There Will be Cooking and There Will be More

First let me jump ahead and give you a pet peeve of mine and The Quiet One's. If you advertise your festival to start at 11am...have the thing up and running at...get ready for it...11am.

Seriously. Drove up to Greektown after Waverly and breakfast to check out some dolmades, oktopodi, and souvlaki. We were ready. Hittin' it early so the heat wasn't too oppressive. Instead, we got to walk around the deserted block watching one guy pour water into the steam trays. No fryers were on, the grills were cold. A few vendors were just setting their wares out. There was not even a soundcheck going on on the stage.

It's not a crisis, I know. But we're just sayin'. Advertise breakfast, know how to cook eggs. Advertise a start time. Start.

Now, you will suffer the awesome fury of my typing this weekend. I know this because I have eaten out twice already and have the CSA box AND a monster trip to the Waverly Market under my belt (but none of you can blame me for perfect, crispy homefries or a pit beef and turkey sandwich, can you?).

There are bone-in chicken breasts from Woolsey Farm that will be cooked up with sage and creminis. The sage is from the ladies whose names I haven't gotten yet. End of the market closest to Greenmount Avenue. Most amazing looking radishes, green and red cabbage, several bits of mized greens, and herbs, herbs, herbs. The sage today. Last couple trips it's been the cilantro. The mushrooms are from the mushroom people. Always there, always with creminis and shitakes, oysters and morels, and even fiddleheads and ramps earlier in the year.

There is hot italian sausage from M&M Meats.

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And kale from the Bartenfelders (Two pounds of it. There is an entire drawer in my refrigerator that is designated for kale duty this week, a whole drawer). And I have pasta. Clean and rinse the kale, then cut it into ribbons, blanch it, shock it, and saute it in a pan with the sausage and some red onions. Add pasta that's almost cooked, finish it. Save the pasta water in case the pan gets dry. You did save the pasta water, right?

This week also brought home the cherries and blueberries, more green peas, and the tasty goodness of sweet potatoes.

A few of the short, stubby cukes I like will get the pickle! And they'll like it.

And then there are the green beans, which will lovingly get together (on a blind date...in my skillet!!!) with the CSA broccoli and cauliflower to get all Indian on their bad selves. I mean, there will be garam masala because that's how we 'do (Keith is proud, Chez is laughing, That is all).

Almost forgot to tell you about the 'maters. Yeah, advertised by their grower as "Real Flavor." Advertised by me as 'Get in Mah Belly.' You know how that'll end.

I also get to read through the new issue of Food & Wine to see what the fabulous people are cooking. It's "Best New Chefs and Their Simplest Recipes." Hoo-rah!!!