Clinton Farmers' Market

I have been counting down the months, weeks and days until the Clinton Farmers' Market opened for..well for months. Today, June 10, 2010, the market finally commenced for the summer.
After a long morning of meetings, note taking and strategy talks - I was drained. However, as Anne and Joyce drove me back up the hill after our outing and I spotted the little vendor tents assembled on the Clinton village green, my energy immediately sparked up.
Armed with a tote bag and a wallet full of cash, I made my way through the maze of tents: fresh
bread, jewelry, jam, made to order burgers and my favorite...fresh produce and poultry!
By the end of my stroll, I had a bag filled with beets, lettuce, rhubarb, chicken and tilapia.
I practically ran back to my car from the green and was was so excited when I returned to my dorm that my suitemates thought I resembled a little child on Christmas.
Fresh tilapia in central New York? A man
drives his truck from Maine every week to
sell fresh fish to the local community.
I'm spoiled, I know.
As I went for my run down the hill after shopping, I contemplated what I would make for dinner. Choosing what to use tonight and what to save was a huge decision. Finally, I decided to cook the tilapia because the chicken was frozen (the woman apologized and told me the slaughter was a couple of weeks ago, but next week she would have fresh!), use some of the greens and cook the rhubarb for use on ice cream, pancakes, etc.
Therefore, by the end of the evening, my bounty, shown above, turned into....














I tossed the greens with feta, kalamata olives (left over from that great potato salad!) and balsamic vinaigrette. I sprinkled salt, pepper and paprika on the tilapia before cooking it in butter. Unfortunately the corn was a grocery store purchase...
And for dessert! Vanilla frozen yogurt with rhubarb sauce on top.
I think this is my best meal to date, which means I'll just have to outdo myself in the next week.
Bon Appetit!

Rhubarb Sauce
5 stalks of Rhubarb
1/2 C Sugar
1/4 C Water
2 t Ginger

Cut the rhubarb into 1/2 in. pieces and place in a saucepan with the water and half of the sugar. Let simmer for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sample the sauce and add more sugar to taste. Remove the sauce from the stove and add powdered ginger. As my mom would say, the more the better!