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... To Get to the Farmers Market Before Me on a Hot Day
So, you may ask, what was a man of my years doing on a CTA bus heading to Chicago's Green City Market before 7 a.m.? The answer is, it's all about the heat.
I've never been a real hot weather person. Living for 30 years in Washington, D.C., which feels like it moved a few million miles closer to the sun during the hottest summer days, turned that into a profound dislike.
There is also a practical reason. If you want that beautiful, delicate produce to be its best self when you get it home, it's best to get out and buy it before nature turns on the blast furnace.
I learned an object lesson about this at least a couple of decades ago when we lived in D.C. We lived maybe four miles from my favorite farmers market, but even that was a danger zone on one hot day. I went late morning and a lot of items had been sitting out for a while. And after buying some beautiful peaches, I went back to our car — which had been baking in the sun — and put the plastic bag containing them on the floor of the backseat.
It only took a few minutes to drive home, but when I picked up the bag... it was filled with instant peach compote. The peaches had literally cooked during that short time in the car.
There are a couple of other ways to better ensure that your precious produce gets home intact:
Bring ice packs or, since only frozen meat can be sold at farmers markets in these parts, buy some frozen meat.
Bonus points if you bring an insulated bag.
Bring hard-sided containers if you are buying delicate fruit. This is actually a general rule I follow regardless of the weather, but it's especially important when fruit is already super-ripe.
OK, time to reveal my market haul.
Let's start at the top. Ellis Family Farms (Benton Harbor, Michigan) had sent out a newsletter stating that they would have their last asparagus of the season. Since Michigan asparagus is one of my favorite foods, I homed in on their stand and both three big bunches. It has been a good, long asparagus season... thanks for the exspearience. 🙄
I also got my first red raspberries of the season, sweet cherries and strawberries (still hanging in there) from Mick Klug Farms (St. Joseph, Michigan); young kale from Jacobson Family Farms (Antioch, Illinois); young zucchini, hothouse heirloom tomatoes and English shelling peas from Nichols Farm and Orchard (Marengo, Illinois); eggs from pastured chickens from Finn's Ranch (Buchanan, Michigan); a loaf of polenta sourdough from Dorothy's Bistro (Chicago); and a savory scone, which became my breakfast, from Verzênay Chicago.
Speaking of English shelling peas, here's my story about me shelling peas as symbolic of my old-school kitchen tendencies. There is even a one-minute video shot by Barb of me liberating peas and then casting pods into a freezer bag for future use. We are submitting it for an Oscar for Short Film of an Old Dude Processing Vegetables.
Meanwhile, Hobbes' natural curiosity came out as I emptied the bags from the market.
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