Wow it’s been a long time since I’ve had a Saturday farmer’s market post.  Let’s just jump right back into it.  Here’s what I picked up at today’s market.

I also picked up some goat cheese from a local dairy – Cole’s Lake Diary. (They don’t have a website, unfortunately, but there’s more information about the farm here: http://www.piedmontpark.org/programs/GM_farmers.html.)

I have to tell you that this cheese is amazing.  Last week I bought the 7 pepper version and today I bought both the 7 pepper and the roasted garlic.  In just a couple of weeks this cheese has become a staple of my “free” day snacking.  Crostini with goat cheese is simply amazing. I’m told that they’re working on getting pasteurization equipment set up and approved so they can sell goat’s milk as well which I’m looking forward to experimenting with and possibly making yogurt for a friend of mine who can’t consume cow’s milk.

Oh, and I have to show you the inside of those dragon plums that I got from Yang Farms. Who would have thought that something so bland looking on the outside could have such a gorgeous, vibrant inside.

I also have images of my sprouts – much excitement this morning as I noticed the green in my sprout jar. I’ll have a whole post on sprouting coming soon.

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Not food related, but I have become fascinated with the idea of small houses:  Tumbleweed Houses.  Small House Style.  Small House Movement Roundup at ApartmentTherapy.  I lived in a small cabin in Alaska for almost a year and there is a part of me that would love to go back to a much simpler lifestyle like that.  I don’t know that I’ll ever get that small again, but it does encourage me to unclutter and simplify my life.

My first batch of limoncello is complete and aging in the back of the pantry.  I put some of it in a smaller bottle in the fridge and it’s quite good.  I think a month of aging to mellow out the sugars and it’ll be close to perfect.  Now I’m in search of proper bottles and bar corks to set it up for gifts for the holidays.  I have to make a limoncello post soon, I think, as soon as I have more photos.

I have a 1/2 gallon of vanilla brewing in the back of the pantry as I write.  I used half bourbon beans and half Tahitian beans, in a 1/2 gallon of high quality vodka.  I’m going to give the vanilla a full 60 days before I open the jar, but I’m very optimistic.  This will also be a future post, but I need more final product pictures.

I remember reading the Julie & Julia blog as it was published, back in 2002/2003 and being fascinated by it. I love Julie Powell’s writing style and I was in awe of her commitment and dedication to cooking the whole book. But I gotta say I’m really tired of all the hype about the movie. I’ll probably go see it this weekend, but I refuse to blog about it. Just because I want to be a rebel.