Because, not only are there so many types of produce, but there are heirloom beans.
Baer's Best Beans are grown in Maine and are perfect for heaping bowls topped with sea salt, olive oil and a bit of vinegar.
Because there are blue eggs, care of Pete and Jen's Backyard Birds that are laid by chickens right in Concord. 
Because there are homemade pickles-grapes, carrots, asparagus and even, yes, cucumbers.
Because, if you are lucky, there are goats, bunnies and baby lambs.
And because the setting, Russell's Garden Center provides color in the grey winter.
(Photos care of my four year old son who was enamored with the silk flowers and ribbons!)We love the Wayland Winter Farmer's Market at Russell's Garden Center in Wayland.
Imagine a safe place for children to create cars, trucks, boats, birdhouses, wooden animals, and even chairs (for stuffed animals. ) We discovered it as a site for a birthday party for my preschool son and we have continued to return on our own. In the back of Trombetta's Farm in Marlboro is a wonderful crafts paradise of sorts. 
At the Wooden Toy Store, owned and run by Bob ("The Original Bob the Builder"), children (and adults) can drop in anytime to create wooden toys with pre-made kits. Bob teaches kids how to handle hammers, nails and even screwdrivers without hurting anyone. For my 6 year old's birthday party, his friends were as content as could be creating biplanes. 
You can also buy the kits to go and kids can bang away happily on rainy days at home. Even better, you can buy buckets filled with wood pieces to make fabulous creations on their own.
Remember when you used to have go to to NYC to get really original food that didn't break the bank? I am talking about dishes that reflect a chef's unwillingness to stick with one genre, but to mix up the best of Japanese-Thai-Korean-Chinese flavors with New England seasonality. 
When you imagine Strip T's in Watertown, think Momofuku meets Craigie on Main...in a former diner of sorts. Yup-just sitting in Watertown is a gem that you may want to catch now before the lines make it too hard to get in. Strip T's, a restaurant since 1986, was taken over by son Tim Maslow last April. The fact that Chef Maslow trained at the French Culinary Institute and worked at Momofuku may be the keys to getting best of NYC in MA.
Chef Maslow is thinking fresh. As we drove up he was getting a shipment of bass and tautog caught two hours prior by Ann, harpooning off of a kayak. In fact, it was too fresh to be served moments later as the restaurant opened. The restaurant takes some reservations, but for those walking in, 5:00 may be it. In fact by the time we left, at 6:30, the wait was 1 1/2 hours. 
I began with one of my hand's down, favorite, all time bites. It was an oyster from Wallace Bay, Nova Scotia. But wait. The oyster was topped with two seemingly contradictory tastes: pickled rhubarb and knotweed, a Japanese herb (and considered by some as a weed!) Just go there. Try it. Tell me what you think.
Our first salad of the night consisted of grilled romaine, piled with tender oxtail (similar to short rib), a poached egg hand-delivered from Cepage Farm by Jonathan the general manager. The grilled romaine was just smoky and crispy enough to scoop up the creaminess of the egg.
We would have returned to Strip T's for the cauliflower alone. It was dipped in hot oil making it crispy and brown and sat on a golden puree of spicy chorizo. It was topped with cotija cheese and sweet pickled onions.
The japanese eggplant banh mi could easily have been a main dish. It consisted of a chunk of french bread, filled with pillowy fried tofu, pickled daikon and carrots, fresh cilantro and tender eggplant. It was good, but it didn't knock us to the ground like the cauliflower.
The native squid salad was the unexpected star of the night. The tender grilled squid were topped with heavenly house cured, thick chunky bacon. Fresh mint, pine nuts and sweet gently pickled cherry peppers somehow created a dish that brought out the glory of each component. I would return for this dish and for that bacon alone!
I loved the idea of the grilled sweet peas. And in fact, they are the one dish that I may try (and be able) to replicate at home. They grilled the little guys until they were black and then topped with sea salt and the warm aleppo pepper. I suspect this would work just as well with edamame.
We struggled to choose between main dish. I had read about the buttermilk fried chicken that is served with waffle. A glimpse at the hamburgers that came with glorious skin-on the edges French fries were clearly the choice of the kids at adjoining tables. But our lovely server, Kerry, suggested we go for the seasonal speciality: fried soft-shell crab. She sold us on the curry broth that was poured at the table. The dish was good. It was. I loved the combination of the chunks of celery root and Japanese yam that nestled in the bottom. But the rest of the dishes had spoiled us, persuading us that EVERY. SINGLE. DISH would be awe-inspiring. We still scooped up the broth and nibbled at the crab. Next time I may actually stick with the appetizers or try another of the main dishes.
If you are lucky enough to get there soon, you too may be able to pick glorious ruby red strawberries at Verrill Farm. (We picked 6.3 pounds. Pretty impressive for 4 small hands. And only $20!)
Head inside the farm stand and stock up on fresh rhubarb, the sweetest peas possible, vibrant icicle radishes, and their always tender mixed berry scones.
If you are one of the lucky few, go down the street, peer into Pete and Jen's Backyard Bird's tiny farm stand and choose from tiny pullet eggs or larger ones. We also snagged some fresh wheat berries but saved cheese and homemade bacon for our next visit.
Then, if you are a big kid or have some of your own, finish up with a picnic at the wonderful playground at the Peter Noyes Elementary School in Sudbury. Go home. Eat more the eggs on top of sautéed radish greens. Nap. Make a salad. Make biscuits. Eat more strawberries. This was our Father's Day. It was pretty perfect.
The intoxicating smell of mint rose up as soon as I tore open the first of three packets. That alone surprised me. Even better, in less than 10 minutes with almost no prep, I was sitting down to eat sautéed shrimp with quinoa, Greek herbs and raisins. I was trying out the new Chef Sets, a collaboration of one of my favorite chefs, Ana Sortun (of Oleana and Sofra) and SetPoint Health in Newton. When I was asked if I would want to sample the new line, I never hesitated. Easy to prepare meals? Vegetarian options? Complex flavors? Sure! As a working single mom I struggle to find ways to get healthy, interesting meals to the table in less than 15 minutes. These kits easily fit that need. Chef Sortun and Set Point Health have created 4 different options. Each set comes with 3 packets, easy directions and a vegetarian option. I tried two with the protein they suggested, and two vegetarian style.
Quinoa with Greek Herbs and Raisins: This was the dish with the wonderful mint. The herb shaped the dish, lifting it up and mixing gently with dried orange. In fact, I could have happily served this at a dinner party. The suggestion which I replicated, is to use shrimp and feta. I always keep Whole Foods' frozen shrimp in my freezer for an inexpensive and easy protein fix. Ironically, though, I loved the broccoli and quinoa the most. In fact, next time I may try pan roasted tofu. I never would have thought (or taken the time) to grate an orange and find good dried mint for a mid-week dish.
Quinoa with Crushed Pistachios and Za'atar Spice: I loved the quinoa preparation which involved mixing it with sautéed onions and peas before adding the spice mixture. In this set, you top the quinoa with salmon and spoonfuls of Za'atar, a mixture of thyme, sumac and sesame seeds. My favorite part? The crushed pistachios that added a wonderful contrast to the tender salmon.
Couscous with Moroccan Spices and Almonds: With little in my pantry and exhausted from packing up to move, I reached for this set. And this time I decided to try the vegetarian recipe featured on the Chef Set Meals website. Instead of chicken, I tossed chickpeas in with the sautéed onions and Aromatic packet. I scattered the almonds from the Garnish packet on top of the chickpeas and couscous. I wasn't quite as taken with this set as the others. In retrospect, cooking the couscous with broth would have added much more flavor. This dish was just much more subtle than the others. But I still ate it all. In fact, I loved it the next day, cold and tossed with a bit of olive oil and sherry vinegar for a salad.
Bulgar Pilaf with Turkish Pilaf and Pistachios: This was by far my favorite grain mixture of the Chef Sets. By using Trader Joe's precooked lentils, I was literally able to prepare this set with less than two minutes of prep. And the bulgur pilaf cooks up in 6 minutes. The point? I had a fabulous vegetarian meal together and full of cumin, spearmint, sweet and hot peppers. The pistachios added a lovely crunch while the pepper added warmth and color to the lentils. The cucumber sauce would be just as fantastic of plain burgers or falafel.
At Palettes, a group of non-artists went from blank canvases, to flowers in fields. Ben, the in-house artist/teacher of the night helped us to laugh, to learn the filbert from the flat brush and to flip our paintings upside down to illustrate grass. And, as you can see from the images at the top of the post we had a wonderful time putting our own spin on the "sunflowers in the field." In fact, all 3 owners of Palettes are local artists. Steve and Liza spent the night with us and shared how they transformed their passion for art into the store. 
Ben was also the creator behind my favorite drink: The Dexter: a refreshing blend of fresh basil, blueberries, agave, Citron and club soda. And, I have to say that combining a bar with a chance to paint is genius (and very, very fun!)
Palettes was generous enough to let us try samples of the treats that are made daily. We ate grapes covered in goat cheese and pistachios, spinach salad with strawberries and a noodle salad topped with sesame seeds. 
Since my sons and I love to paint and sketch together, I am very excited to take them to family time on Sundays from 1:30 to 4. But I also hope to return on my own to either open art or Palettes evening events where, for $35 I can spend 3 more hours learning to paint another painting. With my busy life right now, the chance to fit an art class in as I can is very appealing.
