Author: Pamela Denney

My first visit to Red Hook, an eclectic community in South Brooklyn, was to shop for bargains at the massive Ikea store located on the neighborhood’s historic waterfront. But thanks to my daughter, we now skip the furniture for food.

In addition to the maritime park, cobblestone streets, and renovated factories from the 1800s, Red Hook is home to Baked, a nationally recognized bakery favored by foodies like Martha Stewart and Oprah. Founded in 2005 by Matt Lewis and Renalto Poliafito, the charming eatery on Van Brunt Street offers a delectable selection of pastries and baked goods, including homemade marshmallows, half-a-dozen varieties of brownies, and specialty treats like Peanut Butter Crispy Bar. We tried the peppermint brownie and pistachio cake. Both were divine.

Now it’s time to amp up the game.

Susan’s CSA half-share with Whitton Farms ended last week, so I’m taking up the torch and reporting on my full share, also from Whitton Farms. This is my third season cooking with a CSA share, so I like to think I’m a bit of a pro. But admittedly, I groaned a little when I saw this week’s yellow squash and zucchini. “It’s too early for squash,” I muttered to myself.

I stopped by the Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market on Saturday near closing time, and Downing Hollow Farm had a few heads of lettuce left and lots of stinging nettles.

Now I know why.

Lori Greene offered a bundle of the nettles free of charge so I could try them, along with this warning: Be sure to wear gloves until they are cooked.

Yikes. It seems the wild herb, which is plentiful in spring, is covered with stinging hairs that magically disappear as soon as the greens are cooked.

I’d been waiting three weeks for the Grow Memphis sale of heirloom vegetable plants, but I forgot about the Sunday event because of this weekend’s rain, tornadoes, and catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf. Maybe the same thing happened to you.

Well, finally, a little good news. There’s plenty of plants left, and you can pick them up at the Cooper Young Farmers Market this Saturday help from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot of First Congregational Church.

Saturday is the kick off for the Cooper Young Farmers Market, and local farmers and vendors will be on hand – rain or shine – from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot of First Congregational Church.

Be sure to include the kids in the market, because they will be able to learn how to plant bean or basil seeds thanks to Sue Easley, who will be demonstrating in the market’s activity tent beginning at 9 a.m. Demonstrations also are set for 11 a.m. and noon.

Until I purchased a bundle at a recent farmers market, I though sorrel was the color of a horse. Turns out gray does play a role in the leafy green, but not immediately.

When it’s picked in April and May, sorrel is a beautiful spring green, and the leaves taste like lemon. But cook it into risotto like I did, the first time, and the color of the dish turns — to put it nicely — an unappetizing shade of brownish gray.

I hate to admit this, but here goes: On a recent trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama, my first meal of the morning was at Waffle House.

It was early, I’m a coffee junkie, and the restaurant was right behind the condo, so in I went. But guess what?

I’m pretty jazzed about the local farmers markets opening soon, so I’m celebrating by trying new (to me) veggies.

Last week, I found this beautiful broccoli rabe, which I’ve never made before because I don’t know how to pronounce it. Turns out, broccoli rabe isn’t broccoli at all, but a brassica more closely aligned with turnips and cabbage.

On Sunday, a trio of novice gardeners (one of them was me) made lasagna, and we never left the backyard.

Actually, it was Lori Greene’s backyard, or more accurately, her city farm near the University of Memphis. This weekend, Greene was at Downing Hollow Farms in Olive Hill, Tennessee, getting ready for the opening of the Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market, which she is spearheading, so her sister, Sue Easley, supervised the work in town.

Now back to that lasagna …

Whitton Farms’ Keith and Jill Forrester held a meet and greet Saturday for a sneak peek at their Trolley Stop Market on Madison Avenue and guess what? The market is located where the Complex once was.

The club’s stage is still in the back, and “we’re keeping it,” said Keith Forrester, laughing. “We hope to eventually have some music in here.”

For now, the Forresters are focused on transforming the former rock club at 704 Madison into a community market and restaurant, pulling together dozens of farmers and vendors who sell locally grown food.