I propose a toast

Yesterday we took our third trip to the PSU farmers market, dodging hail and aggressive dogs. Andie the dog was very excited to smell every square inch of the ground where various tasty things had fallen, so our progress was slow. I still can't believe the diversity of food stalls there. I still have a lot more to discover. We bought fontina cheese from Willamette Valley Creamery, kale, arugula, lettuce mix, icicle radishes, Chinese broccoli, carrots, shallots, basil, shiitakes, and the first asparagus of the season. It was crowded, as usual, but I am getting addicted to buying all this fresh stuff and then planning meals around it.



Our first meal was a pizza that had a pesto base with local basil and walnuts, shiitake mushrooms, fontina and some non-local sundried tomatoes. It was amazing, and the Bridgeport IPA complemented it well. On the side, we served the fresh asparagus, sauteed with olive oil, salt, and pepper. As Max said, I am glad we held out and skipped the Mexico-grown stuff that we had seen in the stores earlier.



Tonight, we had an arugula salad with toasts that were topped with a garlic-walnut-olive oil mixture, some of the Redmondo goat cheese from Juniper Valley, then broiled. A simple meal, but so full of flavor and goodness. Later in the summer I'll make it again and serve it with heirloom tomatoes.

The snow and cold have not put us in a planting mood, so those seeds we bought are still sitting here staring at me. Maybe next week.