Farmers Market Haul

Let's play a little game, yeah?  Take a look at that picture for a minute (click on it twice and blow it up nice and big!)  Look at everything in it, and calculate how much you think each item cost.  Tally that up, keep the number in your head, and then scroll down.  And for the record, this is:

1 huge bunch of basil
1 small bag full of braising greens (not all of it fit in the bowl)
2 Walla Walla sweet onions
2 types of zucchini
2 purple sweet peppers
1 green hot pepper
1 pound of tri-colored green beans (yellow, purple, and well... green)

All of this is organic and locally grown.  All of this is seasonal, picked within the past 24 hours, and all of this I bought three blocks from my house, most of which was directly from the farmers who grew it.

Okay ready to scroll down???

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We spent $11.50.  Eleven dollars, and fifty cents.  I will tell you right now that if we had gone to the grocery store half a mile away and bought all of this, it would have easily cost us close to $20 and the quality would have been far inferior.  If we had bought eggs this week the difference wouldn't have been much different.  One dozen organic, free range, certified humane eggs at the grocery store costs $4.50.  They cost $5 at the farmers market, and I trust those statements far more when I can talk to the farmer face to face.

I know that not every community has access to farmers markets.  If yours does- do you shop there, or elsewhere?  Why or why not?  Bonus points (yeah, I'm counting!): leave me a comment and let me know how much you thought this all cost before you scrolled down!

Link Love!

Food, oh food.  Once upon a time my Link Love posts contained all sorts of fun and exciting things.  These days my definition of "fun and exciting" basically includes the making, eating, finding, creating, reading, learning or traveling all for the sake of food.  Mmm.  As you saw in my second half of our Mt. Rainier camping adventure pictures- the trip ended with the purchasing of a whole blackberry pie.  I can't help it.  I really can't.

- Is it wrong to start off with a cocktail?  No?  Alright!  This Cucumber-Rosemary Gin and Tonic makes me wish it were possible to drink nothing else.  Water?  Pfft.  

- I love bread puddings and stratas, but rarely ever make them. This recipe for Summer Strata with Spinach, Basil & Roasted Garlic Custard from Eat Me, Delicious pretty much covers every base that needs to be covered.  Bread, cheese, custard, greens, garlic... mmm.  Hi.

- A few of my favorite semi-recent articles from Serious Eats:  How to Build a Tolerance for Spicy Food is excellent and worth a read.  I adore spicy foods, but it took me a long time to get there.  Healthy Corner Store Initiative Takes Off in Providence is a great article about a group of students in Providence, RI who work to make-over convenience stores and corner markets to carry more healthful options. 

- Four Fish by Paul Greenberg feels like one of those books that I am just supposed to read.  I think it's so important to understand where our food comes from, how it's procured, and what that means in terms of sustainability and longevity.  And, well- fish matters.  Especially to me, a giant fish nerd.

- Working Class Foodies is an awesome online show that follows two siblings in their quest to turn local and seasonal ingredients into great meals for under $6 per person.  The recipes are beautiful and easy to follow along.  Some recent recipes: Ice Pops, Ricotta, and Zucchini Pancakes, Homemade Veggie Burgers and Potato Salad, and Soda with fresh fruit and herbs.

- These Sweet Corn Pancakes from Smitten Kitchen sound like the perfect weekend treat.  I'm so excited that corn is becoming the new trendy food to experiment with.  I'm happy eating it out of the bag from the freezer (yes, still), but nothing beats fresh corn.  Especially when combined with breakfast.

- How to Become a Poacher has nothing to do with illegal activities, and everything to do with delicious food.  Beautifully outlined.

- Lastly- this list of 5 Quick and Delicious Lunches under 400 Calories is just awesome.  I'm not much of a calorie counter, but I also prefer to eat light small meals throughout the day, and the presentation of these is just phenomenal.  

Cougar Rock Campground, Mt. Rainier Pt. 2

Days 2 and 3!

We finished off our second day exploring a bit more of Elbe (the other side of the street haha), and driving up the mountain to Paradise- stopping a million times to take pictures. 

They had the prettiest dumpsters I've ever seen!

Our first stop on our drive up from the campground was at the Nisqually River.  Standing on this bridge made you feel incredible and tiny and sort of off balance all at once.  The river basin is so massive.  I would love to see this river in early summer when the snow is still melting.

Onward!

Can you see Paradise Lodge tucked back in there?  This area was quite developed, considering the rest of the park.  We spent a good few minutes picking up other people's trash (UGH), but were rewarded for our efforts when this little man came sneaking out of the bushes right after we got back into the car!

We finished off our second day with a short hike to a waterfall, more salmon, Carlo Rossi + Pepsi (pure class!), and an extra noisy cricket bombarding the campground (yes, just one).

Sunday morning Becca dragged me out of our tent and up the mountain on a morning run.  Yes!  I started following this 5k training program about four weeks ago now and am doing an awesome job of sticking with it.  Becca kicked my ass, and we honestly couldn't have asked for a better view.  Take that, downtown Ballard.  After our run we ate an awesome breakfast (eggs! muffins!), broke down the campsite, and headed down the mountain to Carter Falls trailhead.

Carter Falls is a fairly short and easy hike, with some great views and lots of neat things to check out along the way if you know what to look for.  It's also a great location to kick back and enjoy a fresh, cold Rainier tall-boy.  Oh yeah, we did.

Brittany the Naturalist discovered a bush of red huckleberries that had most likely been avoided by other hikers, not knowing what they were.  Score for us!

I love glacial dumps!  The woods near my dad's house growing up was full of these crazy huge boulders that had been dumped by the Mendenhall Glacier years before.  Mt. Rainier is full of these, and I really can't get enough.  They're so fascinating.

Things quickly deteriorated once we reached the falls...

 

  

We got some silly looks and some looks of envy from ladies who got it, and then headed back down to hit to road back home.

I suckered Amy into making a pit-stop with me at Copper Creek Inn to pick up pie.  Yes, pie.  Of all of the things to research before this trip- the one thing I figured out was that there was pie.  Good pie.  I actually just bought a frozen pie to bring home and bake, so that Matao might still love me a little.

All in all- a great weekend!

*Photo credits for the sly fox, and ladies w/ Rainier go to Brittany!  Thanks love!

Cougar Rock Campground, Mt. Rainier Pt. 1

I just got home from a beautiful three-day camping adventure with some of my favorite ladies.  We booked two sites at Cougar Rock Campground within Mt. Rainier National Park, mostly just because it was a good "halfway point" between Portland and Seattle.  We didn't know anything about the area or how far into the park we would be.  It ended up being my absolute favorite campsite that I've been to in Washington.  I'm already plotting our next trip back.

Dinner both nights was wild sockeye salmon with herbs de provence, fire garlic, and butter with local rosemary bread.  The first night we grilled corn, and the second night we had potato salad with fresh herbs and green beans.  Take that, hot dogs.

The camp hosts were getting ready to leave when we showed up and gave us all of their leftover wood for free!  My car still smells like cedar.

We spent our second day checking out nearby towns Ashford and Elbe.

 

 

Yes!  That's a combined ASMI + Alaskan Brewing Company sign! 

  

 

We came across an estate sale- they had so many vintage glass blue Ball canning jars!  I only bought four and I've been full of regrets since we left.  As consolation- I did also pick up a gorgeous turquoise and pink wool blanket, and we got to play with the cutest crustiest little old pug named Annabell!

In Elbe we got a little silly over puppies, and the fact that the entire town was basically made up of train cars.  I shared an elk burger with Brittany and resisted the $1 jello shots (ew!)

I'll post the rest of the pictures from our second and last days later this week!  We went on a really nice hike, drank a Rainier tall boy in front of an epic waterfall, and picked up a huge beautiful blackberry pie from a local bakery.