The Green Market - Buy Local

We went to the downtown Brooklyn Green Market, actually the Borough Hall Green Market on Saturday. It's been an amazing year for the farmers. Here it is November and they're still selling vine ripened tomatoes. We picked up a whole bunch of fresh fruits and vegetables including some tomatillos which I've never cooked with before. Of course what visit to the green market would be complete with out some baked goods and organic turkey sausage?

One stand was selling about 15 different varieties of apples. Do you remember what apples look like without that protective layer of wax applied to the supermarket fruit? Do you remember the satisfaction of picking up an apple and polishing it to a brilliant shine on your shirt tail? Have you ever experienced the intoxicating smell of ripe apples in the crisp fall air? Apples are one of God's greatest gifts to man. Hell, they are so tempting, they supposedly caused man's down fall!

This stand offered samples of each variety of apple that they sold. Imagine walking up and down the aisles tasting macoun, golden delicious, red delicious, empire, cortland, crispin, gala, ginger gold and more. I was like a kid in a candy store.

While they were all delicious one apple stood out from the pack. It was the crispin. Sweet, a little tart, incredibly juicy and just bursting with apple flavor. I don't think I've ever had a crispin apple before, but now I will seek them out in the stores. I recommend you do too. They are worth the effort.