a riot of eggplants
The farmers market seemed particularly bountiful today. A riot of colors rivaling the chalk paintings at the Via Colori.
Fresh herbs and tomatoes abounded but there was a huge variety of fruits and vegetables. Lots of peppers, eggplants, grapes, apples, arugula, cucumbers and melons. The last throes of summer and some harbingers of fall including apple cider and gourds.
Crookneck squash
Vegetables, I bought were cucumber, beets, brussels sprouts (making their first appearance this week), cherry tomatoes, corn and peppers. Fruits were ground cherries, raspberries, plums, jonathan apples (hard and crisp), and my favorite reliance grapes.
a plethora of grapes
I was excited to find the first batch of dried heirloom tomatoes from Quiver Full family farm, where I also bought eggs. The sliced, dried tomatoes keep really well and are useful in all sorts of things, although I find that I usually end up snacking on them straight out of the bag. Another fortuitous find was double cream from the Snowville Dairy. I buy Snowville milk from the Greener Grocer, but it is rare to find the cream, and since Lisa’s last dinner I have been wanting to try making my own butter. Hers was so fantastic and she claims it is really easy. It is fun to see familiar faces at the market stall holders, regular shoppers and neighbors. This week I compared recipes with Kathy Rhoades and bumped into Bear bearing a beignets fresh from the Creole Kitchen.
We went back to the Market in the afternoon with the plan of sampling some local beers at the micro brew festival, but the gallery was mobbed and the lines were so long that decided to forgo the festival. Instead we went to the Via Colori drank some PBR, listened to Happy Chichester and chilled out amongst the chalk paintings.
Happy Chichester
Joe had his first Rad Dog – a new vegan hot dog stand that operates in several locations in Columbus.
Rad Dog hot dog stand
The butterfly fries proved irresistible (twice). They are home-made potato chips (or crisps in Brit speak) but instead of being sliced they are delicate spirals.
Butterfly fries
The spirals are made with a potato peeler attached to an electric drill by Bubba, shown in the picture with his ingenious contraption.
Bubba and his drill
Here’s a little more taste of the Via Colori
