I have been obsessed with buying fresh produce at the Farmer’s Market in our small city. I look forward to the summer produce all winter long. Most Saturday mornings I wake up early to take a walk with Ron and Bijou. We grab a latte or soy chai at the indie coffee house on the corner before making our way to the market.
This past Saturday vendors were selling sugar plums and Japanese Plums, which are now in season! We bought one carton of Japanese Plums. If you have never tasted a Japanese plum, they are slightly similar in flavor to the plums from the grocery store. Smaller and reddish, the sweet, juicy inside and the sour skin are a fabulous palate combination.
Last night I was cooking up some organic chicken with dill for dinner. Ron was keeping Bijou busy in the loft, and with that moment of respite, I decided to take things up a notch and make a new, special sauce for the chicken. The Japanese plums were employed with a little butter, virgin coconut oil, rice vinegar and agave. It was sweet and sour and turned out more like a chutney, which was fine with me. Ron had no complaints, either!
Japanese Plums. ©Reel Chow
For the weekend we headed upstate to Medusa, New York, where my sister and brother-in-law own five acres in the Catskills. They live in New York City and commute on the weekends to their country property. While continuing their building plans for a Green Home, a very cool 1955 vintage Spartan is where they sleep at this time. They have solar panels for electricity and a well for fresh water. They’ve put in a garden which grows the most amazing organic vegetables, fruits and herbs all summer and well into the fall.
