way more than cheesesteak

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Tuesday, July 27, 2010 @ 7:12 PM

I'm back!

If you missed the memo, I was in Ireland for the last six weeks. I will certainly miss Galway and all its charm, but I couldn't wait to get back and get cooking. I was staying in a homestay and didn't have access to a stove, microwave or even a fridge, so I had to eat out for all my meals except breakfast. It was torture to walk through the Galway Market every weekend and not be able to experiment with the vibrantly colored fruits and vegetables. So, after 17 hours of travel and a delicious slumber, I woke up and headed to the Bryn Mawr Farmers Market.

There were a few more stalls since the last time I visited. I stopped for a sticky bun at the Herbal Springs Farmstead stand and picked up some peaches too.

The peaches joined some blackberries from another stand and they found their way into my very first cobbler (I thought I was making a crisp until my hands were covered in flour and I realized I had to add milk and roll out a dough. whoops). It could have used some more sugar, as I underestimated the tartness of blackberries. It could have also benefitted from some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (everything's better ala mode). Overall, though, it came out pretty good for a first attempt.

(I served it while it was still hot so the steam prevented a pretty picture. Apologies!)

While at the market, I also had a chat with Mitch from the Green Zebra Farm. I couldn't resist taking pictures of his spread--the colors were just too beautiful--so I asked if I could snap a few photos and we struck up a conversation. We talked tomatoes (he has several different varieties of brilliantly colored organic heirlooms) and I walked away with two different shades of red and a yellow tomato.