produce haul propositions
meandering a market's hopes, dreams & dinner plans
Through much of my adult life – that is, before the remote, living-in-the-middle-of-a-national-park-years as I’ve come to think of them – I was a weekend farmers market person.
It was a precious, inspiring practice. The comfort. The ease. The fresh, the rustic, the regularlity. It brought joy. It brought dinner.
Rewind to the Portland years (2004-2019), I would visit a farmers market (or two) on the weekends, and then cook whatever, as the week continued.
At these iconic, bountiful and year-round Northwest markets, I would fill my bike panniers with whatever looked good. What was in season. What called to me. What I had an inkling or even an imperative of wanting to cook.
Something(s) green, something aromatic, something bright, and something different.
I was living as/being a….normal person.
Which meant: I could run to a neighborhood grocery store or produce market on a whim. On the way home from work, or a night out.
And as time went on and maturity & cohabitation settled in, I would harvest from own community garden plot. Freshness was accessible as can be.
And for the record, I specify “normal” meaning immediate access to additional options around the corner, because I very much did NOT live this way for six recent years.
This continues my life story-ish on substack, and I’m filling in the need-to-know deets. <3
As you can see above from when I typed “notebook” into my google photos search bar (!!), I’m a menu planner. I write down ideas based on produce and appetite.
And as a dedicated list-maker + professional event planner, I typically keep to these intentions, especially once I moved more remotely & shopped less. More on that in a mo.
I’d sit with a cookbook or two. Get inspired by a “new” recipe being passed around by friends on the internet.
Think…pizza, pasta, stir-fry. Peruse my produce haul, and go from there.
Plus, during these earlier Northwest years, I had the perk & opportunity of recipe testing and growing up, and that absolutely grew my culinary repertoire. Oh, and blogging. Back-in-the-day of the early ‘aughts! And, that’s mostly hidden, now. ; )
Matters seriously changed when moving to the North.
Produce hauls became far more stretched out. We’re talking by weeks, and then months, come the long, long winter. Meal planning became an undertaking. A point of living. Nutritional, fulfillment, interest, flavor. It was all in play.
Time was on my hands. The pantry was full. The veg may have shifted to frozen for a period, yet, I was rarely un-intrigued. I kept cooking.
In the national park years – my second time finding this phrase entering my prose here, and it makes sense - aka the Alaska years - and then the deep-in-Yellowstone year - my take on produce shifted.
It leapt and occasionally soared, with rare, precious days at U-Pick farms and foraging……pickling .... ..processing…jamm-ing… drying…for the future lulls.
Fast forward to my arrival in Asia, circa December 2024…
During my Chiang Mai period (December 2024-Feburary 2025), I returned to a weekly, and then bi-weekly, market lifestyle.
Let me tell you: It felt GOOD. Especially, during such a then-strange time in my life.
And just like before, I’d get a little “normal” with my access, occasionally stopping at a street market for a bit more fruit or greens for the evening, or morning breakfasts. I was making up for lost time.
Produce prepped, fruit acquired, and ever-quirky electric cooktops plugged in.
Nowadays in Da Nang (late February 2025 - present)…
I’m on a slightly different page. Again.
My produce acquistion has shifted to the near-DAILY. Behold, the awe. The ease.
I currently reside one block from Chợ An Hải Đông, a traditional open-air fresh market that takes over one long block & more.
I walk up & down on my way to & fro wherever I’m heading, picking stuff up, or just thinking about it, all afternoon.
Once again I contemplate as I look around: What’s peak? What’s poppin’? What are the by-kilogram cardboard signs proclaiming?
I was coming ‘home’ with so much I acquired a fruit bowl. Said fruit bowl goes in & out of my fridge, depending on what’s what. Cause, FYI, it gets WARM when I’m not home and running the fan and/or AC.
Once again: I buy produce. I cook the produce.
I have my trio of jess-living-this-life-in-SE Asia meals that I’m currently / purposely /pointedly / trying to branch out from. Taking a pause on ‘pad mama’.
Revisiting Chinese and Indonesian dishes from my former dinner repertoire. Italian classics. Fancy avocado toasts. Huh.
Stretching out my sauces. Rotating greens. New-to-me greens. Morning glory, squash tops, Malabar spinach, baby bok choy, yu choy, mustard greens, amaranth leaves (they’re purple!) and huh, whatever that one is. Why not try them all?
More on that in the near future as things shake up. Mhmm. Draft and dinners underway.
Getting into the flow and access to such, fresh produce again pulls me back & forward to what I’ve made in years past, and what I could make, again.
The only limits are my pantry staples, which are admittedly…far less than I once lived with, due to my budget, access, and solo living. However, that pushes in different ways. A good thing.
That fulfills me, and my dinner plate, for sure.
And on, and on.
I cook and think, and strut the market, just ‘cause I can.
It’s my neighbor, after all.
5 foods-for-thought on the practice of Market Meanderings + Meal Planning:
The following is what goes through my head when returning with a bunch of fresh produce. What about you?
What do you *want* to make? What *could* you make? What are your go-to methods this “stuff” could fit into?
My list = Stir-fries, salad, slaw or bowls/tacos, see also: taco filling, pizza toppings, pasta star, as-is - with good salt.
What needs to be used first? Hi, fresh herbs, tomatoes + fruit. I see you, I eat you.
What may last a bit longer? Heyyyy, kohlrabi, onions, garlic, hearty greens. Hey.
What’s something new you could try making? What have you been meaning to cook up?
What are you already thinking for next week?? What’s on the to-grab or to-make list / a dinner day-dream?
What’s *Your* go-to Farmers Market meal?
What do *You* make when you come home with an electic bunch of fresh spring/summer produce?
References + Relevant Links:
can’t close the fridge, these scone archives September 7, 2022
Chợ An Hải Đông [market] in Da Nang, Vietnam
curry stain chronicles, these scone archives January 30, 2025
Edible Alaska magazine
tales from the Fairbanks run, sconin’, February 24, 2022
Srsly, you could kindly buy jess a $5 cup of coffee? 💙💙💙
good writing. Love this. I love reading about this; I'm 67 and became plant based a few years ago. I like reading stuff about veg and greens and different produce. I think, for me, after shopping (not at a lovely exotic Vietnamese place, but a grocery store) I put the stuff away, jammed in the fridge, because there are others who live here and I must interact with them (daughter, dogs, parrot, etc). Shopping for food can be wonderful, but sometimes here in Maine it is stressful. Also, this year, I don't know how the farmer's markets will be; we had a lot of rain rain rain and extra long cold weather spring. In the afternoon, I figure stuff out and what to cook. I am not good at planning ahead.