Fall farmers' market bounty

I've been having a great time trying out the items from our new farmers' market vendor here in Bay Ridge -- Siobhan from Raindance Farm brings wonderful raw milk cheese and various beef and pork products from her farm in Schenevus. This week we are trying the "ring bologna" which contains only beef and spices; this is a bit like a delicious smoked summer sausage, only with a better texture. Great for sandwiches with cheese, mustard, kale, a slice of tomato, and some ruby red sauerkraut from Hawthorne Valley (Union Square Greenmarket).

My other Saturday purchases included:
-kale
-sweet potatoes
-onions (bought lots so Ollie and I can indulge in butter-sauteed onions to our hearts' content!)
-red skin potatoes
-apples
-turnips (+ turnip greens in the crisper)
-yellow pepper
-carrots
-tomato
-2 loaves whole wheat sourdough (from Bread Alone)
-sea scallops
-"sun" cheese (from Raindance Farm)

At the Union Square Greenmarket on Monday I bought:

-popcorn! (the best EVER -- I get it on Mondays from a farmer who sells all veggies)
-raw milk cheddar (because already in 2 days we have gone through the sun cheese, it's that good)
-ground beef from the wonderful guys at Central Valley Farm (once again, the best ground beef to be had anywhere around here)

And tomorrow, since I have to go into the city anyway, I will be stocking up on eggs from a New Paltz farm (he was sold out last time -- his eggs are the best to be had around here aside from Grazin' Angus Acres which sells on Saturdays). Also probably pick up more sourdough as we are going through it really fast with all these sandwiches. And I will be visiting the Cayuga Pure Organics booth to buy some dry beans and possibly a whole grain of some kind (spelt? farro? not sure -- something for stews).

To start the week I made bone broth from last week's chicken bones and remnants (supplemented with chicken feet and lots of veggies); having this on hand will allow me to make a butternut-squash-black-bean-and-kale soup that's divine (recipe forthcoming). I also soaked and cooked 1.5 cups of black beans and 1 cup of pinto beans; I will be using them for soup and to make a sandwich spread. I made apple muffins for Hugo's take-to-work breakfasts (see my recipe), and washed and chopped the turnip greens. Today I made ice cream from raw cream we got last week: just 2-3 cups raw cream mixed with 2-3 eggs yolks and 1/4 cup maple syrup (optional 1 tbsp. vanilla). It's SO delicious!

Ice Cream!

Last Thursday Sharon and I made ice cream at her apartment. Of course we can hardly be said to have really "made" anything at all since the ice cream maker did all the work, but still, we had a hand in it I suppose (even if this mainly consisted of lugging our farm-fresh booty to her place after the TNG pick-up). We used 3 cups of raw light cream, 1/4 cup maple syrup, and 3 egg yolks, plus 1 tbsp. vanilla and 1 tbsp. arrowroot powder (optional, though it's said to prevent ice crystals from forming). These ingredients were mixed for about 25 minutes in the machine, and then frozen; I should add that the results were predictably delicious! Hugo and I are sold -- we will be purchasing our own ice cream maker sometime this spring so that we can enjoy homemade ice cream all summer long. We plan to use raw whole milk and fresh seasonal fruit for a lighter hot-weather version.