Solar Cooking at the Farmers Market

Train station in the early 20th century

It has been hot hot hot the past few days—hot and sticky—and today was more of the same. And since today was Sunday, it was farmers market day. The market is held in Old Depot Park, where the train station used to be located. I wish it still was, because it would be so much nicer than having to drive 10 miles to catch a train. The railroad line was abandoned in 1939, though. Now it's really just a big parking lot.

Rick and I had been talking about bringing our Global Sun Oven up one Sunday during the market and buying some vegetables, or some of the organic free range chickens or grassfed beef some of the vendors have for sale. We figured it was the perfect spot to use the solar oven—no trees to block the sun—and we could get dinner going while we were tending our tables. I suppose I should go off on a tangent here and say the girls mind the tables while Rick wanders around playing guitar and jamming with some of the other vendors and I generally float about babbling with everyone. Which is okay. Having the music going is really nice and creates a community spirit. I have no clue what benefit my babbling has, though. Absolutely none, I suppose.

Escarole from Monarch Landing CSA, cooked in our
sun oven in the parking lot of the farmers market

But, anyway, today was the perfect day to do some solar cooking at the market, except I didn't think of it before we left home despite the fact Rick and I had discussed it last week. A conversation with Charley, who coordinated our farmers market, reminded me, and since Erica had to run home for a minute I asked her to bring back the solar oven and a pot from the house (we're only about 1/2 mile away). I wish I sold the darn things since so many people stopped to look and ask questions. By then it was 11:00 a.m., but I just had to cook something to demonstrate. I didn't think we had enough time to cook any of the meats for sale, so I dashed over to Julia and Peter's table (Monarch Landing CSA) and they gave me some escarole, garlic, a sprig of rosemary (or was it thyme? I forget) and a few sage leaves. I added a bit of water from my water bottle and put the pot in the oven. In the short time it took me to get the escarole in, the oven was already at 300º and climbing. I was hoping to share the escarole with everyone, but all the farmers sold out of produce and everyone started packing up a little earlier than expected. That was okay with me because I came home with a pot full of escarole, which I set it aside and served later on with dinner. Charley got so excited with the whole solar cooking idea, though, that next week I'm supposed to bring the solar oven back up to the farmers market and the Naturally Grass Fed folks (our neighbor vendor) will be bringing a 3 1/2 pound free range chicken for me to cook. Hopefully we'll have another beautiful sunny day and I'll have enough time to actually cook the chicken! Our other neighbor vendor, Natural Earth Farms (their 22-month old son, Anthony, is absolutely adorable and loves music and dancing!), will be supplying some corn. (I used their zucchini in my oven fried zucchini recipe. I came home with more this week, since the recipe was so yummy.)

In the meantime, Rick grabbed a plate and photographed a few of the escarole leaves for me, leaving the rest in the pot to continue cooking. Thanks Julia & Peter for such delicious goodness!

Gourd Bowls & Oven Fried Zucchini

I can't believe I haven't posted anything in a month. Time sure flies. I was working like a mad person through most of May and June, though, trying to finish up any work for my now ex-job, which basically ended on June 20th. I hear commercials on the radio while listening to Mets games about retirement. All these jolly people chuckle and say really stupid things like, now I have no more homework, or we call it Jubilation [not retirement]. I guess retirement is a whole lot different. Since anyone who has read my earlier posts knows, I have a real hard time getting seriously depressed, although maybe not such a hard time getting slightly neurotic. I did get a bit moody back in March, and sad again in May as the job was starting to really wind down. It felt like someone had died. After 18 years, you have an attachment that's hard to break and I admit I cried some. Rick had bought me a bunch of really cool stuff on Mother's Day to make copper jewelry and shawl pins so I could focus on something else. But for my birthday in early June he got me a super cool, incredibly awesome, pyrography burner called an Optima 1. I didn't even know something like it existed! He has got to be the best husband ever. (Remind me I said that when he annoys me.) I woodburn his Navajo spindles, so this new machine will make it easier to get more detailed, plus it's just more fun. He also bought some gourds for me to decorate and I just finished burning a design on a small gourd, using colored pencils to add a touch of color, and then applying an acrylic sealant. I posted it on my etsy shop. I have no idea if selling shawl pins or pyrographed gourd bowls is going to provide any kind of income, but it's been gratifying to get my old artistic juices flowing and to not be sitting in front of a computer screen all day. I am having fun!!!

Bottom view of my gourd bowl

I do need a routine or structure of sorts. Hmmm . . . maybe a bad choice of words, but a groove for my days so I can be more productive. I've only sporadically set the sun oven outside because I haven't been able to concentrate on getting dinner going in the morning or early afternoon. I always cook from scratch, but it's been a bit chaotic as I rush around trying to accomplish way too much and getting nothing really done -- or what feels like a whole lot of nothing. Sheesh! Dinner keeps getting started at 6:00pm with the thought, "What can I cook in half an hour?" I did do a bit in the solar oven yesterday. I put some greens from the garden, minced onion, 1/4 cup chicken broth, minced garlic, and a few bits of bacon in one pot, and in the other pot I placed a few sausage links drizzled with olive oil. Today, though, I was back to starting dinner after everyone was already hungry, but I managed to cook penne a la vodka and some oven baked zucchini sticks in short order. The zucchini sticks have just become a favorite, as they are super easy and make a great side.

Oven Baked Zucchini Sticks

2 medium zucchini, cut into fat french fry style "sticks"
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
a tablespoon or two of freshly grated parmesan cheese
dash of fresh or dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons of mustard

I'm kind of guessing on amounts, since I rarely really measure. But after I cut the zucchini I threw it into a tupperware bowl and drizzled oil and mustard into the bowl. Then I covered it and shook it real well until the zucchini sticks were coated (healthier than using an egg). In a separate bowl I mixed the breadcrumbs, grated cheese, and spices. I rolled the mustardy-oily zucchini sticks in the breadcrumb mixture and placed them on a parchment covered baking tray. Bake the zucchini sticks in a 450º oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Just keep checking until they look golden brown.