Farmer's Market - Sunday October 29

This past Sunday was the official end of the 'Summer Market' for the Saint Paul Farmer's Market. After that, the 'Winter Market' begins on Saturdays. The market was vastly different than the last time I was there. Since we'd had our first frost all the summer vegetables were gone. There were probably only 15-20% of the number of usual vendors and the crowd was quite sparse, though it was only 8 am. It felt like I bought one of everything, knowing this might be the last time until Spring.



Look at all that goodness! Spinach, broccoli, onions, garlic, leeks, shallots, apples, cranberries, potatoes, raspberries, eggs, carrots, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, sage, baby gourds, buttercup squash, and that cauliflower - I wish you could see how gorgeous it is. How lucky we are to have so much good food here in Minnesota in October! But don't get too jealous - after the market it snowed most of the afternoon!

All this good food put me in the mood to cook.

I've made a wonderful roasted butternut squash and greens pasta dish from the How to Eat Supper book I posted about a while back. The ingredient list is a bit long, but this seriously took no time at all to put together.

The pasta recipe had half and half in it so I used the leftover to make a potato gratin according to Alice Waters' recipe in The Art of Simple Food.



She suggests the use of half and half as an option but mine separated in the oven, looking curdled but tasting fine. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Finally, I made Brussels Sprout hash with caramelized shallots from the November 2007 Bon Appetit magazine. Yum!