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Winter Indoor Farmer’s Markets in Westchester

I was thrilled to see the Briarcliff Indoor Farmers’ Market back this year. Last Saturday I stopped by and bought ingredients for lunch: pea shoots, mushrooms, and Brussels sprouts. I’d never had pea shoots before, but they’re the delicate stalks and tendrils from pea plants. You can eat them raw, like a salad, and they taste like young, fresh peas. We used the pea shoots as a salad base, and then put a mix of wild mushrooms, sauteed in olive oil, on top. Roasted Brussels sprouts went on the side. You can’t help but feel good when you eat a meal like this. Each bite is like a bit of vegetable essence, exactly as that vegetable is supposed to taste on its best day. I am looking forward to many more meals like this this winter.

There is also a new winter farmer’s market in Chappaqua this year, but I haven’t been yet. It runs Saturdays from 9 am to 1 pm at St. Mary the Virgin church, next to Bell Middle School.

It’s amazing how much easier access to local produce has become in the past few years. I feel lucky to have so many great local options when my CSA is out of season.

8 Comments January 21, 2011

BuddhaPesto at the Pleasantville Farmer’s Market

I first tried BuddhaPesto, made in small batches in Woodstock, NY, at Merrie’s New Moon party. I was immediately hooked — it is the absolute perfect balance of fruity olive oil, Romano cheese, pine nuts, and basil. Not too finely pureed, either, which I like.

We stopped by the Pleasantville Farmer’s Market last Saturday, and I had to buy a container for J. to try. It’s an indulgence at $9 for 8 oz., but it is the pesto I aspire to make myself at home. It’s great over pasta or on French bread. And as you can see from the photo above, we have unfortunately already finished the small container.

4 Comments July 8, 2010

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Last weekend we put in a small garden. Before we belonged to a CSA, we would grow lots of lettuce and tomatoes, plus some peppers and sugar snap peas. With the farm share, though, we get more lettuce than we can eat, so we held off on planting any this year.

We did plant several varieties of tomatoes, a black bean plant A. started growing in school, sugar snaps, and a couple of hot peppers. We filled in the rest of our squares with some flowers A. chose. I’ve never had flowers in a vegetable garden before, but we had the room and I like seeing them as I pull into our driveway.

3 Comments May 23, 2010

Muffins for a Cause

Updated on 4/25/10: The bake sale raised more than $1,000 for Share Our Strength! And sold out of all the donated goodies.

This Saturday, April 24, Club Fit in Briarcliff is hosting a Share Our Strength Great American Bake Sale. The event is organized by my friend Alison, all the goodies are donated (by Club Fit and bakers like me), and the money raised goes to Share Our Strength, a charity aiming to end childhood hunger in America.

I made two types of muffins: Chocolate Chip Banana, and Apple Flax. They both turned out well, and look cute all wrapped up in the cello bags and ribbon we were given for packaging.

Stop by this Saturday, April 24th, from 8 am to 1 pm, and pick up a treat or two while making a contribution to a worthy cause.

4 Comments April 22, 2010