
I swear the choi is coming tomorrow! 40′ of Asian Greens will be at the market. The Wednesday Chef has a great looking recipe from Mark Bitman for Bok Choy with Shitake Mushrooms and Oyster Sauce. That will be in frequent meal rotation beginning this Monday night!!

Speaking of shitake…we need a mushroom producer at the market! I will again take up the search for the perfect fungi friend to attend our market, starting now. Next weekend the 26th annual wild mushroom fair is taking place at the Los Angeles Arboretum. Road Trip! Their website screams, thank you el nino! Lots of mushrooms at the fair this year, can’t wait!!

The Gourmet Magazine November 1956 cover art is one of my favorites. Illustrated by Hilary Knight, who is most famous for the Eloise series. He also drew for Leo Lionni (Swimmy) and Peg Bracken’s hilarious, I Hate to Cook Book and many many Gourmet magazine covers. The old Gourmet mag covers are great, but the articles are really fun too! I think you can really conjure up the times by paging through the beer and brown goods advertising, and anything European is the fashion. The vibe of these vintage issues is so East Coast!
The art depicts such an East Coast gathering of veggies too. Out here in the west, we do not have corn, squash and cauliflower at the same time! I am intrigued to see that strawberry guavas are in there too. Spending the day in the garden planting and tending to the winter crops, I appreciate even more the amount of work that goes in to those beautiful produce stands at the farmers market. The asparagus is really delicious right now. And don’t miss the beets, celery, carrots and peas! Strawberries might be a little light this week after all the rain…so get there early! The citrus is heavenly and those crisp pink lady apples are addicting!! If you like apples, don’t miss the Pink Lady Apple tarts at the Shortnin’ Bread stand. I shared one with a friend and they reported back that it was the best apple tart they had ever had!! Just sayin’
See you at the market, come rain or come shine!