Local Farmer's Market: Sweet Summer Abundence

I can't help it, going to the Farmer's Market is basically for me in a sense going to church. I did not grow up in a religious family, as you can tell with that sentence. So why is it religious to me? For me it is interacting with my community and those especially who provide one of the most comforting things in the world: Food. Living in California I am all to aware of how those who grow our food are treated, probably a little bit even more, considering my focus in history was California History and my love of food. There is nothing quite like knowing the faces of those who grow your food, going from each stand sampling the unripe fruit, yet even in the unripe state are lusciously sweet that the thought of ripeness is well slightly on the dizzying. Even better knowing the ridicuslously cheap corn you just bought was picked that afternoon (by the way I highly recommend instead of boiling it, fire up the grill, and grill it, brings out the sweetness of the corn against a smoky backdrop, droolingly delicious). Or buying olive oil grown and pressed in your city; love the stuff I just got, has wonderfully spicy bite to it, that I really haven't ever tasted in an olive before.

By the way go smell your nectarines...peaches and apricots have been rhapsodized about and by the naming of this blog you can tell I already belong to the church of apricot, but got take a sniff of your nectarines and enjoy that sweet tangy lush scent.

Should You Find Yourself With Fruit Trees and The Preserving Need

For the last few years I have told myself I would preserve the lush fruit that comes every summer from our bountiful fruit trees. The closest I had come to this was this last winters lemon curd and cranberry curd experiment that went really well. Finally this summer though I have actually made preserves. I made apricot preserves and cinnamon plum preserves. What was shocking was just how easy it was. We still have a ton plums so next I want to try a vanilla plum preserve and well other variations. Hmm, maybe I can find a chutney recipe with plums. The recipe I used was from one of my new favorite blogs Just Hungry at http://www.justhungry.com/2006/06/weekend_project.html. I highly recommend you use the almond pit option. As for me I can't stop marveling at the gorgeous golden orange jars I have waiting to be eaten. My favorite way to enjoy apricot preserves being in an apricot almond butter sandwich on dark whole wheat bread. I need to go get almond butter.

Scent of the Day

Today I am going with the wonderful Kimono Rose by The Thymes which was given to me by one of my best friends Rita (thank you), it may have one of the best cassis notes in it and the packaging is wonderful.

SOTD

Haven't done this in ages but today I am wearing Nanette Lepore which is wonderfully girly and feminine.