Oh my goodness! I am having a food moment. One of those moments where you know the item that you are eating is so delicious, so perfect that you wouldn't change a thing. You just want to savor every moment of the perfection. What has created this moment of wonder? A delectable, juicy navel orange! It is perfection in a peeling!
I got up early this morning, had my coffee and a bowl of oat-y/fiber cereal with raw milk and fresh strawberries. It was tasty and filling. But it was a couple of hours later and I was feeling a bit peckish (obscure Monty Python reference -- Informal chiefly Brit feeling slightly hungry; having an appetite). I was considering what to eat when I remembered one last orange in the fridge. I retrieved it, and when I cut it - the scent of orange filled the air. The juices ran out and I grabbed a plate so as not to waste a single drop!
As I took the first fragrant bite, I thought how fantastic it would feel to make one single piece of food that tasted and smelled as good as that orange. It was so succulent,the bite I took was so juicy that it ran down my chin and fingers! I had to run and get a napkin! What a joy, what a gift from one single piece of fruit!
I was transported! I thought of my childhood and eating peaches we had just picked from orchards in Hartville, Ohio where the soil is so rich that it is all most black. Our hands and faces would get sticky and the peach fuzz would cover them and prickle. I thought of sitting in my own front yard, peeling oranges off of my own tree with my toddler daughter Emily. They were still warm from the sun and she clamored for one after another!
I remembered staying with some Mennonite friends of my folks for a week, and walking through the corn fields picking corn for dinner. Mr. Wengerd stopped and peeled one of them and handed it to me -- right off of the stalk. I looked at him wondering what to do with it. He told me to take a big bite, and I did.
If you have never had that experience -- I suggest putting it on your bucket list! The sweet glorious taste of just picked corn astounded me. It was one of my first "food moments" -- and to miss out on them my friends is missing out on a wondrous part of life. I fear that we as a society have gotten so far from the farm, so far from the source -- that we don't take the time for these fantastic moments.
We can however, come close by taking advantage of our local farmer's markets and patronizing them. I bought my California grown orange gems at our own Altadena Farmer's Market - Wednesdays 4 - 8pm, 600 W. Palm Street.
I love this market for many reasons. One is that it took years for a great market like this to come to fruition (note that the word has fruit in it). Another is that the foods are grown and made locally and are FRESH, FRESH, FRESH! Some complain about the "high prices" -- but THINK about it! You are buying FROM THE SOURCE! The hands that give you your food are likely the same hands who earlier in the wee hours picked it, washed it, sorted it and packaged it! Who cares if that bunch of baby bok choy cost $3.00? It is so fresh that it is still growing!!
So much more taste, so much more healthy. And when you shop at a local market, you are contributing to the sustainability of our local farms, farmers and your health. A movie and popcorn cost $20.00! Stay home, spend the money at your local market and invest in farming, in building a sense of community, and your own health!! You can even buy organic popcorn to pop at our local market!
The Altadena Farmer's market has some very cool things. They lend out shopping carts,
you can purchase a shopping bag, or a T-Shirt supporting the market.
(T-shirt worn by Joseph Shuldiner, Market organizer, Food Author, Teacher and Director of the Institute for Domestic Technology)
Summer hours are from 4 - 8 pm, they have live music, you can borrow a blanket and have a picnic right there in the park, there are FABULOUS food carts with yummy prepared foods, at least one of them will prepare food that you just purchased, to eat right there.
And most of all, you can sit down, listen to the kids laughing, hear some music, smell the aromas of the herbs and food -- and who knows, maybe have a "food moment" of your own!
