Food glorious food

[gwyn]

Is there anything better than a lunch of cherry pumpernickel bread with spankin' fresh goat cheese, after a long walk back from the farmers market? Right now, I think not, as I stuff my face. I constantly forget to go to the farmers market in the center of West Seattle, even though it's walkable for me (though a bit of a long walk, especially when it's hot and you're carrying a really heavy bag), so I made a point of going today before the last of the summer produce gets away. I got some gigantic peaches for making ice cream, the aforementioned bread and chevre, some trailhead cheese (thanks, Alexfandra, for introducing me to that!), some smoked salmon ravioli, summer squashes, and best and most exciting of all, huckleberries. The last bunch of them, to be precise. OMG real huckleberries, not those farm grown lowland ones that aren't really huckleberries.

I'm going to have to get myself one of those carts you see crazy old ladies with, or something. I don't want to drive there, but every time I do go, I end up buying a lot of heavy stuff, and with squash season coming up that will get tiresome, carrying all that loot home. (And Jo, I found someone who actually carries pig lard.) And this guy I talked to told me about a friend of his who makes fresh roasted peanuts for the Ballard farmers market, so I may now have to check that out since I love me some peanuts.

I have to be careful when I go there (maybe that's why I always forget -- my subconscious is trying to protect me), because I always buy way too much stuff. But, I mean... cherry pumpernickel bread! Super fresh handmade inexpensive goat cheese! Heirloom veggies you never see anywhere else, and tree ripened peaches! mmmmmm And you can quench your thirst with a strawberry lavender lemonade that costs a buck.

I'm also posting because I wanted to show off my icon -- thanks to the_red_shoes for the link to this post, with all these great community organizers icons. I had a hard time choosing one -- I mean, there's John Lennon and JFK & RFK and Martin Luther King Jr. and Aung San Suu Kyi and Thomas Jefferson and Cesar Chavez and Sitting Bull and Wilma Mankiller and just... tons of people whose faces you instantly know (Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Princess Diana, etc.) and people whose faces aren't remembered enough (Harriet Tubman, and the woman in my icon, Sojourner Truth). I chose Sojourner because, as many as I wanted to use, she had a huge impact on me as a kid, and I did a number of reports on her throughout my childhood in school, because I was impressed and amazed by her. (In fact, my lame tribute was that I named my first D&D role-playing character Sojourner, after her.) If you don't know who Sojourner is, there's a good history here at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sojourner_Truth

I'm not so much an Obama supporter, even with this icon, as I am an alternative supporter. I have grave concerns about some issues around Obama, and I still can't shake bad feelings about Joe Biden for a lot of reasons. I have a terrible, terrible feeling that McCain is going to win, and I am so depressed about the future of this country that sometimes I can't even sleep. But I loathe everything the GOP seems to stand for these days, and Palin's remarks, hell, her mere presence, just offends me, so I grabbed this icon, because... yeah. If they want to demean the experience of someone who has been a community organizer, then count me for standing together. I've been a volunteer for so many different groups, and to me, that's the only way we can ever effect change in this country. It's not going to be in the government, where they are too busy stripping the Constitution of everything it stands for.

Comments

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

Ooh, your farmer's market haul sounds amazing!

In Jerusalem this summer I made great use of our little cart on wheels. It was a total godsend -- the big market was about 45 minutes away on foot, and the wheelie cart allowed me to go and get, oh, wine and a box of pastries and vegetables and fish and cheese and olives, and pile it all in the cart, and not kill myself trying to carry it home. :-)

[kirbyfest.livejournal.com]

AWESOME icon.

And cherry pumpernickel bread? I've never heard of it, but I think I'm in love.

[elynross.livejournal.com]

I have a terrible, terrible feeling that McCain is going to win...

You know, I can't really say that I'm glad I'm not the only one. BAH. I dread the election, I really do.

[sobelle.livejournal.com]

cherry pumpernickel bread?
I don't think I've ever had it... and with fresh chevre? sounds divine!

Re: carting over distance? My son and his partner in San Francisco embrace the crazy old lady thing with a bright red pull cart =)

Re: the impending election? I'm back in the South and surrounded by the kind of people that think everything out of Sarah Palin's mouth is gold.

I never thought that I would stay here (36 years of friends and family on the west coast precludes it as a possibility) but if I EVER had any doubt? This election has guaranteed my leaving.

I even heard Palin compared to Golda Meir today (I almost swallowed my tongue)... I've tried to be reasonable when I argue with these people, offering reality (facts) and an expectation that it's NOT a one size fits all world and just because THEY believe that the Republican party (and fundamentalism) represents them that it should be the law for everyone.

But I've lost it several times and have come to recognize that I can make no difference with them... And then there are the horror stories from my friends in St.Paul...

I despair.

[sobelle.livejournal.com]

sorry... didn't mean to get carried away =/

[black-bird-777.livejournal.com]

If you're serious about a cart, don't get one of the wire ones. Target sells an excellent one that folds down into a small briefcase size. It's shorter than the wire ones, but is very sturdy. I really wanted to go to the farmers market up here, but T had to deal with the yard sale, and I'm, of course, not very mobile. Bummer. Really wanted some good tomatoes. maybe next year... Glad you got to take advantage of one!

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I definitely think I'll have to get one. It would also just make going to the store near my house easier, as well -- I often get smaller things so that carrying it all home isn't as bad, but they're not always the most economical or green choice.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I wish there was some way to send it by mail, I would totally do it -- but I fear even a next day delivery might not keep it fresh enough. And also, then you'd probably get hooked and it would be this expensive thing to have to send it to you constantly. ;-)

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I know, it's not a boat anyone wants to share, is it? Awesome icon, though -- that's pretty much exactly how I feel.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

The bread and the chevre were divine, and now I know what I will be doing on Sunday again... I never would have thought of such a combination as cherries and pumpernickel, but they work perfectly.

I think that we have become a country where ignorance is actually valued -- not thinking, blindly following dictates set by other people... I think we actually encourage this. The founding fathers... I sometimes wonder just how horrified they would be by what they would see now. This anti-intellectualism and conformity...

[elynross.livejournal.com]

Thanks! *g* I wish the font were clearer, but I don't have one that would replicate the same look, so...