Farmer's market

Once again the weekend has arrived. My favourite part of the week. A Saturday morning usually begins with a good cup of strong coffee and maybe a croissant or muffin. My husband and I then take off to St Paul's Farmers' Market. Unfortunately this morning was dull, and rain was forecast, but I knew as soon as we arrived at the market my mood would be lifted by the vast array of produce lying temptingly in rows of bright colours. Tables of peppers, chillis, tomatoes, beets and so much more. As always the biggest problem is not rushing into a quick purchase. No, the best thing to do is to wander around looking at all that is on offer and imagine all the tasty meals that that could be lying on our table during the week ahead. I make a quick note of what I see and then set to work mentally preparing my menus. The beets look good, so I can see a nice orange, spinach and beet salad. Make a note to find some spinach. I buy some zucchini with a nice zucchini, feta and basil quiche in mind. I know I still have lots of basil in pots on my deck, put that with the salad and hey presto we have Saturday's Supper. Tomatoes are in abundance and such a good buy. I buy a huge basket of them and know one day next week I will be in my kitchen cooking up the flavour of summer in the form of sauces to be frozen, or jams and chutneys to be opened during the dark winter months when summer is just a distant memory. I have bought enough tomatoes to be able to cook up a pot of tomato soup. Some of it will be eaten this week but if I make enough I will be able to freeze it away to be enjoyed at a later date. I also am tempted by the wonderful peppers on display. There is no end to what can be done with them. Roasted and served drizzled with good olive oil and served with some crusty bread. Mmm I'm tasting them already. Red pepper soup is also an option or one of my easy quick suppers which is as simple as sauteing them with an onion in good olive oil with salt and pepper until they are soft, then make indentations in the mixture and break in a fresh egg. Pop into the oven until eggs are cooked to your liking. This once again benefits from some crusty bread on the side and some parsley scattered over the top, and a drizzle of good olive oil.
Apples are now creeping into the market, a sure sign that autumn is on the way. We try a few and decide on "Copelands" these apparently will not fall apart when cooked. I do miss the good old Bramley apples that we used in Scotland for cooking. These were not for eating but tasted delicious when cooked. I am now picturing a nice apple pie with cinnamon, or an apple crumble with a few blueberries thrown in. However I put that all out of my mind until a nice crisp autumn day arrives and I can put my mind to cooking up a storm from the "Fall Harvest". Hopefully we still have a few weeks of summer left.
I will let you know in what form the produce lands on our table in the coming week.