It's the season for yumminess!

I'm back from my vacation, and I'm raring to go! I don't want to bore you with a slide show of my holiday pics, so here is a mishmash of them instead!





Asparagus from South Jersey spotted at Union Square Market in NYC last week.












Fresh rhubarb from the Montérégie, south of Montreal












New potatoes in NYC.
By the way, though it might seem too early: it's new potato season! Break out those potato salads recipes 'cuz here they come!
While driving across the Gaspé peninsula, we passed a couple of truckloads, and they were huge!
Even the potatoes in my garden -which were off to a very late start- are growing quite steadily...












It seemed unbelievable at the time (last week, under gray New York skies), but strawberries are here! These ones to the right (with the charming smile)were grown in South Jersey and were being handed out free at Union Square -and were they ever tasty!






And these beauties to the left were bought this very afternoon in Saint-Paul d'Abbotsford, Quebec: the very first ones of the season!




Fresh Quebec asparagus... so succulent!











This picture does not do these Jersey radishes
any justice: they were the size of golf balls!!!!








A beautiful mound of roquette (arugula) at Union Square




A vat of lovely spinach, still in NYC.






Some dahlias (which are edible if unsprayed) and gerbera daisies.


















These beasts come from Sainte-Flavie in Gaspésie.
Though in hindsight it seems obvious, my honey and I were pleasantly surprised to distinguish flavour differences depending on where the lobsters were caught.
Ste-Flavie, aka the entrance to the Gaspé region, is on the north shore of the peninsula, right at the beginning of the route.
Though the St-Lawrence River appears to be a sea at this point, it is still a river, and its waters are far less salty then further down towards the Gulf. And these lovely creatures, which we brought home to cook, were indeed not so much salty as sweet. Whereas the lobsters we had in the town of Gaspé further down the St-Lawrence River (actually, right in the Gulf of St-Lawrence) were quite salty, though still very delicious... It was a vacation full of discoveries!



And these here lovely ladies are goats from La Chevrière de Monnoir in Marieville, a charming goat farm in a beautiful region of southern Quebec. Contrary to what I claimed in my last post, unripened raw milk cheeses are legal in Quebec, and these goats produce some fine specimens. However, these ladies are not seasonal workers, and their unpasteurised cheeses are available for sale year round.

While I am conscious of the fact that road trips are not the most eco-friendly way to spend a holiday, it is by far the best way to discover a region and its foods!

Bon app'!




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