farmers market day!

i LOVE farmers market day! yesterday, i went first thing in the morning again(new favorite way to start a day) and what struck me the most was the rainbow of colors in so much of the produce. plums in yellow, peach, red, blue, purple and everything in between.

peppers and tomatoes in every shade from palest yellow all the way up through screaming red, with some purples and greens thrown in for good measure. and the eggplants...stripy and speckled and tie-dyed looking, they look like they're related to the stripy and speckled tomatoes you see above...and it turns out they are!

 

i'm most excited about the very special mirabelle plums i bought...i'm told they're very rare in the united states and the woman i bought them from said they're from a tree on her farm that was smuggled in from france 25 years ago. she's planning on having her father in law graft the tree, which i just learned means that he'll attach a piece of it to rootstock so he can create another plant. (would the fruit that grafted tree bore be considered a GMO? if so, i think i'm okay with this kind).

i also bought one hot cherry pepper and one serrano pepper...WWBFD*?

*what would bobby flay do?

a bowl(ed) idea

my post about rachael ray's lazy cooking utensils yesterday got me thinking...what are the best tips you've learned from cooking shows?

i feel like i've learned so many. one of the best ones is the use of a "garbage bowl," also from rachael ray. of course she sells them, as shown here in both confetti and marble styles, but i find that to be highly unnecessary. i just use any large mixing bowl and it works just fine, obvi.

and if you really like the confetti look, i'd much sooner go for this zak designs set of confetti nesting bowls which is the same price as the rachael ray garbage bowl (sorry rach) -- so much more bang for the buck, and so fun looking! it also comes in quarry brown , which is gorg.


the idea of the garbage bowl is that when you're doing prep work, you dump all your garbage into the bowl and then empty it when full. this avoids the need for several potentially messy trips back and forth to the garbage, keeps your work area neat and keeps the garbage can in its rightful spot, not lugged over to the counter looking all messy and gross. it's a tip i've come to use every time i cook and i love it. totally one of those aha type of tips.

even if it sounds really simple and blah to you, try it. i wonder if you'd like it and feel that it makes your kitchen work easier and more efficient - i was surprised how useful a tip it was. and isn't that why we watch the experts at work?

what are some tips you've come to appreciate?

all photos from www.amazon.com