I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Saturday, August 2, 2014

Farmers Market, Seven Dollars in my Pocket

 


Hi guys! Yep, my pockets ''were to let'' as the heroes say in old fashioned novels. But don't worry, I'm not going to inundate you with ads or requests for ,lol, donations! Just poor planning on my part, I forgot to detour to the local ATM before shopping. One drawback of an outdoor farmers market is that it's cash only.



So what should I BUY!? Swiss chard looks interesting.



Lots of beautiful mid-summer ''truck garden" produce, plus eggs and herbs and cheeses. I think these softball sized round zucchini would be excellent stuffed with quinoa or couscous. [How would I precook the little green spheres? Microwave?]






Many onions for my planned onion tart. Lori from Humble Quilts has shared her rustic tart crust with me for that project.

 



But to me, fresh tomatoes almost always win, they're such a luxury.



I bought a couple heirloom tomatoes and a very tasty though funny looking giant yellow squash.



Every summer I must make fried tomatoes at least once. It's a tradition, from my dad, through his Virginia-raised mother's background. Like ham and fried chicken, but yummier. In my childhood home, fried tomatoes were traditionally served with pork chops [and gravy!] and corn on the cob. I usually just have the tomatoes and corn, plus a salad or squash.




Recently my friend Mel had mentioned loving squash dipped in cornmeal and fried. I had to try that! And it is delicious. We decided the cornmeal would be great used for fried tomatoes too. After all, I now own a huge sack of cornmeal, what'll it be?



I mixed in some flour and paprika, dried onions, pepper and salt. The flour helps the crust stay on the tomato and not stick to the pan.



Fried, yes, fried---in olive oil instead of bacon grease like my mom did. She kept an old green crock in the fridge, with the Sunday morning bacon renderings collected. I wish I had this crock! Wonder if my brother saved it?



The tomatoes [and the giant maybe Delicata squash?]---were wonderful. Well worth my seven dollars and I even had a few dollars to spare for a few ears of corn.

Frugal Lizzy? I'll be, like, on all the frugal queen blog rolls. Or maybe not! It's grey today, a perfect beach hike day! I hope I find treasure...



love

lizzy

gone to the beach......


 
 

 
 

8 comments:

  1. You're making me hungry again...!!

    Mostly we fried GREEN tomatoes, rescued when a plant was damaged or when frost was coming - or if one just fell off the vine. But yes, YUMMY!

    A while back I looked up "full English" and "full Irish" breakfasts and apparently fried tomatoes are included, along with black pudding (ugh), baked beans, fried bread, eggs, sausages, and a bunch of other stuff. I'm not sure I could face one first thing in the morning! Maybe for lunch?

    Love the picture of Mo, I like the way his black is streaky up to the top of his head. Probably not 'show' markings but I think it's cute and makes him look like he's full of personality.

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  2. We used to have a container of bacon grease on our counter too!

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    1. Amazing what was once considered healthy eating.

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  3. Fried GREEN tomatoes were what my Mom used to make. Didn't care much for them as a kid, now I love them! Used to have the container of bacon grease too, though can't remember what kind it was. Nothing fancy I don't think--maybe just an empty tin can. I use an old jar those couple of times a year that I make bacon. Like the idea of frying the squash too.

    I splurged and ordered steamed Maryland Blue Crabs for this weekend. Between those and your fried tomatoes, I'm feeling very nostalgic and a little homesick...

    Very pretty beach pics, and a really great shot of Mo. We met the Pug that we see walking in Naples, his name is Kingston and he is very sweet.

    So...did you find anything good on the beach?

    Kel

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    1. Blue crabs in CA--they had a long journey! So fun that you met the pug in Naples, I love his name.

      No no beach treasure. My son says he found a cool shell but he is soaking it in a bucket of clorox and won t show me. Beach pickings haven t been good since they over cleaned the beaches after H Sandy.

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  4. I love your choice..those tomatoes look amazing! Their one of my favorite buys at the FM too!

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    1. So sweet, not like winter tomatoes at all, are they!

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