All across Boston, the farmer's markets have officially opened! What this means for me is good, cheap, organic produce throughout the summer months. And now that I have a car, I can pretty much hit any farmer's market in the city. So if I need some greens, or an heirloom tomato, or a radish, I can stop at multiple locations during the week. Now, I tend to frequent the Davis Square market because it is one of the best I've found, but it only happens once a week and I need produce more often than that (it goes bad so fast!).
Anyway, go to your local farmer's market whenever you can. In the first place, when you do you are supporting the farmers who actually grow your vegetables, not a series of middlemen and distributors. Second, more often than not, the farmers at the market are treating their animals and vegetables with great care and respect. By extension, the veg. they produce are better for the environment. Third, the food is tasty. Really tasty. And one of the reasons why it is is because you're going to be eating varietals and species of vegetable that aren't ever available in the grocery store. Those varietals (think heirloom tomatoes) often have intense and concentrated flavors you've never experienced before. So, you aren't just supporting a farmer, you are supporting biodiversity as a whole.
Farmer's markets aside, you are probably wondering, gentle reader, where I've been since February. Well, I had final papers, and a production of Mary Zimmerman's Arabian Nights, and conference paper submissions, and...well, you get the idea. I was busy. But that doesn't mean I wasn't eating. Because I was. I was eating a lot.
What was I eating? Well, I've been having some amazing adventures with pico de gallo (the fresh stuff, not the shit you get at most "Mexican" restaurants), experimenting with macaroni and cheese (and failing miserably), creating powerfully hot chili (successfully), and discovering new delicacies (where has giardiniera been all my life?). I've also been drinking of course-- wines from Virginia and North Carolina, Gin and Tonics as the weather became hospitable, and Mojitos (with Cruzan Rum, and fresh mint of course). Beer is, of course, my usual staple, and I've been trying the plethora of summer seasonals out there (Harpoon has a good one this year) as well. Sigh. Well that's what you've missed out on for now.
I'll try, as usual to keep posting throughout the summer as time permits.
I bid you peace.
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