A Morning at Wendy's Country Market

My books arrived last night. I'm so pleased with them. The paper is right. The cover is exactly as I imagined. Even the binding feels like quality. Despite all of this, I still sat up until midnight a little panicked that I had spent a goodly sum of our hard-earned money to self-publish my columns. All of that changed this morning when Wendy's Country/Mobile Market called to order a bunch. We decided to take a family trip out to Lyndhurst.

Mike, Rick, and Kieran explored while I made book arrangements.

A sign (no pun) that winter has settled in to stay.

A dream come true...

My little books look so at home here among the pottery and rustic wooden box.

I hope they're not so at home that they stay around long!

Another reason why I love this place: REAL FOOD!

Easter Weekend Goodness

I went on an adventure today to Wendy's Country Market. Having ordered through their mobile market for a few years now, I'd never had the chance to visit the shop. I've mentioned them several times on this blog and also have a link to their mobile market. They deliver local (and mostly organic) foods and other products directly to people's kitchens. This operation has changed the way our family eats by making local foods so accessible. Now, we know we can take a little road trip to this beautiful shop.

www.wendysmobilemarket.com

Wendy's Country Market can be found in a schoolhouse built in 1860. Several generations of Wendy's family attended school in this building. Her daughter is the seventh generation to live and work on this land.

Several local meat producers sell their products here. Beef, pork, fish, and poultry are available but more adventurous souls can find wild boar, elk, and bison.

preserves, honey, and maple syrup

home-baked treats (there are a number of gluten-free choices!)

I nearly wept when I saw the greens and hydroponic tomatoes. We had a great salad for dinner.

EASTER!

I love the person who, many years ago, filled my front garden with hundreds of bulbs.

This morning, we decorated our Easter eggs. We used all-natural dyes. Here are some of our experiments. We used white eggs to get this effect.

Red Onion: With string, wrap the eggs in the onion skin and boil for 5-10 minutes. Add a tablespoon of vinegar to the water before boiling. Results in a reddish-purple colour.

Beets: Chop 2-3 beets. Place beets along with desired number of eggs in a saucepan and cover with water. Add a tablespoon of vinegar and boil for 5-10 minutes. Results in purple (I only had one beet left since the rest were of the candy-cane variety).

Turmeric: Cover desired number of eggs with water. Add 1-2 tablespoons of turmeric to the water depending how dark you want the colour. Add a tablespoon of vinegar to the water before boiling for 5-10 minutes. When taken out early, eggs are light yellow. Leaving them longer results in orange.