"Sweet Stuff"

                                   

The current awareness of benefits from eating foods that are "local" has given re-birth to the road-side produce stand, only today's version is the Farmer's Market.  Growers gather in central locations, set up booths and tables displaying bins or bags or boxes of freshly picked produce.  We have started to re-discover the flavorful difference between foods that have been harvested, trucked, stored, and merchandised by a grocery store chain and those left in the care of their farmer-parents.  I think most of us are even willing to overlook oddities in shape and color knowing that the true character of a favorite product lies inside the package.  This is not to say that our grocery-industry can't deliver rewarding purchases, but there is something sustaining about knowing your food's background.

 I have recently tried the newest version of acquiring  locally-grown delights: a weekly delivery service of the season's best to a near-by location where I simply pick up my paid-for-on-line bag of surprises.  I plan my meals around what I find in the bag.  It's been a great way to eat and I'm rarely disappointed in the quality of each delivery (outeraislefoods.com for my area).

The gold standard for locally grown goods is honey.  I saw that others think so too when my step-father, Grandpa Joe, set jars of his orange blossom honey out on a table near a small but well-traveled road and sold 600 pounds of the treasure in a couple of days.  Nothing fancy, just canning jars filled with transparent golden liquid, thick and sweet.  The ultimate simplicity.  

What treasures we've been blessed with despite the challenges and sorrows of modern living!  Delights surround us, ours for the savoring when we take the time to do so.  Fresh produce, flowers, tiny birds, cool quiet mornings, golden evenings, precious family moments... I'm going to keep painting these riches as a reminder to myself and to you that we are loved by a Creator who is reaching out to tell us so.

O taste and see that the Lord is good...   (Psalm 34:8)  

"Sweet Stuff"
12x15" includes a hand-painted mat
Available  (contact me)