Monday, January 3, 2011

The Market

January 3
Realizing we were a bit low on ingredients to fix for dinner, we decided yesterday to go shopping at the market.  As we walked to the area where all kinds of fruits and vegetables are for sale, it reminded me of the Farmer’s markets back home.  The difference here is that all of the stands are open 6 days a week all year long. 


Since the climate is suitable for growing crops year around, there are always fresh fruits and vegetables available.  A vegetable farmer told me that he raises two crops a year. 
Delivery Vehicle
Fresh Avacado For You?
The first planting is sometime in November and the second one in March.  Many hot weather plants like tomatoes are grown in huge greenhouses during the cooler months of Dec., January and Feb. and we see the greenhouses in many places throughout this agricultural area.  The plastic is removed from the greenhouses during the warm months the rest of the year.  Everything seems to grow well in this climate including many varieties of fruit trees and any kind of vegetable imaginable.


Lots of Fresh Spices
We decided on rosemary potatoes and a vegetable stir fry for dinner.  It was a joy to cut up the vegetables and add the fresh rosemary to the cut up potatoes.  We also have made our own hummus from boiled chick peas, tahini, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. That goes well with the bread we pick up daily from the bakery just down the street.  

Homemade lemon or orange juice is also a favorite for us.  Oftentimes for dessert we will eat some fruit and tonight we had fresh strawberries and pomegranate.  It’s amazing how good food tastes whenever we sit down to eat. 

It seemed like a good idea to fix lentil soup for dinner tonight.  We had all the ingredients but one very important one was missing……onions.  Then I remembered that right across the street from where we live was a new vegetable stand.  Surely they’d have onions.  As I walked across the street, the vendor was just unloading his supplies for the day.  He was happy to sell me a kilo of onions for 3 sheckles.  So now the soup is simmering on the stove and we’ll share it with the EA from Hebron, a young attorney Max from Sweden, who is visiting us on a placement visit for a couple of days.  We are encouraged to visit other placements twice during our 3 month stay in Palestine.
Bon Appetit
Susanne

1 comment:

  1. You are making me hungry!! What a market to have just blocks from where you live.

    Keep enjoying your time there. It is an experience you will never forget and you will be changed forever!
    Love,
    Mary Ann and Al

    ReplyDelete