Savory Cabbage Pancakes. Photo by Philip Portnoy My partner and I rush to the Portland Farmers’ Market every Saturday morning. We chivy each other out of bed, gather our reusable shopping bags, produce sacks and returnable jars, and hustle out the door.
To beat the crowds, we aim to arrive as the vendors are still unloading their last boxes of produce. If you’d like to contribute to Home Plates, send a recipe and a story telling us how you came to cook it, who you cook it for and why it’s found a place in your life to pgrodinsky@pressherald.com .
Also, please tell us a little bit about your life as a home cook, include a photo of the dish, and yourself, possibly together, and let us know the source of the recipe. Most of our shopping is done at the market, aside from a few staples from the grocery store, such as rice and tortillas. Our grocery list is short.
We select most items when they catch our eye as we meander past the stall. Meat, vegetables, fruits and cheese – we find them all. I brainstorm recipes as I walk.
When I am stumped, I get cabbage or potatoes as they’re so versatile. Or I buy the softest tomatoes to make into sauce, fearing that no one else will buy them and they’ll go to waste. We are regulars at some vendors.
While browsing their selections, we ruminate on the weather as only farmers can. Or engage in the age-old Maine tradition of comparing our families’ longevity as Mainers, my family’s eighth-generation subsistence-turned-hobby farm to.