9 July 2009 Photo: Fruit Or Vegetable?

My tomato plants finally have little green fruits. Or is it vegetables? Either way I am glad the rain has stopped for now and my little Roma tomatoes are getting some much needed sun. The homemade salsa will be coming soon!!!

6 June 2009 Photo: Baker Man

Today was an early day at the Regional Farmer's Market in Syracuse. We were up and at the market by 6:30 AM. It is much more manageable at that time because it becomes a zoo by 7:30. No traffic, no problem parking and first choice of all the "good stuff". We bought a ton of flowers, some veggies and the first local strawberries of the season. I am so excited for strawberry picking to begin! While I didn't buy any of this baker's bread today, it did look yummy! I love farmer's markets and frequent them weekly during the spring/summer. While I enjoy the quaintness and location of the Ithaca Farmer's Market, this one is much bigger with great local produce and wonderful vendors.

21 January 2009 Photo: As American As Apple Pie

Ok so this picture is neither pie nor real apples but you get the gist. Today was my first day out on the road for work. As I was getting ready to leave my house at 6am to trek 5 hours in a car to have a meeting, I quickly took this picture just in case I didn't have time the rest of the day to get a "patriotic" picture. Who thought of this patriotic theme week anyway?

Anyway, I tried to convince my friends to pose for a patriotic photo but no luck so hence the apples in my kitchen. Here is some interesting wikipedia "facts".

Although apple pies have been eaten since long before the discovery of America, "as American as apple pie" is a common saying in the United States, meaning "typically American". The dish was also commemorated in the phrase "for Mom and apple pie" - supposedly the stock answer of American soldiers in WWII, whenever journalists asked why they were going to war.

Advertisers exploited the patriotic connection in the 1970s with the TV jingle "baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet". There are claims that the Apple Marketing Board of New York State used such slogans as "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" and "as American as apple pie!", and thus "was able to successfully 'rehabilitate' the apple as a popular comestible" in the early twentieth century when prohibition outlawed the production of cider.

Leave it to the ingenuity of those New Yorkers to find a way to keep making money even when they were not drunk on cider! And apparently our love for Chevy has stuck around according to this updated version of the commercial from the 70's but now tauts stolen bases, goat cheese pizza, bottled water along with the Chevrolet

2 January 2009 Photo: Oh my darlin' Clementine

Clementines!!! I am not really sure when I first discovered the juicy sweetness of a little clementine but I know I look forward to the season every winter.

What is a clementine, you ask? Well even if you didn't...too bad. Thanks to Produce Pete for this excellent description.

"Clementine's are the tiniest of the mandarins. Imported from Spain, Morocco, and other parts of North Africa, clementines are a cross between a sweet orange and a Chinese mandarin. They are small, very sweet, and usually seedless. Most people think of clementines as small tangerines, but they're a different variety entirely, with a distinctive taste. Clementines have been available in Europe for many years, but the market for them in the United States was made only a few years ago, when a devastating freeze in Florida made domestic oranges scarce and expensive.

The origin of clementines is shrouded in mystery. Some attribute their discovery to father Clement, a monk in Algeria, who tending his mandarin garden in the orphanage of Misserghim, found a natural mutation. He nurtured the fruit tree and subsequently called it "clementino". Others, like Japanese botanist Tanaka, believe that clementines must have originated in Asia and found their way through human migration to the Mediterranean. Whatever their origin, the fact is that clementines found their natural climate and soil in Spain, where they developed their particular aroma, sweetness and taste. "

I was l lucky enough to be in Spain during clementine season a few years ago and happily ate several of these delectable bursts of citrus that I bought from the market in Barcelona . This year I had to depend on Wegmans for my clementine fix. In fact I think I will go have one right now!