Ola! Two fiestas in two weeks. Fiesta #1 was a great garden birthday party. What food we couldn't harvest from the garden, we picked up from the farmers' market to make this luscious vegetable platter – with haricots jaunes. If you thought haricots were green beans, think again. It could also mean yellow string beans as well. Vert for green, jaune for yellow. What I like about the farmers' market is that there is always a surprise encouraging you to try something new. Since I am thinking about color these days, the yellow brought a really nice constrast to the salad greens.
Lynn, a client and friend, has turned out to be a great cook. I know. For on many a day while working on her garden, she has invited me to stay for dinner. Lynn made the tomato platter as well as the tomato tart, which was part of our Fiesta #2.
Fiesta # 2 turned out to be a filling feast with a tomato tart by Lynn for a starter, poached salmon with a cucumber sauce by me and a salad with goat cheese by Lynn's sister, Marcie. If you haven't seen Julia and Julia yet why not follow our and I'm sure many other's foot food steps into a Julia Child's cook book before heading out to the highly entertaining film. Meryl Streep as Julia is a real treat. Our dessert course we saved for after the film with fromage franรงaise, figs, grapes, strawberries and hand sized tarts.
Some young women with cameras and mic in hand stop me at the local farmers' market recently to ask if I'd be willing to go on camera to say why I like shopping at the farmers' market. “Sure,” I said, then proceeded to say how much I like to see what's in season, taste all the different varieties of fruits before making a selection. I enjoy all the colorful displays of fruits and vegetables which inspire me to get out my camera and take pictures.
Sometimes, I pick up vegetable starts like the mesclun mix of lettuces that you can see planted in my garden around the skirt and shovel sculpture. Additionally, I said to the camera: “I like the carnival-like, festive atmosphere of the farmers' market where you can dip cubes of bread into different types of olive oil and flavored vinegars; sample a variety of yogurts and ice creams, made with real fruit from the farmers' market. When traveling, I always check out farmers' markets and I am glad that now we have so many here.” It turned out that the women were working on a documentary for Michael Pollan's ongoing project of researching what attracts people to eating real food.
On a fun note, I was invited into Michael Pollan's garden by his landscape designer, a tall nice man from Columbia. (If you know his name, please let me know by commenting this blog entry.) No surprise – his inner courtyard garden had a stunning display of healthy vegetables. The designer had built beautiful raised beds, filled with American Soil's vegetable mix, Local Hero. What stood out for me was how many vegetables can thrive in small spaces. I remember seeing at least three types of beans, squashes of different variety, lettuces, peppers, and towering sunflowers, along with summer herbs. This is the season for the return of the victory garden. In my opinion, adding some sculptures that make fruits and vegetables shine with glorious sun rays would make the garden even more victorious.
Happy Gardening,
Keeyla Meadows
