Stocking Up

We had some rather strange meals last week, as I was trying to use up as much fresh and frozen food in our old refrigerator as possible before the new one was delivered yesterday, so today I had the pleasure of replenishing our supplies.

These bright tomatoes caught my eye at the farmers' market, but I prefer "Sungold" cherry tomatoes above all others, so I bought those instead -- as well as Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, peppers, carrots, green grapes, pears, fresh eggs, small Breadfarm baguettes and a loaf of their delicious sour cherry lemon bread, fresh salad mix, a homemade chocolate bourbon pecan pie big enough for two small slices each, and two autumn ferns for the back yard.

Then I walked over to Old World Deli and bought a pound of their house-cured bacon, a few slices of lamb prosciutto (reminded me of the smoked lamb we had in Iceland), and the last few ounces of their house-smoked duck breast.

My last stop on foot was Carne, a small local butcher shop new to Bellingham this year, where I purchased about a pound of oxtails for soup stock, two gorgeous pork chops, and ground beef that I'll use to make a meatloaf. The owners are buy local whole animals as much as possible, and offer a wider variety of cuts, as well as housemade sausages, than is available in most grocery stores. Their stock varies from day to day, so it will be fun to stop in now and then, see what they have, and try something new.

(We eat much less meat than most Americans, and less often; when we do eat meat, it's in small portions and locally raised whenever possible. What I listed above will last us for quite a while!)