Farmer's Market to Table

Ry has been tethered to the task of refinishing our fireplace mantel, which left me lots of time to kill this weekend. I filled it by riding a good fourteen miles on my bikecycle and gathering the fixin's for a home-cooked Sunday meal.

One of the places I rode was the West Allis Farmer's Market, which I believe is the best market in the metro area. My purchases were limited to the capacity of my bike basket, so I kept it simple. I purchased a whole organic chicken to roast with a tried and true Cook's Illustrated recipe, some taters, tomatoes and lovely flowers.

Flowers at the market are such a steal! It was quite a task making it home with them safely in tact given the cool and strong breeze flowing through the city this weekend.


Farmer's Market finds in tow.


Cook's French Chicken in a Pot recipe.


Naked, patted-dry, salted and peppered bird.

This was my first experience with preparing an entire animal for supper. I freaked out when I had to stick my hand in the cavity and pull out the gizzards. I only managed to get the heart out and had to have Ry come in and get the liver.

I think it was a good experience for me. I believe Ry's direct quote was "woman, if you can't do this you have no business being a carnivore", which is completely true. Since we've morphed back from vegan to veggie to meat eaters again, it's important for me to have this experience. It reminded me that what I intended to eat was at one time a living, sentient being. Holding the whole animal in my hands and preparing it, instead of some freakishly large frozen chicken breast out of a bag, was quite the reality check.


I seared each of the sides with just a bit of celery, onion and garlic in the dutch oven.


Lined top with foil before setting it to roast for two hours at a low temperature.


Internal temp of at least 175 degrees with the instant-read thermometer after two hours in the oven.


Our lovely table.


Chicken, peas and homemade pesto pasta for sup.


And I can't resist a pick of my mow-mow to finish out the day. He must miss his Uncle Steven 'cause he kept sleeping on the guest bed until we took the linens off.

Rhubarb Torte

Enjoyed lunch with friends and an afternoon at the West Allis Farmer's Market today. The most entertaining part of the trip was when an elderly produce selling man decided to hit on me. I bought something from one of his neighboring vendors and started walking by when he very loudly said, "hi, how are you doing today?". I responded with a cheery good and returned his greeting. He said he was good. I flashed a big smile and started on my way. I heard him shout back at me "you're looking good today too". That made me laugh a little and my friend Kev said that Ryan better watch out!

I was surprised to see how much the market variety had increased in just a few short weeks. I purchased an eggplant ($1), two broccoli stalks ($1), four large sunflowers ($3), a cantaloupe ($3), a pound of green beans ($3) and a basket of heirloom dark cherry tomatoes ($4) which I forgot to take with me. Blast! I'm consistently amazed at how much healthy food I can get for so little cash. West Allis really has the most spectacular Farmer's Market I've attended outside of Madison and it's considerably less annoying than that one with designated wide aisles and a better overall sense of order.

Visiting the market has started to get me pumped up for the idea of a front yard garden - a project we hope to embark on next spring. I was still skeptical when we talked about starting it this year, thinking our neighbors might decide we're crazy freaks for wanting to rip up our lawn. I also wondered how it would look and whether it would be ugly. But when we were visiting our friend Kathleen in Durango, CO she inspired me by telling us how she killed her lawn right off the bat determined not to waste water on something of no use. The endless vegetable bounty of the Farmer's Market makes me think about what we could grow at home on our small, small plot of land and how gratifying that could be.

With a day off I decided to surprise Ry by making his favorite Rhubarb Torte that comes from a special family recipe. Last year I made it for his birthday, but I didn't get the recipe quite right. It calls for corn starch and I subbed tapioca flour hoping it would work. Needless to say, it was good but didn't pass the Mom Test of Approval (aka as good as mom makes). Since we were away for his birthday, I wanted to surprise him with it sometime this week. I had a couple of bags of garden fresh rhubarb stored in the freezer courtesy of Josh and Brenda (Ry's cousin & wife). With all the right ingredients this time and beautiful red rhubarb chunks, I tried it again!

Murray Rhubarb Torte
* Disclaimer...Ry assures me since I'm family now it's okay to share the recipe. If it's not okay, then it's on him!

Oatmeal Topping
2C brown sugar
2t cinnamon
1.5C oatmeal
1C melted butter (vegan margarine for us)
2C flour
Mix with hands until crumbly.

Rhubarb
4 C rhubarb
Chop into inch wide pieces. Pour boiling water over fruit. Let stand five minutes. Drain.

Syrup
2C water
2C sugar
4T cornstarch
2t vanilla
Combine in saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook until clear. Be careful, once boiling it can quickly run over the top of your pot. Best to lower the temp once it's boiling. It's no fun to clean up off the stove top.

Put 1/2 the oatmeal topping in the bottom of a 9 x13" pain greased with Pam. Cover with rhubarb. Pour syrup over rhubarb. Top with remaining oatmeal mix. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Okay to serve when hot, but should be stored in the fridge thereafter.

First Day Of Freedom

Yesterday was my last day at work. For now I'm embarking on a little unknown journey. Where it will take me, I'm not sure yet. I just recently had two campus interviews (final round) and hopefully at least one of them will work out in my favor. Last night I celebrated a happy hour with my former co-workers and today Ry and I enjoyed the day together. Since he's been taking classes this summer and I've still been working, we decided it was important to spend a day with each other to mark this momentous occasion.

We started out with coffee at the Alterra Foundry on 1st street. Next we visited the West Allis Farmer's Market where we purchased a complete vegetable bounty for only $13. Then we took a long country drive on the back roads to Backyard Bikes, a bike shop and cafe in La Grange, WI. Our final destination was a 3 mile hike on the Scuppernong Trail in the Southern Kettle Moraine area. It was a lovely and easy hike shaded by large pine trees offering filtered light and one overlook view.

All in all it was a great day. Nice to just be able to spend time together in the beautiful sunshine free of any responsibility.


Celebrating with some of my co-workers at Sugar Maple in Bayview.


With Kelley, my Hall Director neighbor.


Beautiful flowers, a present from my co-worker Renee.


Vegetable bounty. Potatoes, garlic scapes, pickling cucumbers, mint, leeks, green beans and broccoli.


Colorful Ba'hai sign outside of La Grange.


Outside Backyard Bikes.


Flowers and lawn ornaments.


Enjoying Mexican organic lollipops.


Trees lining the Scuppernong trail.


A big fat mushroom on the trail. Ry was impressed!