Scored collards and more for local New Year's Day feast

I was SO happy to pull into the State Farmers' Market lot today and see Mrs. Wise in her usual place at the Wise Farm booth. She's there nearly every day except Sunday with great produce and great advice. She's here with her son, Gary, who owns the Mt. Olive farm with his wife Teresa.

My New Year's Day party will now have excellent local collards despite the snow! Mrs. Wise said that they'd run out of collards Wednesday, but they had plenty today at 9:00. They will be at the market on Friday and Saturday, so please drop by to get some yourself. Gary pointed out their excellent bok choy, which they've planted under row covers this year with good results. Those amazing tomatoes come from green houses and they will have hoop-house strawberries soon.

I got five big bunches of collards, red and yellow onions, and sweet potatoes. At other booths, I picked up two gallons of apple cider, some apples, and two pounds of Ashe County super-sharp cheddar. The egg booth wasn't open yet.

Between the Harris Teeter and Whole Foods, I also got local corn meal, eggs, milk, and buttermilk.

What's cooking for New Years' Day? Hoppin' John, Tasty Tahini Collards, corn bread, a new chocolate cake I'm developing, and my favorite lemon cake from the Silver Palate cookbook. Other folks are bringing salads, fruit, and more greens. Should be fun!

What are you cooking for New Year's Eve or New Year's Day? Any special local dishes or ingredients?

NC Christmas Trees at Bargain Prices this Year

I set a speed record for picking our family Yule Tree this year. I started at Cole's Phoenix display at the State Farmers' Market in Raleigh. I'm originally from Lansing, Michigan, which started my attachment to Cole's years ago. Maybe this isn't quite rational, since they are from Lansing North Carolina. But Cole's often has terrific trees, so I always start there.

This year, the first tree I saw was a contender and the second tree was the winner! I had the tree trimmed and in the truck in less than 10 minutes, topped with a fresh wreath. Total cost: only $65. The tree is about 8 feet tall and 7 feet wide towards the bottom. It's very full and fresh, drinking water like an athlete.

I had lived in Raleigh for decades before realizing that the Farmers' Market had such a fantastic selection of trees at such terrific prices. You can find tiny trees, huge trees, very symmetrical trees, and trees with rough spots that you can face towards the wall, all at good prices. I've paid $85 or more for an equivalent tree at single-vendor lots near the State Fairground, back when I had a high-tech job and lots of moola.

This week I checked out the prices and selections at other Raleigh tree lots. Here's what I found:

• Best price: $30 for 6-7' trees at the Food Lion
• Next-best price for somewhat taller and fuller trees: $50 at Whole Foods
• Good selection and good cause: the Optimist Club offers a good mix of trees on Blue Ridge Road between Rex Hospital and the Olde Raleigh Village Shopping Center. I would have paid about $90 there for a similar tree/wreath combo, but would have gotten a $5-off coupon for next year and would have been helping a good cause.

But I still like to go to the State Farmers' Market. Look at this greeting!


All the trees at all the lots I visited were from North Carolina. According to the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association:

North Carolina has 1,600 growers producing an estimated 50 million Fraser fir Christmas trees growing on over 25,000 acres. Fraser Fir trees represent over 90% of all species grown in North Carolina. The North Carolina Christmas Tree Industry is ranked second in the nation in number of trees harvested.

The artificial vs. real tree debate heats up every Christmas. Many artificial tree fans cite being able to use the same tree for decades. But as trees age, they may become dangerous, according to a study by EPA and other researchers:

Artificial Christmas trees made of PVC also degrade under normal conditions. About 50 million U.S. households have artificial Christmas trees, of which about 20 million are at least 9 years old, the point at which dangerous lead exposures can occur.

Happy and safe holidays to you all!

Market report: raspberries, green beans, pumpkins galore!

I expected big crowds of folks out getting Halloween pumpkins, mums, and great fall produce today, but both the North Carolina State Farmers' Market and the Western Wake Market were fairly quiet.

I splurged today on four quarts of raspberries. They cost $7 a quart, $2 more than that the same stand about 18 hours earlier. You see it can pay to go to the market just before it closes to look for bargains on perishable items. The raspberry guy was cranky today, not topping off the quarts and scoffing at the idea of a discount for buying a flat ("It's $42 ... 6 times 7.") Oh well, everyone else was super friendly as usual.

Other great buys today were free-range eggs for $3 a dozen. One of those eggs is a lovely aqua color, but the photo doesn't show it. Ricky Barbour of East Wake Apiaries and Eggs forgot to bring quarters for change and had a lot of eggs from being at the State Fair intend of at the Western Wake Farmers' Market, so he's having a sale today.

Redbud Farm had gorgeous, certified organic Blue Lake green beans for $2.50 a pound. That's just 51 cents more a pound than the sprayed beans at the State Farmers' Market. Nancy Joyner said that green beans just love cool weather.

The small pie pumpkins were $2 each and the big cheese pumpkin was $5. They'll be decorations until Thanksgiving, then will go one by one into pies and other pumpkin dishes.

I also got apple cider, mustard greens, arugula, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, and the last of the tomatoes, which are cat-faced but still good.

Simple Summer Delight: Toasted Tomato & Cheese Sandwich

Sometimes you just want something fast and tasty for lunch. One of my favorites this time of year is a toasted tomato and cheese sandwich on homemade, 100% whole-wheat bread.

The trick is to spread mustard on the bread, then top one slice with tomatoes and the other with cheese. Toast in a toaster oven, then flip the cheese side over on top of the tomato side. Yummm ... crisp bread, melted cheese, and hot tomato! This bread is from a new recipe and turned out a little short, so I'm having a sandwich and a half.

What's local: the Ashe County pepper-jack cheese, tomato, whole-wheat flour, and honey in the sandwich, plus arugula for the salad with garlic in the dressing. The cheese comes from the Roberts Family Farm stand at the State Farmers' Market in Raleigh, where they also sell an amazing extra-sharp cheddar. Don't be put off by the cheeses in the display counter, which seem to have been there for a long time. Just ask for what you want and you'll be offered a good-looking block from the cooler.

What's not local: yeast, salt, butter, molasses, mustard, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and pepper.