The big picture

One thing I've been pondering over the last few weeks is the structure of my grocery shopping.  I have many, many options for acquiring groceries: 5 major grocery stores convenient to me, 2 online shopping services, Costco, Target, small boutique shops, the Farmer's Market(s) and several options for farm shares (which are sure to be a post of their own soon).  

Yesterday I went to the Farmer's Market in Dupont, and I for the first time bought something other than fruit.  I bought food that needs cooking, which means I have to cook tonight.  

For the record, I bought 

• 2 whole chicken legs
  
• a pint of fingerling sweet potatoes
  
• a pint of fingerling potatoes (yellow potatoes of some kind)
• 2 turnips
• a small bulb of garlic
• a small piece of ginger
• 4 apples
• 2 pears

I didn't know precisely what I was planning to cook, but I had a friend with me who helped me evaluate the practicality of each potential purpose.  She also had some valuable input on the "grocery plan."  She makes the Farmer's Market the "lynchpin" of her grocery shopping, since it's not entirely predictable.  She then uses local supermarkets etc. to turn those purchases into actual meals.  This would be even more critical with a farm share, since not only can you not predict what will be available, but you *have* to take it.  But since both Farmer's Market and farm share pickup occur on days when I would need to cook before being able to go out to buy additional groceries, I also need to keep a stocked pantry.  

To that end, I'm working on developing a repertoire of recipes that I can make and/or adapt with a variety ingredients.

This week, I'm trying out this recipe for Turnip Gratin and next week, I'm trying this one for Lotsa Veggies Stew