FARMSTAND COMPANION (Traditional Country Life Recipe)

Farmstand! The word alone recaptures a feeling, an atmosphere, a warm colorful seasonal memory. Who has not driven by a tottering, handmade contraption of a farmstand-loaded down with sultry red tomatoes, bright green asparagus stalks, a row of snow white cauliflower heads—and not been tempted to stop? In fact the more rickety the stand, the more chance of stopping in hopes that this farmer and his crop will provide us with the freshest of edibles, the lowest of prices, and as a bonus, the most homespun of rural chatter. Some folks look at the farmstand simply as a place to buy the freshest of produce for the least amount of money, but in fact there was a time when farmstands were the social connectors. Small and personal, they also created a sense of identity and place, and told a story about the inhabitants of a town. Over 70 pages of recipes follow a delightful history of the farmstand.