Food Growers Market

Saturday morning was a blisteringly hot morning. One of those mornings that doesn’t even have the manners to heat up. It just starts hot and only gets hotter as the sun rises. It was, of course, the first Saturday of the month and so the food growers market was on. My neighbours were coming over for a BBQ on the weekend so I wanted to go to the market to pick up all sorts of goodies to cook up for them.

I met my friend H and her very beautiful daughter and we pottered around the market. I arrived a little early with my dog Teddy and we mingled amongst the crowd getting some idea as to what to cook at the weekend. I have a habit of getting a bit excited about all the lovely food on offer and just buying everything in sight. This time I took my time and planned out my menu for the weekend. Of course this didn’t stop me from indulging in a few extra little treats too like those beautiful plump giant figs that I just had to have.

When H arrived we followed tradition and headed straight for the bacon and egg roll stand. It was way too hot to have coffee so we opted for some freshly squeezed orange juice. This is one of those breakfasts that is so simple and yet so perfect. There is no point in trying to fancy this up. It’s just delicious exactly the way it is. When we finished eating and could take the heat of the sun blazing down no more we started pottering around the stalls tasting all the goodies on offer. I picked up some exceptional lamb back strap and gourmet lamb patties for the BBQ. I also treated us to some organic strawberries for dessert. I have to admit I’m not a big purchaser of organic food but there are three foods that taste considerably better when grown organically. They are Tomatoes, Strawberries and Chickens. Once you taste the organic version you will never be happy with anything less.

I have a great little recipe for the strawberries. This one cam from my Mum when I told here I was going to serve strawberries. I was going to serve a very simple strawberries and cream dessert but Mum told me about this little recipe she had made herself. You heat up some butter. Add some caster sugar and allow it to dissolve. Add in a vanilla pod and then cut up your strawberries and cook them in the butter mixture for 4 to 5 minutes. Serve with some crème fraiche, cream, mascarpone or yogurt. I drizzled the juice from the cooked strawberries over the lot and it was luscious.



God it was so hot. We could only take it for a short while at the market. When H’s little daughter stripped down to her nappy to try and cool off we were both a little jealous. Although when we saw her trying to take her nappy off we both agreed it might be time to head home and cool off in the air conditioning. I know my family back in Ireland will have no sympathy for us sweltering over here as they rug up against the snow. The heaviest snow they have had in a long time. It’s so hard to imagine what snow would be like when you are walking around in 40 degree heat.

When we got home we heard on the news about the bush fires in Victoria. This is such a dreadful time for those poor souls. Out hearts, prayers and donations go out to all of them. I cannot even imagine what it must be like live through the hell they are experiencing. It is tough times and hopefully all of us can make things a little bit easier for some of them.