day six: market lessons, brunch confessions, and local pasta potluck!

The farmers' market necessitated two trips yesterday. Going early in the morning is amazing because you can find the rare things, like celery and no-sugar added (hence, 100% local) applesauce! I was so excited about the celery that I think the farmer thought I was crazy. I was still on an oat-finding mission, so I asked Tom Brantmeier (my local flour source) if he had oats, and he pretty much laughed in my face, saying it takes mega-amounts of work and you have to get a certain variety for it to work correctly, and the although he used to have oats, that nobody at the market besides him is "dumb enough" to sell them anymore. Sad. No oatmeal or granola for real now. I also bought rainbow trout fillets and asked a million questions about it. I couldn't bring myself to buy the ones with the heads still on, although the eyes looked kinda fake and googly-like -- not at all threatening.

Now I have a confession to make: I didn't cook my brunch after the market. I went to Bluephie's. They use local eggs, milk, cheese and potatoes, which they buy directly from the farmers several times a week. I felt pretty good about supporting a local restaurant that also supports local food. I have been feeling really run-down from the extra time/energy that cooking demands, that I just needed to sit down and eat something fantastic and relax. It was great.

Then for dinner I attempted homemade fresh pasta. I say "attempted" because although Troy said it tasted good, I think it was a challenge and not so much a success. First, I don't think the local whole wheat flour was great, and it was dense/slimy. I don't have a pasta-roller and so the hand-rolling proved difficult, as did the cutting/drying. The good news is that Troy made local sauce with tomatoes, portabellos and sausage from the market. This tasted absolutely awesome and covered-up the weird pasta taste. In the future, I would feel perfectly content to buy locally produced pasta from RP's Pasta, even though the wheat they use is not local.