MISC.: It's Produce Week

It's not too hard to figure out what the industry of choice is in my neighborhood. Walking my dog last night, we wandered through zones of cheering and shouts of "What the f***?" In any other neighborhood this would have been Super Bowl Sunday, but in my neighborhood it's Emmy night. It was kind of creepy actually, to walk through it. It was like a science fiction neighborhood. The streets were deserted ... no cars and no people out walking. And every living room television is tuned to the same channel. Well, except mine. We were watching the last two episodes of "Feasting on Asphalt." I heart you, Alton!

Once I would have thought that was neat. But now? Now I'm pretty much over Los Angeles. But there's a few things I still love about where I live. Nope. Not the weather. But. I love that I can walk to both the pilates place and the organic/macrobiotic market. And I love the fact that somewhere in L.A. each and every day of the week, there's a farmer's market. I love the farmer's market, and I love the farmers and the gourmet food vendors and the flower sellers and the musical entertainment and the chefs that commandeer all the vegetables and I love all of the fruits and vegetables and herbs and plants both common and exotic.

And I love the last half of summer when everything goes crazy and you are simultaneously excited about all the fresh produce and frantic about getting it before it goes away and preserving what you can and making all of those delicious recipes that you were just sure you were going to make despite the fact that you have a full-time job and are lazy to boot.

So this week, I'm celebrating the produce. I'm going to try to make each and every post illuminate some fruit or vegetable, or provide recipes to turn your farmer's market finds into delicious meals, or otherwise expound on some aspect of the fruits and vegetables that make this time of year so special. Stay tuned.