i discovered that the reason that i was taking so long to recover from the all-night hospital visit was because i was getting sick! so as my fatigue wore off, my cold increased leaving me at a constant state of haziness. the cold finally hit full on last night after dinner with my mom and sushi wabi which was delicious, despite the fact that my nose was stuffed and i didn't have much of an appetite.

this morning, i woke up at 4:30am to volunteer at the farmers market. by the time i got there i was feeling rather spiffy, unloading boxes of veggies and thinking that a bit of hard(ish) labor would kick my cold into subordination. i was wrong. by 9am, when kathy showed up to relieve me, i had begun a quick descent into snot-ridden disaster. a quick pot of tea at unicorn and i dragged myself home with a backpacked stuffed with veggies. the fall market is beautiful with its squashes, root vegetables, apples, brussel sprouts and lettuces. standing amidst so much variety, its difficult to decide what i want to take home. i settled, today, for jerusalem artichokes, brussel sprouts, beets, deertongue lettuce, speckled bib lettuce, green lettuce, arugula, wild arugula, beets, green tomatoes, a butternut squash, mushrooms, red tomotoes, fresh sage and a variety of fingerling potatoes. tomorrow night: tarts. an hour ago, i simmered the jerusalem artichokes and brussel sprouts, drained and shocked them, threw them into a saute pan with some olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic and, after fifteen minutes, tossed them with some parmesan cheese and chowed down. not bad! i overdid the jerusalem artichokes a bit, but live and learn, eh?

in a half hour or so, i'll throw together the dough for the tart crust...i'm waiting for the shortening to chill at the moment. starting tomorrow night's dinner tonight must be a sign of maturity.