Classic City Farmer's Market

Readers, I was blown away by veggies! Let me repeat, I was blown away by veggies! I have finally ventured out to my neighborhood outdoor farmer's market this Saturday, and I thought it was surprisingly fun. I was taken aback by the elaborate displays that the vendors had of their edible wares. Just take a peek at some of these pictures:

We ran into some friends, which is fun to do at a thing like this, and I bought stuff. I did not need anything but I felt it would not be right if I walked away empty handed. I decided on eggs. The family selling them were adorable, I even ended up taking a photo of them instead of my eggs, but to clue you in... one of my eggs is green, I think it means it's lucky!!!

Now, da kid, who's main goal in life seems to be to top me at every function, of course outdid himself and decided he too wanted to buy something. He decided on a container of mixed peppers. I think he may have even tried to haggle over the price, and was met with smiles & 50cent discount for audacity (I was keeping the parental distance of a mum w/ a 10yo).

Having been uplifted from the visit, I decided to pull out the Big Red Bible and try something spicy. I ended up making something similar to Arizo con Pollo, I added in the red peppers and left out the saffron (as I had no frickin' clue what that was outside of a color & Donnovan song). What was the outcome?

The boys dug it. A LOT actually. It was too spicy for me, so I also threw in some peas, since I'm not eating those either and the fellas had a hearty, veggie-filled meal.

PS - I also cut up an entire onion, by my self!!

ROAD TRIP

Readers, the time is upon me & I am in need of your guidance and help! My fam is planning not only our first EVER family vacation, but it also happens to be a road trip. We are heading out of the Classic City heading to D.C. (for some historical site seeing & museums) to Boston (for the same-ish) to NH (for my sweet, smart-assed {smart being the operative word} cousin's graduation), and then back down.We're talking a total of around 50 hours of car time.

Now I love road trips, but I am one of the people who can read, eat, sleep, sing off key, and more in the car. Plus I love finding little mom & pop places to eat. And so now you see my conundrum, how do you pack a small car for a road trip while not dinning out?

I need suggestions for car-packed food! I head out in less than 2 weeks. I need some pre-planning.

No cheating with your sister

Or in other words, da sis & Belly Katherine came for a week long visit and I did not buy food out the entire time. This is a small feat within itself because we are both social eaters. Da sis helped me out a bit by treating us gUrls to Doc Chey's for lunch one afternoon.

Besides for these wonderful fortune cookies we are eating with chop sticks, I had Coconut chicken soup, Chicken Lo Mien (with no veggies, so think just noodles, chicken & sauce), and Thai tea. Belly Katherine had a big mound of white rice.

Da sis also got us Chick-Fil-A biscuits one morning. Belly Katherine even shared a hash brown with me!

Outside of that, we cooked for ourselves. We brought lunches with us when we went to the pool. We had potlucks for my peeps to meet da sis. We ate our weight in bagels. Da kids ate more than their weight in Popsicles.

One day Belly Katherine helped me make some snacks & try on my new apron! once again too beautiful for me to wipe my hands on, I was caught more than once, sticking my hands underneath the apron & simply wiping my hands on my shorts.

Readers, here is what you are really wondering... did I make my mom's secret spaghetti recipe? Did da sis actually hand it over to me!

YES!!! Readers, do I plan to share it with you?! Hell no.

If I had to wait this long, I am making someone else pay too! However, I do plan on trying to make it again soon and making some possibly drastic changes, and that I will share.

It was a wonderful trip & I could not have been more surprised how, with the simplicity of staying home (my home or the Majong Maiden's {I don't think you are a maiden anymore when you are married}), cooking with loved ones, that this may haven been the best trip we've had together. I think I may have this NYR to thank too, weird right?