Dinner and the market

Last night, we had T+L over for dinner. Normally, I don't like to host on Friday nights, but we got out early for the holiday, so we were able to head out to the store.

We headed over to Dekalb Farmers Market to pick up meat and some veg, since the only veg we had was in portions for two. We picked up a bag of small yukon golds, two bunches of asparagus, four big vidalia onions, and two handsome bone-in ribeyes. We also bought herbs for a chimmichurri plus some beautiful looking black mission figs.

We stopped off at Pine St Market on the way home to pick up some cured salumi and some coppa.

For starters, I cut the figs into quarters and wrapped each one with a half slice of coppa. I also sliced up the salmi. To prep for dinner, I snapped the woody ends off the asparagus and parboiled the potatoes. Everything got a nice dousing of salt, pepper, and olive oil. A mixed up the chimmichurri and a horseradish cream with fresh horseradish we keep in the fridge.

And then -- to the grill with everything! Brownies from Sweet n Sinful for dessert. No pictures, but it was delicious and clean up was a snap.

And now, on to our weekly trip to Peachtree Road Farmers Market.

We had intended to get bacon when we were at Pine St yesterday but there was a small mix-up with how things got into the bag, so we stopped off at their booth to buy bacon and say hi to Travis.

You know, it was a couple generations ago that our families would have gone to a small shop to pick up meat or cheese or whatever it was. Their purveyors would know they by name and say hi when they came in and seem genuinely happy to see them. They would let us in on some new stuff or give us a little extra, just because we were good customers. Josh and I have really gotten into this mentality of know your farmer, know your purveyor. I love coming to the market and seeing people we know and talking with them briefly before buying things that they've raised or made with such care. Pine St is just one of those places that I love to shop and know. Sometimes it makes me sad when we go to the brick-n-mortar store and it's not Rusty or Travis helping us. (We don't really know Kyle.) I know it means that they are doing well and have help and that they shouldn't be working all the time, but it still makes me feel like I'm losing something. Perhaps it's just part of how to goes. Both Burge and Hennessey have expanded their teams this year, too, but perhaps it's that their newsletters include mentions of their new folks and I feel connected to them. Maybe it's all in my head.

On with the rest of our market loot. There was a new vendor there today, Sequatchie Cove Creamery. It's easy to keep up when you are the one who has to add them to the website. We cheerfully bought a wedge of their coppinger, which is an aged cow's milk cheese with a little funk. I was surprised Josh chose this one to get, but I like the tang.

We also bought another pain au levain (vehicle for tomato sammiches) and hamburger buns. The line at H&F was ridiculously long and waiting before standing in it did nothing but make it longer. I'm happy to say they still had what we wanted though. Hooray!

I got a bagful of potatoes from Burge, but I couldn't resist also getting more rosegolds from McMullan. Rebecca (I believe her name is) at McMullan is so nice. She said that they just planted the fall planting for potatoes, so we can basically have rosegolds all year! Wonderful! Also, we got a nice watermelon from Burge. It was definitely heavy and I have the tired wrist to prove it. I hope it's super good!

It's tomato season! That means it's hard to hold back when buying. From Burge, we got a selection of different heirlooms. I put them on the windowsill to ripen. And then from Hennessey, we picked up a few bigg'uns and then a pint of these deliciously sweet grape tomatoes. RJ dumped them into a bag and then added a couple handfuls more. How generous of them! It's hard not to gush again about knowing your purveyor...

Those five little zephyr squash are from Riverview and cost only $1. We haven't bought from Riverview in a while since we have so much meat still in the chest freezer, but I feel like we need to spread the love around now and again. We also got a beautiful pint of chanterelles from Indian Ridge. Those cucumbers are from McMullan, the sweet red peppers are from Burge, and the small cabbage is also from McMullan. It's hard to eat an entire head of cabbage and that's exactly why McMullan grows these little ones. Awesome!

You can tell that we bought a lot. Good thing we will be home so much this week. Here we have filet beans and flat beans from Hennessey along with some red onions and hot peppers from Burge. There is also a mess of okra from Burge and Hennessey combined. The vegetable drawers are bursting full!

And now, I am going to rest. I got home from the market and put everything away and then had to shell English peas and fava beans. And then again for the fava beans. It's a good thing Josh likes them so much that he appreciates them, but damn they are a lot of work. We'll have them tonight with some cider-bourbon brined pork chops from Pine St. Can't wait!