And by that, I don't mean just that drunk chick and her friends in the glittery witch hats with the price tags still on 'em. I mean the group in Great Britain that is seeking to gain an official pardon for all the hundreds of people that were executed over the years for various completely ridiculous reasons.
In Season, a locally sourced grocery delivery service, has a great blog with a lot of useful articles and recipes featuring locally produced comestibles. I read this post about eating locally all year today and it helps cheer one up on a dark, cold October day. (makes the foliage more intense right?)
Since the farmers' markets are starting to become scarce, I've decided to try a little indoor gardening this winter. I am cursed with a black thumb, but hopefully after doing a little research, it will get a little greener. I'm starting with a little counter-top composting rig that I came up with while cleaning the kitchen. Basically it's a half-gallon milk carton, opened at the top with a plastic produce bag liner. It's easy to scrape things into and the Adult Services section of the Phoenix makes a handy resource for the "browns" layer. There are way cuter versions available online. But hey, Christmas is coming and it's the gift that keeps on giving!
Local-made doesn't have to mean carrots with dirt all over 'em and kale recipe searches. It's cider donut time!
Best Local Cider Donuts: Brooksby Farm Bakery
The first thing that hits you when you get out of your car is the perfume of cinnamon, apples and frying dough. These come off the oven racks all day and to get one fresh out of the oven is worth the, uh, dough. $1 per donut fresh, $5 for a half dozen. Best deal, if you can resist this long, is to get the bag and then pop one in the toaster oven when you get home. If done right, these are the kind of donuts that will make a grocery bag turn clear in about 15 seconds, so you might want plenty of napkins to blot off the fat. Crispy outside, with a nice blend of apple, cake and nostril-tickling cinnamon.
This is a farmers' market run by the Food Project and since yesterday was the last scheduled day for the Beverly location (right across the street from The Golden Hanger) and the weather was a little crazy, there were a couple of stalls open and that seemed to be it. The proprietor of one of the stalls said that Green Meadows Farm is usually there as well, but it is getting pretty late in the season. I bought two adorable little eggplants for $1.25. They had some peppers that looked pretty good and some delicatta squash. Here's a summary of the Food Project flyer:
Beverly
Ellis Square-Cabot and Church Streets
3:30-6:00pm: Mondays, June 30th to October 6
Lynn
Ingalls School, Collins Street Terrace
1:30-3:00pm: Tuesdays, September 9 to October 28
Central Square, Corner of Union and Exchange Streets
11:00am-3:00pm: Thursdays, July 3rd to October 30
Gloucester
Harbor Loop
3:30pm to 6:30pm: Thursdays, July 10 to October 9
Marblehead
Veterans Middle School, 217 Pleasant Street
9:00am-Noon: Saturdays, June 14th to October 5
The Food Project accepts WIC and Senior coupons, Food Stamps/EBT, cash and Debit cards
The Hawthorne Hotel's blog has a category called Flags of the Week. So the next time you go by the hotel and see some flag you can't identify and it keeps you up at night, you can find the answer!
Not a burning issue, I know, but maybe it will come in handy for impressing that date/relative/client who happens to ask.
Found this while searching around for my latest project. Salem resident, David Moisan, took photos of every stage of the new bypass road's construction and completion. As someone who lives right on the end of Northey Street, this road is sort of a double-edged sword. While it is awesome to be able to make a left turn onto Bridge Street in less than 5 minutes, sometimes the motorcycles drag racing down the strip at 2am can seem like a little much. I love the little grassy area they created in front of the old Salem jail and the bike path that runs up to the Carlton School playground is nice too.
Broom: Walgreen's $3.99
Belt: Gift from relative
Cauldron: CVS $1.99
Child sized witch's hat & Black kitty: Salem Witch Museum Gift Shop $2.99 & $5.99
Dress: Wahlum Kung Fu shirt turned inside out.
Seeing your little one gettin' her spook on: Priceless
I made spaghetti sauce last night with the carrots and plum tomatoes I got at Brooksby Farm Tuesday (see previous post). I'm too impulsive to follow recipes in a book so I made this up on the fly and it came out better than I had hoped for! All you need is a blender, a big skillet or heavy bottom sauce pan and an appetite.
Ingredients:
5 or 6 plum tomatoes
2 or 3 carrots, peeled
3 cloves garlic peeled
1 TBS olive oil
fresh basil
oregano
1 can tomato paste
1 cup of vegetarian "crumbles" (I used Morning Star Farms)
Directions
Chop the carrots and tomatoes into medium size chunks and reserve about a cup of the tomato pieces for the sauce. Place the rest of the tomatoes and the carrots in a blender with the garlic cloves. Chop until you have a puree.
Heat the oil in the pan and add the crumbles. Stir until browned and cooked. Add the puree and the chopped tomatoes and a pinch of basil and oregano. Add the can of tomato paste and about a 1/2 can of water. Lower the heat and cook, stirring occasionally while you cook the pasta.
Total cooking time, about 1/2 hour. Makes about 4 adult servings.
