A reason to love where I live

If you know me at all, you know that I'm not always thrilled with where I live. It's pretty far from a big city, which makes trips to do some serious shopping or attend cultural events a bit of a challenge. Not to mention that fact that I'm convinced that the worst drivers from NY and NJ are now living in my area.

But this time of year makes me happy to live in the Poconos. The leaves are turning, and the air is getting crisp with the coming of fall. I get to pull out my sweaters and skirts in those rich autumn colors. And make a lot of food that involves pumpkins and apples.

J was out of town over the weekend, so he didn't have to listen to his wife shouting at him to pull over to get yet another picture of the fall leaves. I headed out on my own and got the following shots. Enjoy!

(And by the way, these were all taken less than a mile from our front door)

To market, to market

I'll admit it, I'm jealous of my sister in law. Because she lives in southern California, gets to visit multiple farmer's markets in her area, and post yummy blog posts like this. I, on the other hand, live in the Poconos and had a rough, rough winter.

But the farmer's market finally opened here in May, and I look forward to Saturday mornings. Here's what I got today. The plastic bag holds a big ol' bunch of spinach, and the paper bag is full of home-grown snap peas. And I got a batch of yummy looking scallions.

Bon apetit!