Farm to fork.

I love the farmer's market.  When I thought about planting a garden again this year, I reminded myself of two things.  First, I would rather spend time in my pool and, secondly,  I would no longer have an excuse to go to the farmer's market.  It only took about 2.5 seconds to talk myself out of that one.

Unfortunately for me, my dog and two cats (read: free to a decent home) forgot that it was Saturday this morning and expected breakfast at the usual time.  The dog I can ignore, but the cats cause total havoc until I wake up.  It always starts with knocking everything off of my bedside table one object at a time, but I digress...  So anyways, I figured I may as well get moving and drive to the farmer's market before all of the deliciousness was gone.

I love that there are so many organic products available at the farmer's market downtown.  I'm definitely not against non-organics, but my preference is organic anytime I can find it.  There is such a difference in the taste of an organic vegetable versus non-organic.  Of course, there's also that whole absence of pesticides thing, too.

Today's haul includes:  kale, squash, sweet banana peppers, green tomatoes, red tomatoes, cherry & grape tomatoes, cilantro, new potatoes, onions, chocolate cheese pie (what? It's homemade and mostly for my husband), and pico de gallo. 

My plans for these perfect little fruits (and vegetables) of nature include: kale chips (courtesy of the Neely's recipe), homemade marinara sauce, fried green tomatoes, and those baby tomatoes will go in a homemade balsamic dressing with cucumber and onion.

My favorite thing about the farmer's market is that I have more time to waste away in my pool.