Shopping, Cooking and Eating Local

A few weeks ago my friend K and I took a cooking class at Sur La Table.  The title of the class was "Eating Local: Casual Summertime Dinner", based on the book Eating Local by Janet Fletcher. 

It ended up being a tiny class with only 4 four students, so we got a lot of hands-on opportunities.  Carlos was our instructor for the day and did a great job. 

He is very passionate and knowledgable about eating local foods grown in sustainable ways.  We had tons of questions and he patiently answered each and every one. 

The menu for the day included a Yellow Tomato Gazpacho,

Grilled Country Pork Chops with Bourbon Basted Grilled Peaches,

and a Summer Squash Carpaccio with Arugula, Pecorino and Almonds.
 

 
I ended up eating all of this, plus a little more of the salad. 
 

To say the meal was delicious would be an understatement. 

For dessert it was a Cornmeal Shortcake with Farm Stand Berries - which I did not get pictures of because I was too busy stuffing my face.  Ooops. 

Because of this class (and Carlos' passion) we dragged brought our husbands along with us to the Urban Harvest Farmer's Market at Eastside yesterday.  Although it was a little warm outside, the trip was well worth it! 

R just a new camera this week (Canon 5D Mark II) and was itching to play with it.  This market provided the perfect opportunity.  Check out his handywork below...

M and S: Rockin' the Baby Bjorn

She loved that Mint Limeade! 

So many to choose from and they all look good.

The passion each of the farmers/vendors had for the food they were bringing to market was amazing. All of the food was beautiful and quite tasty.

We ended up purchasing some tomatoes, cucumbers (to pickle this week), a watermelon, aged goat cheese, cured pork belly, andouille sausage, free-range chicken tenders and a dozen free-range brown eggs.

The egg, bacon and cheese sandwiches we had for dinner last night were phenomenal.  It's going to be a great week!