Updates: Market, Card, and KRUM!

Today's Market was pretty good. The weather held out on us, and the sun even came out a few times. It was hot, but not oppressive, so we held off setting up the fans. We'll save those for July and August!

Farmer Mike had more 'Maters this week. You know, these:

These look funny because they are Mr. Uglies variety. I bought that one in the middle with the little nubs on it. These are still from the hot house since even where Farmer Mike lives - a few hours south of here - it is too early for vine-ripened out-in-the-field 'maters. That's okay - these are the next best thing! I also got some cukes, and fresh green beans.

Ah, the green beans. I made this recipe with them, but I went a little overboard on the caramelizing part. Some might call it burned (burnt), but I call it really, really brown, yummy goodness.

My CSA share included lettuce, onions, garlic scapes (tops), cillantro, basil, radishes, and beets. I knew the day would come when I had to face the beets, and it has arrived. The beet is one of the few veggies that I detest. I think if I were to get okra, though, it would be worse. But I did get beets today. What to do, what to do ... I have cooked beets before, really, I have. I saw a show many years ago called The Surreal Gourmet, and he made a roasted beet appetizer that he swore would make someone such as myself like beets. I tried it. Given that it had a lot of either Feta or goat cheese in it and it mostly masked the taste of the beets, I guess it passed. But I would not make it again. It was still beets. If I had to choose between pickled or roasted, I'd opt for neither, but lean towards the roasted. When I was a kid, we used to have borscht when we visited my grandparents. Beets, yes, I know. I ate it with a LOT of diced dill pickles and sour cream mixed in. Can you tell beets are not my favorite thing on the planet?

So as I did my marathon veggie cleaning this evening, I put the beets in some foil and roasted them. They are cooling now, and I am still undecided as to what to do with them. I have a week to figure it out. Next week I'll probably get more beets, plus I have already been warned I'll get some more kale. Lucky for me I also bought more raspberries, and I blended them with my remaining pitted sweet and sour (all mixed up) cherries to create this week's blended fruit drink. At least I am getting my fruits and veggies, which was the whole point of doing the CSA.

Enough about food...how 'bout some stampin'?!



Remember this guy? This is a version of my Inspiration Card from the other day. I still thought it needed something, so I added that little tab thing over the left side of the ribbon.






Here is a little detail (I love a closeup!) ;-) It was very easy to do! I just punched out a short row of the scallops with my slit punch, cut out one section, lined it up, marked and punched the holes for the brads...done! I kinda like it! I made two of each - with and without the little tab. I'll get some shopper opinions next week.


And lastly, remember Krum? The little kitten stowaway one of the farmers discovered last year in her truck? If not, you can read about him here, here and here. Today, Krum's Mom stopped by for some veggies, and we begged her for an update. She said he has the most gorgeous coat ... a blue-gray, and very soft. He's all grown up, and he's built like a wild cat, with his back legs longer than the front, which makes him a very good jumper. She said he is the sweetest thing, and we were all soooo happy to have found him a good home. ;-)

Well, I am supposed to be cleaning the Living Room to find the floor, but as I suspected would happen, I got distracted by some of my Papertrey stash, largely because someone at today's market was wearing a shirt and matching Crocs the color of PTI's Berry Sorbet, so you can understand that I simply had to act on that bit of inspiration...it is really not my fault.