So happy to have our farmer’s market back for the summer. It’s small (maybe three or four families selling their wares each week) but everything is actually local. When we were getting ready to leave the house I got my market basket from a hook on the sunroom wall. To my surprise, someone else has been using my basket!
Carolina wrens!
They are perky little birds that are very determined to get inside buildings and construct their scruffy, inconvenient nests among humans. This one had just begun so I moved the nest outside to the azalea bushes and off we went to the market.
Selection was limited as things are just getting started and prices are high. Purple buttercrunch lettuce, kohlrabi, radishes, and strawberries made their way into our basket.
The kohlrabi balls will be sliced and eaten raw as hummus scoops.
The tops have already been cooked and eaten, mild greens with salt, pepper, garlic, and vinegar.
Lettuce and radishes will provide us with colorful salads for a few days.
And the strawberries, oh, the strawberries! They burst in your mouth with juicy flavor, nothing like those hard things you get in the grocery store trucked thousands of miles across the country from California.
Nope, these are South Carolina berries, ripened in the hot South Carolina sun.
One of my favorite desserts is strawberry shortcake and that’s where our berries went. I can’t eat wheat flour (something in it triggers migraines) but I have perfected the best recipe for shortcakes with no wheat or gluten. Would you like my recipe?
Almond Flour Shortcakes
1 cup almond flour
2 tsp baking powder
Good pinch of salt
1 tablespoon sugar (or honey, maple syrup, etc)
Stir the dry ingredients and make a well in the center.
In the well, add 1/4 cup full fat plain yogurt and beat
1 egg into the yogurt with a fork.
Mix all and drop in four plops on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper
Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. If you want the tops brown and crispy, turn the oven up to 400 for a few minutes.
Almond Flour Shortcakes
1 cup almond flour
2 tsp baking powder
Good pinch of salt
1 tablespoon sugar (or honey, maple syrup, etc)
Stir the dry ingredients and make a well in the center.
In the well, add 1/4 cup full fat plain yogurt and beat
1 egg into the yogurt with a fork.
Mix all and drop in four plops on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper
Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. If you want the tops brown and crispy, turn the oven up to 400 for a few minutes.
Those berries really look good. Strawberry season is a long time from now here. Emily and I subscribed to a full share of a CSA. First pick up is Thursday. I'll bet there are some lovely greens to be had, grown in greenhouses of course. The rest will be a surprise.
ReplyDeleteKohlrabi balls ????
ReplyDeleteNever heard of these before. What do they vaguely taste like?
Obviously that Carolina Wren might know something - a possible invasion and then
oblivion from damn Indian Mynah birds which have destroyed all our Aussie little native birds.
You name/see them from the Aussie book in all schools and colleges - "What Bird is That" and that's all you'll
now see of these wonderful little birds - BOOK PICTURES. So bloody sad.
Your cooking skills look great.
Cheers
Colin
They’re in the cabbage family but very mild, juicy, and crunchy.
DeleteIt looks like this is an excellent market even though it is very small.
ReplyDeleteFresh strawberries. My mouth is watering.
ReplyDeleteI remember some lovely Kent strawberries we shared! You bought them to “bring home” but I’m not sure many made it there. :-)
DeleteThey look good and it's always good to be able to get really fresh produce, though I must admit our supermarkets are good there, well so far and we often buy from 'the veggie shed' straight off the farm.
ReplyDeleteWell, I never about your basket - comfortable home for the birds.
That looks very tasty, love strawberries too with clotted cream!
ReplyDeleteI am very happy that you took good care of the Carolina Wren and her nest, and I am quite sure that you were honoured that she had chosen your basket for her family abode. It must be quite wonderful to have the farmers market back in operation. Ours is still subject to lockdown rules and is closed. And it looks like the lockdown is going to be extended. Damn!
ReplyDeleteThe birds liked your basket, so sweet and it makes sense, like half of their work done for them.
ReplyDeleteDear Cynthia, what a lovely pale cream/golden breast your Carolina wren has. I've never seen him before! And thanks for sharing your recipe. I've just been diagnosed with a bad case of LPR and so I'm having to change my eating habits (no onions, tomatoes, acidy fruit, vinegar, chocolate, caffeine, and more no-nos). But I can still have berries and your description of the berries you bought compared to those from California just tickled me because your words spoke absolute truth! Peace.
ReplyDeleteThe little Carolina wren is one of my favorite birds. They are so cute and such hard workers. The strawberries look delicious. I need to find some before all are gone.
ReplyDelete