Weekend

This weekend- as all mine seem to do- passed pretty quickly. I had a great day on Saturday: went to the farmer's market, ran some errands, did a load of laundry and went to the Arts Festival. I enjoyed a yummy lunch there- a great falafel sandwich and a Belgian White Ale (but I did walk down and back- so I totally burned that off) and mentally spent thousands of dollars. I don't know if I could ever bring myself to spend like $300 for a hand painted silk scarf, even if it is completely gorgeous. I feel a little snotty that I recently spent $20 for a hunk of hand painted Italian silk blend yarn for a scarf. Ah well. (and no, still haven't started that project)

Summer is in full swing- it seems that at the market, we've been lagging behind because of all the nasty weather we've had. I did get a nice bunch of basil this week, and some of my favorite patty pan squash. I have to admit, I have a huge weakness for cute food. As always, I went through my cash very quickly, and ending up blowing my last five bucks on a pineapple caramel tart which was quite delicious. Next week, I should be able to get some potatoes and I think that sweet corn is still a little ways away.

Had some mixed results in the kitchen that day. I attempted to make some creme anglaise- which did not work out very well. The sauce separated and resulted in me straining out little bits of fluffy cooked eggs. Yuck- smelled good though. I did make the first batch of pesto this summer, which turned out ok. For some reason, my roomie does not like pine nuts, so I have to substitute something else- usually almonds. So, for dinner I had the pesto with some cheese tortellini and sauteed patty pan squash and asparagus. And my poor sad roomie was stuck at the Democratic State Convention *all day* and night- until 2am (losers). (Looking back, that means I probably could of used pine nuts- oh well.)

This afternoon, I have to go over a retrieve a huge bag of sour cherries from farmer Ted. This latest issue of Cooking Light had some really great looking cherry recipes- including a cherry coffee cake which looked so good. So, I have to dig out my cherry pitter and get busy when I get home. I love cherries- I can't even begin to tell you how (I know this sounds so foody geeky) excited I am - and I got them for free. They freeze extremely well. And a tip I learned- freeze them slightly before pitting them- they release less juice.

And speaking of being a food geek, I signed up to compete at the State Fair. Yep, me taking on all the grannies, you betcha. I am planning on entering beer bread & pumpkin bars- have a couple of great recipes to work from for those. I have a couple of twists I have to try out this month. I had to narrow it down to something easy- my kitchen space is sorely cramped and I have no central air. So, we'll see how it goes. I'm sure I'll get bitten by the competition bug.

Bookwise, I just finished Brimstone by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child- great thriller and with a cliffhanger Edgar Allen Poe inspired ending. I'm glad I have the next one waiting on my shelf and yes, I do confess as to sneaking a peak ahead to check on Pendergast's well being. I've grown quite attached to the dear fellow. I am hoping to pick up James Rollins' latest Sigma Force novel, The Last Oracle from the library today. If it's not there, I do have Dyer Consequences by Maggie Sefton to quickly read. It's a knitter mystery. Yes, they have themed mysteries for everyone, from beauty salons to scrapbooking.

Have a good week!