Time for Vegetables

Since we have been back in Houston, we have been going through stuff in the house, throwing things away and packing what we want to store. By the late afternoon, the thought of cooking just wasn't a very appealing thought. We have now been through all the nearby take out places and we have been out to eat.

But I'm hungry. Hungry for vegetables. So today while we were out checking out a couple of storage places, we stopped at the Farmer's Market which isn't too far from the Houston house. The market is spread out and there are open air pavilions where vendors set up little stands and lay out their produce so precisely that it makes me so homesick for Mexico. In the back of the market are trucks that have just arrived from the Texas valley or Hempstead loaded with whatever is seasonal, like watermelons and they sell in bulk or you can buy just one. There is also a "store" that isn't air-conditioned just huge ventilation fans. Can you believe that such a place still exists in hot, humid Houston?

I love people watching in the markets because you don't see much of the yuppie crowd at Farmer's Market. The Yuppies usually go to specialty organic markets and pay more for squash and tomatoes. You are more likely to see an older black woman buying a big mess of collard greens, black-eyed peas, okra, tomatoes, cucumbers, ears of corn. Oh my, I'd love to go home with her. I know that she knows how to cook it the good old way with ham hocks and slather butter on the corn. Or you might see an oriental woman buying some vegetables that I'm not sure how they should be prepared so I'd like to go home with her too. The people in the farmer's market are real, down home cooks from whatever part of the world they came from.

I had a hard time restraining myself. I could have bought a basket full of vegetables. Tonight we are having fresh cream peas, okra with tomatoes and a salad along with thin sliced sauteed porkchops. And tomorrow it will be fresh corn on the cob and spring green beans with grilled chicken breasts.

Yum!
Sounds good to me.