Farmer's Market Day!

This morning was the weekly trip to Your DeKalb Farmer's Market (YDFM) which always puts me in a better mood-- something about being in such a bustling place with people from all over the world is refreshing, reminds us all that we're not the only people here. That, and fresh produce and meat and seafood pleases me. There was nothing like the YDFM in Memphis or Southaven, so finding fresh, organic food was really difficult and expensive. The spices at YDFM are insanely cheap-- a few ounces of Tikki Masala (or any other Masala, for that matter) is about 79 cents, and a bag of more bay leaves than I'll probably use this winter is also under $1. I left the rest of my spices with Jeremy because spices are just so expensive everywhere else, and the stuff you get here is better and fresher anyway.

I stocked up on leeks, a pumpkin, squash, cornishons (French cornish pickles), Masala Chicken spice, bay leaves, milk, bananas, fresh baked bread, naan, and fresh catfish.

I think I'll make some potato and leek soup, some potato and squash soup, some Ziti alla Zucca (gratzi Mario Batali), and possibly do some sauteed squash with chicken next week. I'm extremely happy to be cooking again, and I wish everyone's schedules had worked out the last month or so that I was in Southaven, I would have loved to cook for Marc and Jan, and I'm sure it would have been nice for them to eat some healthy homemade food than getting tired of cooking and hitting up Texas Roadhouse. I think I could get tired of baked potatoes! It also would have been nice to do since it's looking less and less like I have employment options to send them money for rent...

I'm hoping cooking will take my mind off some of that-- I hate not working or going to school, having something to do with my days, because I feel a little useless and pointless. Not depressed, just... pointless, I think, is the best word. I'm going to re-vamp my CV again and send it out to like everyone I know in the hopes that they can find something. I'm also going to take mom's car tonight and run up to Pier One and try to get an application in for holiday work. I'm sure they have more than they need already, but I'll never know if I don't try!

That's all for today, I'm going to watch a movie and put up some clothes, and start putting things back in the car to go to storage first thing. If you have any more suggestions for the squash or pumpkin, feel free to leave them-- I love learning new recipes!

Naan-- it cures all ills

In the midst of trying to figure out what on earth I'm going to do with my car since it apparently has an exhaust leak and I don't have my handy dandy boyfriend to fix it, nor do I have any money, I decided I needed Naan. There's a little Indo Pak groceries up the street and so I stopped in and picked up some frozen garlic naan, completely missing the fresh stuff until after I had gotten in the checkout line. It took a lot of maneuvering to get to the line, too. I'm sure a market in real India is much more chaotic, but for the tiny little grocery, there were too many carts, babies, and (yes) jackhammers for the space. No worries, though, I liked it there. The smells were great, the people completely unbothered by anything else-- it was nice. I also was reminded how much easier it'll be to cook different stuff now that I'm back in Atlanta than it ever was in Memphis. I did, however, forget my mole sauce and curry mix at Jeremy's.

It was a somewhat stressful day, apparently I'm psychic which is a bigger burden than I thought it might be, but things will settle soon enough. Mom and I are going to look at houses and apartments, and hopefully by this time next month I'll have my own room and our bathroom will be at least mildly more functional than this one. I do enjoy my bed, though. I have a daybed in the living room next to the windows that look out on to the street. The neighborhood is quiet, but since it's not a dead end like Westchester, there's still through traffic to watch. Loads more bikes than I remember from a few years ago, so hopefully that bodes well for possible mechanics jobs in Atlanta-- it would be nice if we don't have to go anywhere near Memphis again, we're both pretty sick of that city.

Anyway, I'm watching Jericho (which is awesome) and considering thawing out a chicken breast to cook up with some herbs de provance or something. Since it would appear my family's new version of dinner is cereal and whatever the heck my brother decides to dig up for himself. This will have to change.