The Farmer's Market

Its Sunday and that means back to work tomorrow but before returning to work let me tell you about my wonderful weekend. I spent the entire Saturday with my 4 month old son and he was so well behaved. First stop was our local farmer's market in Phoenixville, PA (a suburb of Philly). This was my first time going to this charming farmer's market. I am used to the bigger markets of Washington D.C. but this market had all the fresh produce, meats, crafts, and baked goods that one could imagine. I don't know about you but there is something about going to the farmer's market that makes you want to go home and cook and then you get home with all these different ingredients, produce that you bought with no idea what to do with them...ok, well maybe its just me! But, the best thing that I found about this market was the vendors passion and willingness to suggest recipe or uses for their items.

Look at these cute watermelon that I found at one vendor. I am sad to report however that the sweetness that I was expecting from these melons were definitely lacking.

I also picked up some onions and green peppers which were delicious in the sausage, peppers, and onion dish that I made. For the recipe click here.

Now, the ultimate food find at this weekend's farmers market was the cinnamon roll from the bakery stand, Sweet Water Baking Co. This baking company is "a small family bakery in Kimberton, PA." They specialize in organic European-style hearth loaves. I didn't have the specialty bread loathe but that cinnamon roll made me vow to never eat another Cinnabon roll, pillsbury roll, or any other imitator. I will be working on a replica recipe but in the meantime here is a pic of the yummy goodness that had my car smelling like cinnamon sugar for an entire day!

Sidenote: Don't let the lack of icing turn you off. The cinnamon roll had the perfect amount of chew. There is a light syrup of some sort of butter, sugar, and cinnamon that tops of this roll. Just look below at the buttery syrup goodness that dripped into the box from the rolls.

My Obsession

Welcome to my blog!!!! YAY!!! This has been a long time coming and its about time I shared my passion for baking and all things food. I've always loved to eat but who doesn't; however, my love extends past the normal into the obsessive. I look up menus for fun, I collect cookbooks and read them to luxuriate over the possibilities, and the first thing I do before an out of town trip is look up the local restaurant favs to visit....yes, "I am a foodaholic."

As a foodaholic there are some things I can't like without:
(1) Martha Stewart: Say what you will about Martha but her OCD qualities make her one of the most effective people to teach cooking techniques. I have NEVER gone wrong with one of her recipes and as you will see in later posts, most of my recipe adaptations start from one of her recipes.

(2) KitchenAid Stand mixer: I don't know how I survived without my KitchenAid professional 600 stand mixer for so long. This mixer is the end all be all for all my baking needs!!

(3) Rubber spatula: What kitchen is complete without a rubber spatula. It is perfect for scraping the sides while mixing ingredients during baking but the best use is when making scrambled eggs (another tip from Martha). TRUST ME!!! The lightness of the rubber will ensure that your eggs remain light and fluffy.

(4) Cookbooks: Anyone can cook with a trusted cookbook by your side. My favs are The Joy of Cooking, Patti Labelle, Barefoot Contessa, and any Martha Stewart cookbook.

These are my basic essentials....What are yours?