Return of the farmer's market! And return of Prairie Landing. We've had visitors or been on a trip every weekend since mid-April. That means all the weekend chores have to get done during the week, and that means no time for blogging.

Yesterday was the farmer's market. I purchased a live catnip plant, spring garlic (which looks kind of like wild garlic and maybe that's what it is) and cheese curds. All were successful with the possible exception of the catnip, which the big G was initially excited about but seems to be losing its novelty.

My coworkers clued me in to the cheese curds. I tried to round up a farmer's market posse and one of them said, "I wish I could go and get some cheese curds!" I was like, "What the hell are cheese curds?" Everyone was astonished that I a) had never eaten cheese curds and b) had obviously never been to Wisconsin.

I asked: Are they dry?
No.
Are they wet?
Umm . . . . kind of, I guess. The main thing is they squeak.
Ok . . . so are they slimy?

No one argued that they *weren't* slimy. Meanwhile the non-Wisconsinites rolled their eyes. But the tables will be turned next month when the Michigan blueberries and Indiana corn and downstate grass-fed beef comes in. (No worries about Ohio, though. As far as I can tell nobody raves about anything in Ohio.) It's just like Jersey tomatoes, which I have always been skeptical about.

Slimy or no, I decided to give the cheese curds a shot. They actually seem to just be fresh cheese, like fresh mozzarella only instead they're fresh cheddar or monterey jack or whatever. Who wouldn't like that?

They do squeak on the teeth a little more than mozz, no doubt about it. 

¶ 9:21 PM