Fantastic Farmer's Markets!

One of my favorite things about summer is the reemergence of the farmer's market. While there are some places with a stable enough climate to allow a fairly abundant growing season year-round, here in Connecticut we have a limited amount of time for locally grown, fresh vegetables and fruits. Farmer's markets start popping up with first, small harvests in June and really pick up come July as the earth starts giving up her bounty.
Today I attended my first farmer's market of the season. Indeed, it was the first farmer's market I'd attended in over a year and I had forgotten entirely how much I love them. There's something wonderfully pleasant going from stall to stall, greeted by both the welcoming smiles of the stall tenders and the scents and colors of the produce.
And let us not forget the samples. No farmer's market is ever bereft of plenty of opportunities to taste the wares. Ranging from jams to vegetables to cheese and even breads and cookies, this is how they tempt you into purchasing their products. And, mostly, it's a good tactic. Freshly made sweets, produce that was picked that morning, jams that were mixed and made a mile away, honey from beehives that you can see, there's a reason farmer's markets are so popular. Sure, there might a slight price increase compared the local chain supermarket, but there's a good explanation for that: the food is better, the variety is better, and you can feel good knowing that you support local farmers, especially those who grow organic produce or raise grass-fed beef.
Farmer's markets are like mini-festivals, each with their own atmosphere. The variety, once the season really gets rolling, is fantastic, the quality spectacular. The vendors are cheerful and, since they grew or made the products, they can give you any information about it that you might be after.
Though summer weather can be remarkably unpredictable, this afternoon was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm, capped with a blue sky and a light breeze ruffling through the grasses. Perfect for a slow browse around the stalls, trying what samples were available and lingering in front of the produce, thinking about what sorts of dishes they might make. I ended up with two new vegetables that I've never (to my knowledge) eaten previously: kohlrabi and pattypan. Kohlrabi is a member of the cabbage family, with a flavor I might describe as a cross between a radish and an onion. Just a bit of bite. Pattypan is a summer squash, a bright orange UFO of a vegetable. Not entirely certain what I'm going to make with them (perhaps grilled summer veggies, with a ginger-sesame glaze?), but I can't wait to see how they cook.
I was also fortunate enough to find some delicious local honey, and a stall with more varieties of jam and syrups and glazes than I had time to count. I left with four types of jam: strawberry-rhubarb, cardamom pear, pumpkin spice, and cherry almond. I can't wait to go back and try the others, among them black currant jam, pomegranate, rose jelly, and ginger-pear. My final purchase was two pints of fresh raspberries, which I couldn't resist, as berry season is my favorite part of the growing calender. Here and gone far too soon, I stock up on what I can find and freeze some for later, when they inevitably fade from the stalls' tables.
All in all, a successful trip to a great farmer's market and I can't wait to see what the season continues to bring to the stalls.

Mac and Cheese Please!

Some dishes are classics for a reason. They are universally hailed as just plain delicious. Baked macaroni and cheese falls safely into that category. It's one of those quintessential comfort foods. Perfect for its simplicity (not to mention the fact that cheese has a minor opiate effect on the brain!) and amazing just as it is.
That being said, sometimes it is fun to redo a classic. Take it apart and rebuild it, occasionally making it better, occasionally ending up with a spectacular failure. Tonight's foray into the classic revisited comes from Vegetarian Times magazine. Dubbed "Grown-Up Mac and Cheese", it's a fancy way of saying mac and cheese with some green things added in. Of course, as an avid lover of green veggies, I was perfectly happy to combine spinach with my pasta and cheese, though I have several friends who would regard this as an unforgivable pollution of an already perfect dish.
Naturally, I made a few tweaks to the recipe, as I have already admitted to my inability to follow a recipe to the letter. First switch: whole wheat pasta for plain. Yep, that's right, I opted to make it less healthy! Scandalous, I know. However, I truly dislike whole wheat pasta and, considering the fact that I eat pretty damn healthy most of the time, I'm not going to feel guilty for clinging to my plain old enriched pasta. Switch number two: instead of 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, I opted for a 1/4 cup of parmesan and a 1/4 mozzarella. Why stick with a single type of cheesy goodness when there are so many varieties available?
Otherwise, I made the recipe according to the directions. Cook pasta, make the sauce (1/4 cup flour, 2 cups fat-free milk, cooked over medium heat until thickened), add in spinach (cooked to wilting before making the sauce), 2 cloves minced garlic, the penne, and 1/4 tsp. of nutmeg. Add a little extra cheese on top. Pop in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes or until the top is browned. Enjoy (or not, depending on your view of green things mixed in with the cheese).
Verdict? Mostly good, but a little bland. The nutmeg was a delightful addition, and I like the idea of adding sweetness that opposes the creamy cheesiness. I think, perhaps, I shall add a few things in next time. Thing the first: a little brown sugar. Maybe that will be too much sweetness, but, well, what's good cooking if not a constant experiment? Thing the second: stronger flavors of cheese, perhaps asiago or sharp cheddar. Maybe go for a nice four cheese blend. You can never have too much cheese (unless, of course, you're lactose intolerant, but that's a tragedy that doesn't bear thinking about!).
Overall, it's a recipe I'll keep, though I'll have to work to find my own variation that suits my tastes.