Recipe for Late Summer Appreciation
Get out to your local farmer’s market.
Bring your favorite vendor a cup of coffee. Thank him for his hard work (his really hard work) and dedication to harvesting from the earth in a way that makes our soil better, our rivers cleaner, and our bodies a little more glowy.
Buy as many late summer tomatoes as you can possibly eat. Take them home a serve them simply - a slice of mozzarella, a touch of vinaigrette, or just sliced with sprinkle of salt and pepper.
I just got back from a volunteer “vacation” at Pennypack Farm in Horsham, Pennsylvania. It was a perfect taste of summer, sun-drenched veggies and just enough sweaty, back-breaking work to make me want to keep my day job. Thank you to everyone - Susan, Gail, Andy, Molly, Katie, Mark and Harm. You inspire me.
September 7th, 2007 22:15
I will do just that at the market and/or raspberry farm tomorrow. I love this post!
September 8th, 2007 10:25
Thanks for the heads up on WWOOF–I didn’t know about them, but I’d love to do one of those weekends. Though I’m no stranger to farm work–I just got back from my grandparents’ farm where we had a mess of apples and pears to deal with. I heart farmers!
September 10th, 2007 17:06
I have made, in the past week (all with fresh tomatoes) ersatz (no anchovies) puttenesca sauce (for halibut), gypsy soup, chili, and marinara sauce with eggplant and fresh mozzarella so dont try and tell me ’bout no stinkin’ tomaters.
September 13th, 2007 10:08
Bazu - Please do!
Lisa - Check out the WWOOFing site. You can travel around the world, working on organic farms and eating local varieties of sun-soaked veggies. Wish I had learned about it sooner!
Queenie - what’s with you and this Gypsy Soup? You’ve got to make for me sometime, you know.