Visions of a German Farmer's Market

So, like I've said, I have a love affair with really great food! I am incredibly lucky to live where I do, because there are Farmer's Markets out the wazoo here! The major one in town runs on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday every week! It's huge, and now that the weather's nice, it's getting bigger. You can find everything down there, even a vendor selling local wine on Saturdays! So, given my ill-concealed excitement, I wanted to share some photos from my visit last Tuesday.

Later, I'll post a recipe I've been mentioning for a little while: Chicken Paprikas. (First time I have ever bought chicken from a FM, and let me tell you, it's a whole different bird!

German Radishes: I just loved the color of these! That deep magenta is just so gorgeous! 

The white radishes intrigue me as well.

Of course, you can't have German produce without red cabbage (as well as the stunning green cabbage at the top of the page). It just lends itself to such beautiful photos!

My favorite: rhubarb! One of the local shops here makes a strawberry-rhubarb cake that is unbelievable. My mom has some growing wild in her backyard, and I just love it! (One of my cousins actually like to take plain raw rhubarb, and just dip it in a little sugar and eat it that way!)

I love this chicken! This was the first day I bought farm-fresh FM eggs (3X the price, but soooo worth it!). This stand always caught my attention, not only because of the chicken, or even the cute little old man who runs it, but because of the sign! Roughly translated it means "No worries of Salmonella from our eggs!" I love it! (The eggs at this stand cost about 10% more than most of the other stands, but you can't help but love the chicken! Genius marketing at its finest!)

The same chicken, giving me the evil eye because the chicken-man decided I wanted the bird awake, and proceeded to poke it until it woke up... and fell asleep again in about a minute.

The Tomato Diaries

News Flash: People don't eat their veggies!

I think a big reason why people tend to not eat their fruits and veggies comes down to a pretty simple explanation: they don't like them! I know, it's a major shock. But here's the thing. For the past 60 years or so, food production has gotten out of the hands of locals, and into the hands of big mega-super-duper-markets. Seasons no longer matter; you can get virtually any shippable produce anywhere, anytime. This is where the problem lies. If you pick a tomato while it's still green, for instance, then ship it to a market, and expect some mom to convince little Johnny "Sweetie, it's good for you," well I'm sorry, but if I were little Johnny, I'd say no dice!

What to buy organic...

So, we all know eating organic is a good idea. As a whole I think we can also agree that it can get expensive. So when do you pay the extra for organic, and when can you buy the conventional without feeling like you're poisoning your family? Luckily for us, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) offers a handy guide for the 12 worst pesticide offenders (called the “Dirty Dozen”) and the top 15 safest foods (the “Clean Fifteen”). They offer a handy printable list here.