At last, vegetables.

The Farmer's Market opened Sunday.  I was there.

I came home with baby bok choy, japanese turnips and a cheese from a new cheese company.  This one is a cow's milk cheese although I think most of their cheeses are sheep's milk.  They also have sheep's milk ricotta and ricotta that is half cow half sheep.  I will be buying from them again. 

Of course I got eggs from a local poultry farm that has completely free run chickens and a few other things less picturesque. 

It is still early in the season for most produce here but anything fresh and green and flavorful is a treat. 

Today I also went to another farm stand and market where I picked up beets grown by a farmer who extends his season using big plastic tunnels that are kind of like giant cold frames you can walk through. 

Fiddleheads and Morels are also in season now. 

We had the fiddleheads tonight along with chicken breasts cooked with the morels and fresh asparagus cut from my garden.  At least something is still growing in the long abandoned vegetable garden.

Looking at the bounty I can see why our food budget is bigger than the average American family's.  But to me it is so worth it to have good food.  I didn't start out being so picky about what I ate, and I have had periods where I was a true junk-food-junkie, but those days are mostly gone.  I would rather have excellent quality, healthy nutritious food that I can savor.    I love vegetable but I am no vegetarian, and I adore a good cheese.  But even with cheeses I have learned that having a bit of a really nice cheese is so much more satisfying than just another block of grocery store cheddar.  Spring is always a period where I am desperate to get away from the grocery store, when the produce looks tired and tastes flavorless.  It may serve the purpose of food, but it is only fuel, not nourishment in all senses.  I am always happy for the  local markets to open.

I try to keep a few basics that can be prepared without much cooking for those days when everything is just to chaotic.  A good cheese, and artisanal salami, some fruit or a vegetable simply sauteed, a pickle, an egg, a selection of nuts.  These are things that can be enjoyed no matter how stressful life gets.  So much better than grabbing some carb and sugar laden fast-food item that just leaves my stomach aching while simultaneously crave more.