Farmer's Market and an Old Find, Salad Kicks, Where to Get a Decent Knife?

We're having an intense and lovely time here in London. Phil is missing the intensity and extent of strenuous physical activity that is normally the center of his lifestyle, but he is the most wonderful, charming, delightful companion: it's a privilege to introduce him to my family members and old friends. And it has been a continuing delight to meet up with wonderful old friends whom I haven't seen for three years or more, to see their kids growing up into fine young people, see more of them having bought houses, taken off in their careers, or discovering that they need a change of career. And the bedrock of that friendship, that is still strong, firm, sure and loving even without regular get-togethers or much in common in our daily lives.

There were no farmers' markets that I knew of in London three years ago, except maybe the Spitalfields market mostly for traders. Now, it seems like they are a thriving and vibrant scene. I went with my mum to the Alexandra Palace market, near her home, on Sunday.

[Blogger's giving me problems again refusing to upload some of my photos, but]  I was excited to see so many beautiful apples and pears. And those are_figs_ second from right on that front table! We got some and I've eaten a couple: my first figs in over a year (man, those fruitarian days I used to eat so many figs)...

Not a huge market, but plenty of stalls, produce, humanely-raised meat and eggs, goat cheese, olive oil, an awesome-smelling stall of chocolate truffles, food and drink vendors, ethnic clothing...

I was impressed by the variety of greens and veggies available, including shiso and jerusalem artichokes, that I'd never seen in England outside of Chinatown before.
And I found an old favorite that I used to love buying when I lived in Berkeley and haven't been able to find since:

Aged, fermented black garlic. Sorry I'm not a great photographer, but if you look to the left of the shaft of the head of garlic, you'll see a peeled black clove. Shiny, black and gorgeous texture. It barely tasted like garlic at all: almost a chocolatey note to it.  Back when I lived in Berkeley and thought I loathed garlic, I loved it then - even garlic haters can enjoy it. It was expensive just for two small cloves, but worth it!

Although my dad and brothers will hardly touch salad, my mum loves any and every salad that I make. She even loves my spirulina/soaked-dried sunflower seeds/sea salt/nooch sprinkle! I went on a bit of a salad-making kick today. Marinated mushroom medley with green onions/lemon/balsamic vinegar/olive oil/sea salt:

Massaged salad of purple kale, chard (that I bought labeled as 'spinach' at the farmers market!), savoy cabbage, leek and olive oil/apple cider vinegar.

Marinated cauliflower with curry spices and lemon zest (no picture); Cilantro pesto (or coriander, as I'm calling it here in England) with cashews, coconut oil, leek, peppermint, lemon juice, a dash of cayenne pepper and a whole bunch of cilantro.

Spread some of the pesto on a sunflower/flax/chives cracker I brought from home, top with the marinaded mushrooms: instant mini-pizza!

I'm really a terrible photographer...

I'm suffering from a dilemma in terms of wanting to get some nicer accoutrements for my mum's kitchen. I'm used to a nice, big, heavy chef's knife, and it felt funny doing so much chopping this morning with a little, dull serrated knife that has been around since I was 7, on a cutting board that has been in the house since before I was born and is now thoroughly concave, maybe better potential as a metate than as a cutting board... And the knife sharpeners... I remember when my brother got them when we were teenagers they were great, but 15 years later they actually don't make any difference to a blade at all!

Not my usual neat, thin slices...
But aside from the etiquette and potential awkwardness of getting something for my mum's kitchen that she might not appreciate (I might think it's an improvement but she might be quite happy with status quo), I don't know where I would go to get a decent knife or cutting board here! The local stores in my parents' neighborhood have almost all bottomed down to the common denominator of '5 pounds and under' stores, cheap and obsolescent stuff, and that's not what I'm after! And I'm a terrible shopper, the big, posh stores downtown intimidate the heck out of me and turn me into an involuted blitherer.

Any suggestions?

No-Sugar Superfood Cookies Again, Salads Again, Full Moon, Salt and Garlic - What do You Think?

It's coming up on full moon - here it was, rising in the southeasterly sky around 10pm yesterday, reflecting on runnels of water down on the beach. (The picture doesn't quite capture the color contrasts - it was that wonderful golden-pink.)

We're losing minutes of daylight every day, and as the sun and moon are so far to the south now, it is clear that these are the last days of long, warm evenings. Yesterday was warm enough that we had dinner outside, around the fire! And I wasn't even wearing a jacket! There have been very few days like that this year. Today's another one, though - it feels so good to just be, outside. One of those accidental tomato plants in our garden is even flowering!

The twins both ended up climbing our sixty-foot tall dead spruce tree. Add to those 60 feet its location at the top of a bluff, and it's an exhilarating view indeed. Not everyone who visits us is even interested in going there! Kudos to them.

I figured out what was the matter with those no-sugar superfood cookies! It was the wheatgrass juice powder clashing with the orange zest. The wg powder has a strong and slightly odd taste anyway, but in combination with orange zest, it's not pleasant.

I made another batch yesterday: here they are under the fan, drying out - 

- they are carrot-sunflower seed 'cookies.' All quantities are approximate!

1/4 c melted coconut oil

1 c carrot (ground up in a food processor)

1/4 c soaked sunflower seeds

3/4c pulp from making nut milk

1/3 c 'chia sweet' made with herbal chai tea, rhodiola and reishi

1/4 c flax meal

1/4 c shredded coconut

1/4 c mesquite

2 T maca

1/2 T wheatgrass powder

1 T fo-ti

cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg (lots)

Mixed all together, formed in balls, flattened and dried. 

I realized after I was finished that I'd meant to use poppy seeds as well - I love their flavor and their nutritional profile (super high in magnesium and calcium), and think they'd complement the carrot and chia well.

I'm hoping these will work out for me, as my tummy has been having trouble with carrots lately. I suspected there might be a problem after having upset stomach from beets and then sweet potato - it seems like there are periods of time where I'm just unable to digest any kind of starch and this may be one of those. A carrot before lunch today had me bent over double! Anyone else with 'part time' sensitivities like that?

Another repeat with variations: salad dressing - 

- 1/3c soaked sunflower seeds, 2 heaping T nutritional yeast, good shake of smoked paprika (I can't tolerate bell peppers and the paprika does the same 'cheesifying' that the bell peppers do), 2 T flax meal, shake of dried oregano. Blended those, then added that pile of chopped herbs - it includes cilantro, parsley, arugula and chives. Added kefir whey (more on this soon) and a generous pour of olive oil, whilst blending again.

It's going to make a delicious dressing for tonight's salad. No couch potatoes around here - but couch lettuce, anybody?

It's going to make a delicious dressing for tonight's salad. No couch potatoes around here - but couch lettuce, anybody?

No salt or garlic in this recipe, you notice? Many people think that those two are essential ingredients in any savory food (and many people put almost as much salt in desserts as they do in savory dishes too). But in health-minded movements, there are almost as many people who think both salt and garlic are evil and anathema as there are  those who hail both as essential panaceas. 

I used to be an extreme anti-salt and garlic person. Nowadays, I'm more moderate. I have a very sensitive palate: a little of either goes a long way for me. I also know that mineral salts like pink himalayan salt are likely good for my body, deficient as it is in minerals. And I know that garlic would be useful both for fighting the yeast condition and for the sulphur compounds to help with chelation. 

Ok, small, silly confession: I've been using less salt because I can't find my little himalayan salt shaker since I got back from Fairbanks! (Phil had to move stuff around while I was gone and it's hiding somewhere.) I have a larger jar of the stuff but am often too lazy to bring it out and then rationalize the laziness by 'maybe salt isn't good for me after all!' But as for the garlic, sometimes I can take it just fine; other times, it really rips me up. Perhaps even more so than starchy veggies! I really ought to get back into the habit of a few months ago, of always having a jar of apple cider vinegar full of halved garlic cloves - it makes wonderful garlic vinegar and takes the pungent edge off the cloves themselves so that I can eat them!

Where do you stand on salt and garlic? Or do you just think it's silly that people need to take a stand on condiments and spices? (Or will you lambast me for calling garlic a spice and insist that it's a vegetable?)

love to all