I just found out the most thrilling news, and I had to run home and share it with you. As you may know, I've been dreading the end of the farmers markets. Some have already trickled off, but the last will shut down on Thanksgiving.
Or so I thought! Apparently, this year, throughout the month of December, the City of Boston will be holding a Downtown Crossing Holiday Market at, obviously, Downtown Crossing. The listing on boston.com only highlights the crafts, but one farmer at the Central Square market told me he'll be there every day, and he thinks a few other farmers will as well. He assured me that for the first couple of weeks in December, he'd have everything I saw today. That means broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale, all sorts of squashes, apples, honey. He said they'd have baked goods as well from the farm.
Be still my heart! That gives me a few weeks of reprieve, and more time to freeze as much kale and brussel sprouts as I can. So in December, make your way down to Downtown Crossing. Don't forget. And pass it on.
I just enjoyed some of my frozen food last night. I've been traveling for two weeks, and I had a fantastic time in Seattle, for a World Vision Report meeting, and in Albuquerque for the Energy Country Institute with the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources (IJNR). I learned a lot, met amazing, talented writers at IJNR, and ate fantastic food. (See the photo below of blue corn enchiladas with red and green chile sauce!)
I ate out almost every day. Sure, they were fantastic meals. In Seattle, I ate at the organic restaurant, Tilth, and at FareStart, where they train homeless folks to work in the restaurant business. (I have a story about that program that will air soon on the World Vision Report - I'll keep you posted.)
After two weeks, though, I was desperately ready to eat some of my own food, in my own kitchen. We all joked that we were being fed so much, and so frequently, that we needed to go on a post-IJNR cleanse.
I began my cleanse last night. I didn't have time to go to the supermarket, and I had two friends coming over for dinner who were staying overnight. So this is what I made: farro, from the fantastic Bluebird farms in Washington (I picked some up when I was in Seattle); sweet potatoes roasted and mashed with ginger, which I'd bought at Copley and had frozen; and kale, which I'd previously blanched and frozen, with garlic. Simple, colorful food. The frozen kale was great. I look forward to eating more of it when the season ends.
Recipe for Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Ginger
- A few sweet potatoes, scaled to as many people as you want to feed
- Butter
- Ginger
Heat the oven to 400. Wash the sweet potatoes, then wrap them in foil. Put them in a pan, and cook them in the oven for about 45 minutes, or until they are soft. Poke them with a fork to see when it slides in easily. Take the sweet potatoes out and let them cool. When they're cool enough to handle, peel the skin off, put them in a bowl, and mash them.
Grate about a tablespoon or two of ginger (you can add more later, if you think the sweet potatoes aren't gingery enough).
Heat up a tablespoon or two of butter in a pan (again, you can add more later if you think it's needed). When it's melted, add the ginger and mix it around for about a minute. Add the mashed sweet potatoes, and mix everything together, heating the sweet potatoes through. Taste, add some salt, add more ginger if necessary, and enjoy.
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