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what can compare to coming back from the farmer's market laden with bags of fragrant produce, hands still smelling of rosemary, lemongrass, and tamarind? ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
matrushkaka and i spent a leisurely two hours wandering the market, desperately trying to control the urge to buy several of everything. i described to her the magnificently mustached gentleman who was helping to man several booths before she arrived, singing out "oysters! focaccia bread! live crabs!." later we encountered him hawking caramel corn, again in that marvelous voice. i had hoped to see the elderly person of indeterminate gender who plays the saw, because i wanted to describe to her that haunting, quavering sound, like a cross between a ghost's cry and a cat's meow, but he/she was gone by the time kathryn arrived. i suppose this will do well enough.
we expressed amazement at some enormous, greenish-white squashes (one of them was two feet long and possibly as much in circumference) at one stand, and the vendor explained that they're chinese squash, something like zucchini on the inside. i can't even imagine how anyone could use one up. there were other new and interesting things: broccoli rabe that had burst into so many tiny yellow blossoms that it looked like a bouquet; carrots of unusually large girth; an orchid with blooms that looked more like the long, trailing feathers of some exotic bird; sage cheddar; huge sheaves of sugarcane, which i've seen before but never in such abundance. we each bought fresh lima beans mottled with purple and white and pink. neither of us had seen anything like them before.
we came away with satsumas and salad greens and chard and walnuts and persimmons and parsley and pretty much anything else you can think of. kathryn bought two live crabs ($3/lb.!), which suddenly woke up and began to wave their arms in protest while we sat in an empty stall eating samosas from a charming Indian man, who let her have two for only three dollars because that was all she had left. next time, i want to try the tamale stand.
i bought one (1) small white truffle, because they were a dollar. i have never eaten truffle, i have never cooked with truffle, and i expect to spend much of this afternoon researching exactly what i should do with it. i also bought a couple of calamansi at the urging of the vendor, who let us each try one of the small, kumquat-sized ones. they're very sour; they look like little oranges but taste something like a cross between sour orange and lime. kathryn's face when she bit into hers was priceless. i wish i'd had a camera. i bought two of the larger, satusma-sized ones. the vendor told me they're especially good with honey and tea in the morning; perhaps i will wait till morning, then, since i also bought a couple of persimmons, and one of those might go nicely with today's afternoon tea. and a lovely woman selling apples told me "take it. don't worry about it," when i tried to buy only the one.
i also learned that no matter how often i told myself i didn't have to speak loudly to kathryn to be heard above the crowd, my voice believes differently and keeps creeping upward in volume anyway. my lizard brain just kept thinking "it's noisy here! talk louder!" i felt very silly every time i noticed i was doing it. also, i am at something of a loss to determine how best to get a deaf person's attention when their back is turned and one is twitchy about touching people.
this has, so far, been the best day i've had in many years. i sense that there are still better days lying ahead. i'm still feeling energetic enough that i plan to put Lawrence of Arabia into the DVD player and do some cleaning while i watch it.
and tonight: roasted pork tenderloin, sweet potatoes with maple chipotle sauce, and steamed rainbow chard. perhaps i'll section one of the satsumas and throw it into my salad. with some of the lovely walnuts, even. i wish i had some feta.
matrushkaka and i spent a leisurely two hours wandering the market, desperately trying to control the urge to buy several of everything. i described to her the magnificently mustached gentleman who was helping to man several booths before she arrived, singing out "oysters! focaccia bread! live crabs!." later we encountered him hawking caramel corn, again in that marvelous voice. i had hoped to see the elderly person of indeterminate gender who plays the saw, because i wanted to describe to her that haunting, quavering sound, like a cross between a ghost's cry and a cat's meow, but he/she was gone by the time kathryn arrived. i suppose this will do well enough. we expressed amazement at some enormous, greenish-white squashes (one of them was two feet long and possibly as much in circumference) at one stand, and the vendor explained that they're chinese squash, something like zucchini on the inside. i can't even imagine how anyone could use one up. there were other new and interesting things: broccoli rabe that had burst into so many tiny yellow blossoms that it looked like a bouquet; carrots of unusually large girth; an orchid with blooms that looked more like the long, trailing feathers of some exotic bird; sage cheddar; huge sheaves of sugarcane, which i've seen before but never in such abundance. we each bought fresh lima beans mottled with purple and white and pink. neither of us had seen anything like them before.
we came away with satsumas and salad greens and chard and walnuts and persimmons and parsley and pretty much anything else you can think of. kathryn bought two live crabs ($3/lb.!), which suddenly woke up and began to wave their arms in protest while we sat in an empty stall eating samosas from a charming Indian man, who let her have two for only three dollars because that was all she had left. next time, i want to try the tamale stand.
i bought one (1) small white truffle, because they were a dollar. i have never eaten truffle, i have never cooked with truffle, and i expect to spend much of this afternoon researching exactly what i should do with it. i also bought a couple of calamansi at the urging of the vendor, who let us each try one of the small, kumquat-sized ones. they're very sour; they look like little oranges but taste something like a cross between sour orange and lime. kathryn's face when she bit into hers was priceless. i wish i'd had a camera. i bought two of the larger, satusma-sized ones. the vendor told me they're especially good with honey and tea in the morning; perhaps i will wait till morning, then, since i also bought a couple of persimmons, and one of those might go nicely with today's afternoon tea. and a lovely woman selling apples told me "take it. don't worry about it," when i tried to buy only the one.
i also learned that no matter how often i told myself i didn't have to speak loudly to kathryn to be heard above the crowd, my voice believes differently and keeps creeping upward in volume anyway. my lizard brain just kept thinking "it's noisy here! talk louder!" i felt very silly every time i noticed i was doing it. also, i am at something of a loss to determine how best to get a deaf person's attention when their back is turned and one is twitchy about touching people.
this has, so far, been the best day i've had in many years. i sense that there are still better days lying ahead. i'm still feeling energetic enough that i plan to put Lawrence of Arabia into the DVD player and do some cleaning while i watch it.
and tonight: roasted pork tenderloin, sweet potatoes with maple chipotle sauce, and steamed rainbow chard. perhaps i'll section one of the satsumas and throw it into my salad. with some of the lovely walnuts, even. i wish i had some feta.
