everywhere. They seem to be knobbier and bumpier than I've ever seen them! There was one that looked like it was covered with peanuts, and what was so funny was that I was at a Obama party later in the day, and there it was as the centerpiece of the table!

Some of the broccolis and cauliflowers are coming in, and the varieties are amazing. One looks like a middle eastern ziggarut!

See ya tomorrow!