Ah, May. Flowers are blooming, cafe tables are popping up all over town and a weekly dose of local produce is available for months to come…this makes me oh-so-happy.
I couldn’t wait to make the walk from my apartment up to the West Chester Grower’s Market on Darlington and Church Streets for the opening weekend. I grabbed my environmentally friendly bag, slipped on my flip flops and my new (somewhat ugly but I love the fact that they are GREEN) sunglasses and headed into town.
I could feel the winter cobwebs detach from someplace inside of me as I got closer to the market. Perhaps it’s the routine of going to the market that makes me so happy; gobbling up all of the produce with my eyes and creating meals in my mind of what I would make with each ingredient (do I even have the time to make a rhubarb pie?), narrowing down my items to a realistic list of what will last for the week, what I can cook for one and what I can afford, placing each item in my bag and returning home with freshly picked bits to tuck away into my fridge or place proudly in a bowl on my kitchen table.
I left the market with a bag full of some of my favorite things that I had craved since November.
Highland Farm’s Bauton cheese (a French breakfast cheese that is a new addition this year), Talula’s Table housemade sausages (I chose Parma made with extra prosciutto and provolone cheese), some beautiful spinach (it really is beautiful) and a dozen eggs from Highland Farm.
Martha from Highland Farm explained that these were “starter eggs” aka some of the first eggs that her young hens laid. My dozen was a mix of green and brown small eggs that were not washed to preserve the natural shell.
Welcome back West Chester Grower’s Market! I’ve missed you.
The Final Dish: I can’t wait to eat my green eggs and ham sausage.
