Taste Your Place is off to a successful start. I arrived at the Farmer’s Market to a refreshing breeze in the midst of this heat wave. PLACE taught people how to make seed balls, an essential tool for guerrilla gardening, and we debuted our first annual Taste Your Place cookbook. I bought some beautiful heirloom tomatoes, along with some rose gold, german yellow and blue potatoes from McMullan Family Farms and some beautiful pasta from Antonio’s Fresh Pasta (squid ink tagliatelle and lemon zest ravioli).

For my birthday, my parents and my husband accompanied me kayaking on the Broad River. We basked in the sun and splashed in the water. We took a little longer than expected, but still made it to the party at our friend Jon’s house in time to see the only goal in the World Cup final game. Go Espana! I had made some refreshments to take to Jon’s with my booty from the Farmer’s Market. The heirloom tomatoes were diced up and mixed with some jalapenos left over from the previous market, some vidalia onions and a little lime juice. I also made a German style potato salad with the tri-color potatoes, highlighted with whole grain mustard and tarragon vinegar, and finished with some chopped rosemary and lemon thyme from my garden. After the snacks and the exciting finish to the game, my husband surprised me with a birthday treat reminiscent of his childhood in Long Island, a Carvel ice cream birthday cake. I felt like a little girl again with my teeth and tongue stained blue from the icing. We finished off the triple header with a steamy dinner at Cali ‘n Titos. Good friends, good food and great fun. What a way to turn 29.

On Monday, Megan Boling brought me some lovely tomatoes and an amazing cucumber from her garden as a birthday present. On the way home from work, I picked up some mussels from Earth Fare. I boiled up the squid ink pasta and topped it with her tomatoes, the mussels, basil and a white wine butter sauce.

On Tuesday, I picked up some edamame from Backyard Harvest at the Little Kings market and mixed it in with some chickpeas to make homemade falafel. I procured some fluffy pita from Luna, sliced up another heirloom tomato, and made some tzatziki with Megan’s cucumber and greek yogurt.

On Wednesday night, PLACE held the second Taste Your Place Stone Soup Supper at Roots Farm. There was a great turnout and we all read the Stone Soup story page by page, passing the book around a circle. We held hands and shared things that we are grateful for, such as a chance to return to our farm roots, bountiful food and good friends.

This afternoon, I went to see a movie that I have heard so much about, but somehow missed in my education–Babette’s Feast. In the Danish film from 1987, two sisters from a small, rural, Lutheran sect lead their fellow villagers and care for the needy in their town. They take in a French woman in need, who becomes their cook, and many years later gives everything she has to provide the most beautiful gift she knows how to give. She provides them not only with a feast for the stomach, but a way to see one another with new eyes, opening their hearts along with their mouths. She teaches them that food can be a window to the soul, and that a little pleasure can lead to a warm heart. It was a truly fantastic movie, and I am very glad to have seen it. Just as a plug, Cine is offering a Summer Classic Film Festival and this was one of the movies. It is going on the rest of the summer and there are a lot of great titles so check it out if you get a chance.

I would like to promise that every post will not be a day by day account of my week, but this one was just so eventful and full of great food that I couldn’t resist. Come by the Farmer’s Market on Saturday to experience Taste Your Pie, another installation of Taste Your Place. For a full schedule of events click on the link for PLACE to the right.