9.07.2009

A very auspicious start

I can't stay for long today, but I wanted to stop by quickly to tell you that the season for watermelon has officially begun. I bought one from Hillside Farm at the Truro Ag Fair yesterday, and this morning, I ate so many slices for breakfast I felt sick. It was a very auspicious start to the day.
Of course, I don't feel as sick as I would have if I'd entered the pie eating contest yesterday. I feel a little bad telling you about this today, as it's already gone by, but yesterday, in downtown Truro, there were a full four heats of chocolate-cream-pie-eating competition. It was part of a larger event—the first ever Truro Agricultural Fair—and it was quite a sight to behold. There were three heats of kids, and one of adults, everyone lined up on their knees with their arms behind their backs and their hair tucked up. I should have told you about it sooner, I know, especially since I'm on the board of the event, but I get sort of shy about these things. At any rate, it was a smashing success, and I think it's safe to say there will be one every year from now on. At least, we hope so.

Between the Fair and the Labor Day hubbub at the restaurant, it has been quite a weekend. An exciting one, to be sure, but also the kind of stretch that necessitates a good nap before you get back to work. I don't have a recipe for you today, and I hope you'll forgive me for that.

But I am able to offer you what I hope are two very nice things instead. Number one is the best, I think, and that is the address of the Hillside Farm stand in Truro. It's on Route 6, number 300, on the left side as you're headed toward Provincetown just before Sweet Escapes, the ice cream place. (If you happen to get distracted and go in there instead, I highly recommend a scoop of Celebration Cake. You may become a hopeless addict and never fit into a pair of jeans again, but it will be worth every bite.) At the farm stand, on the other hand, there are two things to recommend. Both are a kind of watermelon—one a long, skinny specimen and the other the regular rolly-polly type, and if I were you I'd buy one of each and put away as much as you can stand.

Number two, the other thing I want to tell you, is that although I don't have any recipes for you here this week, I am very excited to announce that I will have some soon somewhere else. On Wednesday morning when you wake up, if you click on over here, my very first national story will be up. It's for the Kitchen Window series on NPR.org, and it's about beach plums. There are not only one but three recipes at the bottom, so if you happen to be around on Wednesday, I'd love for you to check it out. The beach plums are just getting ripe, and it is absolutely perfect weather to pull on your boots and go pick. It isn't quite like it was two years ago, but there are certainly loaded bushes out there.

I think that's it. You have watermelon, you know about the Ag Fair, and on Wednesday, you can take the recipes if you like. Now, before another minute goes by, I am going to lie down for a nap.

Have a wonderful holiday, everyone.

3 comments :

MMPL blogger said...

Great photo! Only in my dreams...

Jennifer said...

hi elspeth,
i tried looking for beach plums on Monday in Brewster but had no luck. i couldn't tell if they had all been picked already or there just wasn't much of a harvest this year. are they still ripening from what you can tell?

Elspeth said...

Thank you so much, Ann!

Jennifer, I just picked some yesterday, so they are definitely still ripening. They're not in all their usual spots, but they are around, so keep looking! I've found beach plums as late as October, so there's certainly still time.

All the best,

Elspeth

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