off the eaten path

Rudi went off on a bike ride this morning, leaving me to go the farmers’ market myself. This was a mistake.

I started off with the best of intentions and self-restraint, but as the morning wore on (and I got hungrier), the basket began to get heavier until finally it overflowed and I was forced to accept a bag or two, as well.

I came home with:

• blueberries (the last of the season)
• peaches
• nectarines
• two kinds of lettuce
• Red Malabar spinach
• red and orange cherry tomatoes
• a yellow tomato
• two green tomatoes (for frying)
• seconds tomatoes (for gazpacho)
• Thai eggplants
• a giant head of cabbage
• beans (they might be something closely related to a cranberry bean, but I can’t remember what kind they said they were)
• corn on the cob
• leeks (the first of the season; of course, I forgot to buy brocolli to make soup with)
• squash (five pounds — including pattypans, bicolors, dark yellows, and star-shaped ones — it got cheaper the more you bought and I figured I could make five pounds stretch to two, maybe three, weeks)
• blueberry scones
• milk
• a giant double sunflower

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Just to let you know now: I’m not Mormon. But part of the reason I’m around to write this is due to the LDS Church, so I’m cooking a Mormon recipe for a pot-luck party this weekend. I’ve chosen funeral potatoes due to their almost cult-like status amongst those who know just a little bit about the LDS culture.

What are they? They’re essentially a scalloped potato casserole. I’ve seen a few recipes that all differ a little - some call for diced frozen potatoes (a.k.a. homefries), others call for thawed hash brown potato shreds. All call for a cream soup base - celery, mushroom, or chicken. All have a cornflake “crust,” and all feature sour cream.

This is not health food, and the recipes advise the cook to steer clear of low-fat variations on the ingredients, as they don’t “gel” as well as their full-fat brethren.

I’ll post the recipe I use on the site once I cook the stuff - as well as photos, if I’m not dead from the cholesterol.

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