crafty_packrat | Recent Entries

A pound of ground beef, a pound of pork belly (for Korean cooking), a conical cabbage (also for Korean cooking), a lemon tart, an almond croissant, a bacon-gruyere pastry wheel, shallots, green onions, bell peppers (for frying, chili, or pepper soup), a bulb of garlic, shallots.

Last week, I was lucky enough to find ground venison from New Zealand at the local Safeway, so I made chili. This week, I'll make spicy pork from Cook Korean! by Robin Ha, and maybe some more chili later in the week.

I'm also planning to make pffeffernusse for a holiday party next weekend.

Orange beets with their greens, snacking peppers, 2lb of purple peppers, a loaf of country white bread, gingerdoodle cookies, chocolate walnut cookies, bosc pears, arlet apples.

Ruby and Ambrosida apples, harrow pears, green bell peppers, shishito peppers, bouvre and wallaby cheeses, gingerdoodle and dark chocolate walnut cookies, a half-pint of chocolate milk, a half-pint of berry yogurt smoothie.

My mom

texasgrandma died today at 11:30 am Central US time.

Brown sugar kettle corn, caramel kettle corn, a slice of blueberry cheese strudel, hardy kiwis, UFO peppers, potomac pears, arlet and lucy glo apples.

Went to Small Press Expo yesterday with

greenygal. Among other things, I picked up some hockey comics for my small cousins.

Today, I went to the other market, so I have:

Apples, pears, plums, rasperries, scallions, chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms, chocolate milk, peach yogurt smoothie, and a sugar cube canteloupe.

Brown sugar kettle corn, caramel kettle corn, figs, Concord grapes, purple bell peppers, shishito peppers, freestone peaches, shennadoah pears, brown rice.

Watermelon lemonade, miyatake mushrooms, lemon tart, gruyere-bacon wheels, kouign aman pastry, fresh mozarella, a baguette, ufo purple chile peppers (which may be too spicy for any use I can make of them -- possibly one chopped fine instead of 3 serranos in peach salsa?), 3/4 lb of pickling cucumbers, a red bell pepper, chocolate chip walnut cookies, raspberry crumble squares, chewy ginger cookies, and cranberry ginger cookies.

I also have food from my friends overflowing CSA box: a slicer tomato, an asian eggplant, a bag of basil, beets, carrots, a coneheaded cabbage, and 2 melons (possibly sugar cube melons -- they're about the size of grapefruits).

I've roasted two heads of garlic and will be making a toasted caprese sandwich in a moment. I hope to make some muffin-cup frittatas with the mushrooms tonight and get a start on red-and-butter pickles (just like bread-and-butter pickles, but with more hot peppers).

A quart of plain yogurt, a pint of mango yogurt smoothie, a cup of raspberry yogurt smoothie, white nectarine lemonade, a half-pound of cremini mushrooms, 3lb of mixed value tomatoes, sungold cherry tomatoes, donut peaches (yellow and mango), casarecce from the grain alliance, bacon-gruyere wheel, lemon tart, 3 Pulled pork handpies,
2 lentil-mushroom handpies, chocolate peppermint butter cookies, a strawberry cake slice, chewy ginger cookie stack, and a lemon brownie.

Peach lemonade, brioche hamburger buns, blueberries, apricots, plums, cherry tomatoes, pickling cucumbers, gruyere-bacon wheel, lemon tart, French macrons (earl grey, lemon strawberry, creme brulee, pistachio, mango tajin, strawberry cheesecake), a stuffed bischoff cookie, smoked bacon, chocolate walnut cookies, 3 samosa handpies, 1 chicken and broccoli handpie, a carrot cake slice, a buttermilk cake slice, a chewy ginger stack, a lemondoodle stack, a traditional chocolate chip stack, and a box of cookie bloopers.

Black raspberries, apricots, apriums, plums, blueberries, value tomatoes (making fresh tomato sauce tonight), 1/2lb of pioppino mushrooms, 3 Charred Tomato and Sweet Corn handpies, 2 Cheesesteak handpies, a carrot cake slice, a buttermilk cake slice, a chewy ginger cookie stack, a lemondoodle stack, and blueberry lemon cookies

I plan to make the roast beet and goat cheese sandwiches tomorrow with the red beets I got last week, but tonight I've made fresh tomato sauce with the value tomatoes and the basil from last week.

My manager gave me some cucumbers from her family's garden, so I plan to make bread-and-butter pickles tomorrow; I'll slice and salt the cucumbers early in the morning, and do the canning in the evening.

Blueberry lemonade, yellow and red sweet cherries (1 qt qnd 2 qt -- I plan to make cherry ketchup), dill plant, 2 basil plants, lavender plant, rosemary plant, a quart of chocolate milk, a dozen eggs, Jersey Gold (gouda style) cheese from Spring Gap Mountain Creamery, 2 Puerto Rican Style Chicken handpies, 2 Moroccan Spiced Chickpea handpies, a carrot cake slice, a lemon doodle stack, a chewy ginger stack, and a CSA medium share from Spiral Path Farm -- 2 slicer tomatoes, 2 cups of sugar snap peas, 2 cups of snow peas, 1 summer squash, 1 zucchini, 2 cucumbers, a bunch of garlic scapes, parsley, basil, red beets, and 2lb of potates.

I picked up a friend's CSA share this week (they're out of town and didn't want it wasted) and it reminded me why I don't buy one -- even with a medium share instead of a full share, it's too much food for me. I'd have to be living with another person for this amount of food to make sense.

Current Mood: hot

Lemon tart, bacon-gruyere wheel, a loaf of struan bread, half-pint gooseberry, a quart of pie cherries, a quart of yellow sweet cherries, a quart of apricots, a pint of whole milk, a quart of plain yogurt, a bunch of flat parsley, a bunch of garlic scapes, 4 oz of shiitake mushrooms, a pint of cherry tomatoes, 2 heads of elephant garlic, an onion, a small round zucchini, 2 Cubano handpies, 2 Black Bean & Korean Yam handpie, a carrot cake slice, a buttermilk cake slice, a lemon doodle stack, a chewy ginger stack, and a loaded oatmeal stack.

Quart of black raspberries, quart of sweet cherries, 2 quarts of sour cherries, pint of blueberries, pint of saskatoons, 2 8-oz bottles of chocolate milk from the new dairy, masaco (pork-plantain-cheese) empanada, Old Bay shrimp empanada, nutella-banana empanada, 3 quesadilla handpies, 2 chile con carne handpies, a sage-sausage muffin, raspberry crumble squares, a chewy ginger cookie stack, a lemondoodle cookie stack, a loaded oatmeal cookie stack, and almond ginger butter cookies.

Bacon-gruyere wheel, mushroom-leek roll, a pint of saskatoons, 1/2 pint of red raspberries, a quart of strawberries, a quart of sweet cherries, 6 plants (2 shisito peppers, a Sungold cherry tomato, a dill, a parsley, and a chamomile), 3 samosa handpies, 2 chicken french onion handpies, a lemon brownie, a sage sausage corn muffin, a slice of carrot cake, a lemon doodle stack, a chewy ginger stack, and a loaded oatmeal stack.

I don't have enough saskatoons to make my usual saskatoon ketchup, but maybe if I add the blueberries I will. I use this recipe from Saveur.

Two compliments on my linen trousers -- they have an arabesque pattern of browns on a seafoam aqua background with orange accents in a gradient until the background is orange as the hem. I wore them with an orange linen shirt I bought from Talbots on sale specifically to go with these trousers.

Also, next week the produce stand I usually buy from said they will have tart cherries, so I may make a pie for Juneteenth.

Lemon tart, bacon-gruyere wheel, almond croissant, red raspberries, 2 quarts of strawberries, a red bell pepper, a pint of snacking peppers, a carrot cake muffin, oatmeal raisin cookies, 3 mushroom-and-lentil handpies, 2 cheeseburger handpies, a roasted vegetable muffin, cranberry ginger butter cookies, a lemon brownie, a lemondoodle stack, and a chewy ginger stack.

The Master Gardeners were there today, so I got a free eggplant and a free marigold.

I got compliments on my shirt today -- a Velvet Night button-down from MorningWitch -- and my packbasket, which continues to be a favorite of many vendors at the market.

Also, I stumbled upon this crocheted hostess apron Pansies for Remembrance -- the original poster did transcribe the pattern and it is actually not that difficult -- I've certainly made difficult patterns before. I desperately want to make it now and know I should keep working on everything else I've already started instead.

2 quart strawberries, sugar snap peas, shisto-orange mint lemonade, 2 pulled pork handpies, 2 taste of India handpies, a vegan brownie, a lemon brownie, a chewy ginger stack, a lemondoodle stack, and a roasted vegetable muffin.

One of the people at the grain booth complimented my shirt -- the Corn Snake button-down from Morning Witch, which is dark green and not the black I thought it was from the website -- and how it goes with the bright yellow cargo-pocket skirt I was wearing.

A woman also complimented by on my outfit when I was walking back home from the market.

Spring onions, 2 quarts of strawberries, a pint of snap peas, strawberry herbal lemonade, lavender lemonade packet, 3 Huevos Rancheros handpies, a buttermilk cake slice, a lemondoodle stack, a chewy ginger cookie stack,
a cranberry ginger butter cookies, and a box of cookie bloopers.

As I was leaving, some stopped me to compliment me on my outfit. I was wearing my Velvet Night button-down shirt from Morningwitch Clothing, which came with a matching bandana.

I'm planning on making strawberry jam this week with all the strawberries. I just need strawberries, lime juice, honey, and thyme and enough canning supplies, and I have all of those.

3 quarts of strawberries (to make jam!), plain yogurt, a quart of milk, green peas in their pods, cilantro, 1 lb black beans, 3 Morrocan Spiced Chickpeas handpies, 2 Chicken with Artichoke & Sundried Tomatoes handpies, a sage sausage muffin, a carrot cake slice, a blue-be-doodle cookie stack, a chewy ginger stack, a triple peanut cookie stack, and ginger cranberry butter cookies.

It turns out the place I get the yogurt from is switching to the Rockville market come next week, which means I will have to see if anyone at the Takoma Market on Sundays makes fresh yogurt or hope whoever takes the booth space will have it. Or just switch to eating skyr more often.

Also, the salad shop has gotten rid of arugula entirely -- and since I dislike most leafy greens, I will probably stop picking up a weekly salad. Good for my budget, bad for me eating enough vegetables.

I went up with

temve and a friend of theirs named M___; they picked me up from the Wendy's across the Wheaton Metro, because the Wheaton Kiss & Ride stops are impossible.

We got there about 10 am, and it was surprisingly little traffic for that time of day. Usually the last mile into the fairgrounds during MDSW takes a good 30 minutes, if not more. But it was raining and forecast to rain all day, so the casual daytrippers didn't come (leaving the hardcore yarn enthusiasts to be all over).

I stopped at the plant nurseries first, and bought 3 petunias plants (purple with yellow edges, and pink with white splotches), 2 fish peppers, 1 mortgage lifter tomato, 2 basils, and 6 cotton plants (from Putnam Hill Nursery.

Next we went to Friends in Reed, a group of basket makers who always have amazing baskets for reasonable prices. I bought a market basket and a smaller basket labeled as a 'bread basket' that is just the right size to drop envelopes in until I have enough energy to deal with sorting my mail.

Then we went to the auction tent -- there were a couple things that tempted me, like a 'surfboard' style tablet-weaving loom -- but it was still early so we checked out what was already there and then walked on.

We walked through the outside north booths until we came to The Bee Folks. It was only about 11, but they'd already sold out of the Coffee Blossom honey and the Mango honey, unless you were willing to by 1 gallon containers (that weigh 12 lbs). I did buy Thistle honey and WildFoam (when the bees have fed on meadowfoam and wildflowers, a good compromise when you don't want to pay the premium for pure monofloral meadowfoam honey) and picked up two bags of honey candy.

It was about 11:30 or so then, so we headed to the Boy Scouts and had lambburgers for lunch. The younger boys take the orders, the older boys handle money and serving up the food, and the dads do the cooking. It's adorable to have an 8 year old concentrating his hardest on customer service because they just aren't able to remember everything yet.

Then we stopped and picked up some candied pecans because the line was short and they're a good snack to carry with you through the fairgrounds.

We went into the Main Barn, partly to get out of the rain and partly because it has the biggest number of vendors. I picked up some yarn from Into the Whirled -- socks yarn in colors Melange (semi-solid copper orange) and Rhinebeck (chocolate brown with bronze notes).

temve was surprised at the name, since there is a town in Germany named Rhinebach -- the Rhinebeck in New York state was probably named after it, but is also where the big sheep & wool festival is held in the autumn.

At about 12:45, M_____ had to go the auction and I decided I shouldn't, so

temve and I walked on. I did run into someone I know from the farmer's market, and guided her to Bosworth Spindles and Charkas, partly because I knew where they were but mostly because they make excellent handspindles. I bought a new one out of spalted tamarind (apparently 'spalt' is same word in English and German, but in English refers specifically to spalting in wood instead of splitting in general).

I looked at Wild Hare, walked on, and then realized their Pinnacle DK mini-skein set was perfect for the 8-bit doodlee hat pattern I got from Pacific Knit Company (the place that does the knitting doodle decks.

We then walked through the annex where some demonstrations were being held, cut back through the main barn, and walked through the smaller barns. Tem was looking for yarn to knit a replacement shawl with but kept running into 'not enough skeins' or 'wrong color' but we did finally find something that should work -- a dark blue-purple-green, the colors of an oil slick but much nicer.

I bought a skein of flamingo pink fingering tencel just because I love the color, and a giant skein (5250 yards) of 72%wool/28%rayon in the palest lilac (the colors had already been picked over, so that was the best of a weird lot) to make one of the really big lace shawls out of. Also, I picked up three balls of merino roving, about 6 oz in all, and plan to spin them into fingering for fingerless mittens, a hat, and maybe a smoke ring scarf.

We walked through the south outside booths and came to Kiparoo Farm, which is both very local and a place I used to go to regularly, when I lived in upcounty from where I am now. I picked up 2 skeins of their silk/wool blend in a crimson that will look great when knit up. I plan to get gloves, a hat, and a scarf out of it.

Last, I picked up 1000 yds of a superfine merino lace, which I may make into either Eyjafjallajokull or Simurg.

M______ had managed to buy a spinning wheel, but one that needs a good bit of repair work. They retrieved it and I made my last purchase of the day, a partial cone of extra-fine weaving wool from a Pendelton mill end. We picked up all my plants on the way out and walked through squishy grass back to the car.

We drove back, and then hung out at

temve's place for dinner, meeting several of her wife's martial arts students and enjoying no longer wearing wet socks.