My month-long summer break ends this Monday morning when I start my new position as Executive Director at Fresh Approach, a non-profit working to increase healthy food access and providing nutrition education in Bay area’s underserved communities. I’m looking forward to working with our staff, volunteers and our Board of Directors to continue to grow the organization, strengthen community partnerships and promote this important work in the Bay area.
Summer produce is what I want to eat these days. Gazpacho is high on my list of seasonal favorites. I have made blueberry jam and strawberry jam, and today I found the perfectly-sized, small Kirby cucumbers to make garlic dill pickles. I bought enough to make a few quarts PLUS a small batch of crunchy mustard pickles from my book Pickled. Grandma Patton used to make these and store them in a crock in the refrigerator. I ate a lot of chilled mustard pickles at Grandma’s house when I was a kid.
This is what I picked up at the Downtown Berkeley Farmers Market today:
- Strawberries
- Kirby cucumbers (small)
- Sweet peppers
- Orange canned tomatoes (Pomodori Cotti) – for Gazpacho
- Pluots, nectarines and peaches
- Sprite plums
- Sweet basil
- Cherry tomatoes
Cassius and Roxy with today’s farmers market finds
BrinyLife 