lemongrass & plums

The best thing about my clinic months is having weekends. One of the best things about having weekends are the natural morning wake up, and time to make brunch at home. It makes me feel so much more human to make our own meals instead of relying on cafeterias and frozen goods. Lately I've been going to the Alemany farmer's market on Saturdays, and both the experience of shopping there and the experience of making food from what I get there make me incredibly, tangibly happy. Because it's cash only, I take $15 with me each time and buy necessities and indulgences until that runs out. And because it's one of the best deals in the city, for that amount on one occasion I bought three bushels of garlic, three limes, a box of strawberries, a bushel of chard, a bulb of fennel, a pound of okra, and (my indulgence for that day) a quarter pound of shiitake mushoom; and another occasion for about $8, four stalks of lemongrass, a bushel of kale, half pound of ginger, three of the best plums we've ever had, and two eggplants. And most of these are organic. Besides the price, I enjoy: 1) being outside and seeing the scents and textures and colors of non-processed, unpackaged raw foods. 2) trying new meals because of new things I buy. Made M a lemongrass coconut curry chicken and made myself bhindi okra 3) the incomparable sweetness of the fruit. M doesn't eat much fruit but when I gave him a plum he devoured it. I feel lucky that I can feel so lucky about the simple elements of food.