For the past few weeks, I have been working for Green City Market, the farmer’s market in Lincoln Park in Chicago. I am the “social media intern”, though I don’t know if that’s actually a title. Anyway, I update their twitter and facebook pages, among other things. My favorite part about the whole job is making friends with the farmers and vendors. I have already learned a ton about different foods and ways to prepare them.
I discovered my love for radishes (with salt and butter), though jury’s still out on whether I’m going to muster up enough courage to buy and prepare mushrooms. The guy who sells them told me he used to be a mushroom-hater (like me) until he tried the ones from the farm he works for, now he loves them. One of these days I’ll give it a shot. Just not yet.
Besides the awesome produce (all sustainably grown), and meats (all sustainably raised), are the dairy products. Especially the butter and the butterkase cheese.
For a butter and cheese lover like me (and I suppose the rest of the world), this stuff is it. The butter has an exceptional flavor because it is made from cows grazing the pastures, eating all sorts of different things. And this cheese is just delicious beyond reason. So what do I do when I bring home this lovely bounty from the market? Um. Isn’t it obvious? I make grilled cheese.
If you would like me to make you grilled cheese, come over and keep me company because my car is currently getting fixed so I am stuck in my house all alone. I pass the time in the kitchen. (Surprise, surprise!) Yesterday I made chili (with awesome ground beef from the market) and now that I’ve been talking about grilled cheese I’m starting to think I’ve got the perfect lunch combo today. See, now you really want to come over for lunch.
Since I was on a roll (pun absolutely intended) baking bread, I tried my hand at ciabatta. Isn’t it just magical how dough can go from this:
To this?:
Ok, I should probably stop complaining about being stuck inside when really I also have a bike. I even fixed it up myself, replacing the tubing in the wheel and attaching said wheel back onto the bike. It was quite an accomplishment.
However, the handle bars are crooked and the brakes are not the strongest…so I’m afraid to go on most of the major roads. But, the exercise is necessary.
Especially because I use so much of this:
To make things like this:
and this:
La Biga 
Mushrooms, no. Grilled cheese and chocolate chip cookie brownies, YES.