Weekend before last, I went to the Terre Haute farmer's market for the first time which was a nice surprise. There were quite a few purveyors selling tomatoes, squash, eggs and about everything you could expect this time of year. I bought tomatoes and squash, tossed them with pasta and the next day with fresh mozzarella. I was also glad to see a stand for a Terre Haute food co-op, which my pal Annie in Arcola had mentioned to me in an email. I signed up for their mailing list and hope to get involved this fall as they put things in motion.
Mom and Dad visited from Tulsa this past weekend, so we saw all the sights in the city that we could manage. Saturday morning we had breakfast at the Clabber Girl Bakeshop. Clabber Girl Baking Powder is produced in Terre Haute (Do you have some in your cupboard?) and was the signature product of the Hulman & Company Empire. They still own it as well as the Indy 500, and now have a bakeshop that serves breakfast, lunch and baked goods. We had a yummy breakfast and then perused their displays illustrating the history of the company and family.
Sunday morning, we headed to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (aka Our Lady of Scrambled Eggs) for brunch. After a stroll across campus for a peek at all the beautiful and historic building, we had a great meal in the dining hall, choosing from table after table of breakfast items, salads, desserts and pastries.
After mom and dad left, I drove over to Bloomington to meet my friend Stephanie from the Blanton in Austin (who is from Bloomington) for dinner. We had a great meal a FARM Bloomington, the new restaurant of Chef Daniel Orr who was executive chef at La Grenouille and Guastavino's in NY before opening his own place. FARM exemplifies the very hot 'eat local' philosophy by created an amazing menu sourced from the area. On Sunday night they have small plates and pizzas, so we sampled them all: a minted pea guacamole (sans any avocado at all) was spicy and delicious; pizza with goat cheese, spinach, walnuts and grapes; and possibly the best french fries ever, loaded with garlic and served with a turmeric aioli. It was all delicious.