CHEESESLAVE

Just got back from our Sunday shopping. Kate and I went to the farmer’s market then Whole Foods. Our usual routine. When we returned home, Seth and I put Kate down for her nap, unloaded the car, and then I came out back to sit in the garden to enjoy a glass of yummy zinfandel (organic, bien sur!) and a snack of raw milk cheese. Seth opted for a nap.

It is a beautiful day today. 77 degrees, sunny, clear blue skies. This is why we live in Los Angeles. There is a slight breeze which is making our whole backyard smell like jasmine.

I am so excited about what I found at the farmer’s market today. An avocado tree! There is a nice lady who sells organic plants — I also got a strawberry plant from her. Last week I bought some aloe (for Alla) as well as some chives and mint.

I’m going to put the avocado tree right next to the lemon tree. I’m thrilled that we will have avocados in our own back yard! Next I’ll get a Meyer lemon tree and a lime tree (my lady at the market said she’s going to get some in). And I must have a banana tree. One of Kate’s favorites!

And when I came home, our neighbor Otto saw my avocado tree. He was so excited — told me he just planted an apple tree yesterday. He took me in the back to show me his other trees — a kumkuat, a fig and an orange tree. Said he’s been eating 2-3 oranges every day ever since December. I told him we should trade — said I’d give him vegetables and herbs and lemons and avocados for his figs and oranges and apples.

I also bought a grape vine at Whole Foods. I want a grape vine mainly for the leaves. I want to make dolma. I also want to use the leaves to add to my homemade pickles. You add grape leaves to make them crunchy. I know right where to plant the grape vine. On the other side of the lemon tree, there’s a very sunny spot on the back wall.

I also got very fresh fish at the farmer’s market — wild salmon and sea bass and oh, I forgot what else. I’m going to make sushi for dinner tonight. I picked up some sushi rice, nori, and rice wine vinegar at Whole Foods, along with some sake and pickled ginger.

I love shopping at the farmer’s market. If I could buy everything there, I would. There is something about shopping there, buying directly from the farmer, that makes me feel so alive and so connected to my community. Kate loves being wheeled around in her stroller, sun on her face, tasting organic strawberries and apples.

A woman stopped me at Whole Foods today to compliment me on Kate. She said, “How old is she?” When I told her 10 months, she was taken aback. “My niece is 14 months and she is not this big!” I said, “Liver, egg yolks, raw milk, and cod liver oil. Every day.” She wrote it down.

I also met a very nice chicken farmer today at the farmer’s market. Bought some of his onion and garlic, as well as some of his free-range eggs (truly free-range, meaning pastured on the grass and dirt — not the faux free-range where they keep them packed in the giant rooms). And they are not fed soy.

I asked him if he ever sells chickens and he said he’s not allowed because he doesn’t have a processing plant. (Read Joel Salatin’s book, “Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal”)

I said, “What I really need is chicken feet. I can’t seem to find them anywhere, and I make a lot of broth.”

He said, “I can sell you whole chickens — but I have to bring them here alive. I can sell them to you for $8.”

He said I’d need to get there early in the morning on Sunday — 8 am. And he’d break their necks for me right there. All I’d have to do is boil and pluck. He said I could buy just one or as many as 10.

They’re not very big, he said — maybe 3 pounds. And they’re laying hens so they’re older. Not as tender but much more flavorful. Perfect for chicken stock! Plus I’d get the chicken feet and the livers and other organs which I could add to the stock.

He told me all I need to do is put them in boiling water and the feathers and claws will come right off.

So I’m going to talk to Yensi and see if she can help me process them. We could do a big batch on a Sunday. I don’t think she will have a problem with it — I’m pretty sure this is the way they do it in Guatemala.

Anyway, it’s a real bargain — only $8 for organic, free range chickens. They normally cost twice that at Rawesome — and three times that at US Wellness Meats. And those prices do not include the feet or the organs (the best parts!).

I’d better go now — Kate will be up any minute and I need to get the rice into the rice cooker. I found a sake called Otter Festival. I bought it in honor of my stepdad, John, whom we call Otter.