This weekend, Mr. Shop Tart played at some tennis tournament or another in Charleston and la famille stayed home. It could have been awful, but thanks to a rained-out soccer game, a pot of soup, the All-Local Farmers’ Market, a football game and a babysitter, it rocked. On Friday, the Shop Tart spotted a Hubbard squash at Earth Fare. She discovered this large, pale blue delicacy years ago, when one was given to her. Actually, it was bestowed upon her mother, who had no idea what to do with it and let it languish on the counter for a bit before deciding it was not her problem. She gave it to the Shop Tart, who loves to experiment in the kitchen and knows how to use Google to find recipes. She found a good one, but she didn’t use it on Friday. Inspired by both the macrobiotics lecture on Thursday and her subsequent butternut squash soup at Solstice, she made this.

It was easy. First, you must deal with the squash. Cut it in half and scoop out all the gunk and the seeds. Put the squash halves face down in a jelly roll pan. (That’s a cookie sheet with sides.) Fill the pan with about a half-inch of water and cook the squash at 375° for an hour or two, until it’s tender when you poke it with a fork. The skin should come off easily. Now make soup.

Hubbard Squash Soup

Heat a splash of olive oil in a big pot. Add a chopped onion and some chopped garlic and let them cook a little, until the onion is clear.

Add the squash and about a cup of vegetable stock. You will eventually add an entire quart, which the Shop Tart purchases in a box at Rosewood Market.

Stir as you add two heaping tablespoons of miso. The Shop Tart prefers a mix of white miso and the heartier barley miso, but use whatever you like.

Add a can of coconut milk, light or regular.

Add the rest of the vegetable stock.

Now, you need some flavor. You could add a mixture of spices, rice wine vinegar and some other stuff. Or you could add the rest of a jar of store-bought Thai curry sauce. Guess which one the Shop Tart did?

Bring it all to a low boil, reduce the heat and simmer until everything is soft enough to purée with a stick blender. If you don’t have a stick blender, you can purée in batches in a food processor or blender. Shop Tart Tip: Go buy a stick blender.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with chives, green onions, basil or anything else green. Because it looks pretty.

Saturday morning, the Shop Tart was too exhausted from making dinner the night before to contemplate breakfast, so she took the gang to the All-Local Farmers’ Market where Gervais and Vine is once again providing an excellent breakfast made with local ingredients. They had three different kinds of quiche - made with Wil-Moore Farms chicken, Caw Caw Creek sausage or local vegetables. Each five-dollar plate included a piece of quiche and a side of Anson Mills grits. Given her low-key Friday evening at home with the under-twelve set, the Shop Tart was not rocking a hangover. If she had been, the breakfast would have cured it. Even without a hangover, the meal was excellent.

The floral arrangements on the tables were lovely.

The children were still hungry, so they bought kettle-corn, made on-site. The Shop Tart encouraged them to eat it all, for fear she would do what she had done before: Eat it all after they went to sleep. Did you know it was possible to have a kettle corn hangover? Well, it is. This is the best kettle corn in the freaking world.

While the children ate, their mother shopped. Palmetto Pepper potions had a new dish for fall, pumpkin fluff. You can find the recipe and others on their website.

Speaking of Palmetto Pepper Potions, the hot sauces are the bomb. You probably need one of each.

New-ish vendor Spotted Salamander was there, offering ready-made dishes to take home and heat for dinner. The squash and bacon casserole was heart-breakingly delicious. In honor of the eight-year old vegetarian in the house, the Shop Tart purchased the meat-free mac and cheese instead, equally tasty, but without bacon. She also tried a sample of their sweet and mildly spiced pecans. Yum!

She also discovered a new-to-her vendor selling cheese and hand-made pasta from Castra Rota, a restaurant in Brunson, South Carolina. Do you know where that is? In the low-country. Based on the cheese, the Shop Tart would like to make a road trip to eat there. That is some mad awesome cheese. They sold spiced feta in olive oil.

The hand-made pasta looked lovely.

The Shop Tart sampled and bought this soft cheese. She plans to hide in her room and eat it for supper with some delicious bread. Shhhh…

Speaking of delicious bread, Heather was there - with plenty of variety - selling out fast as always. The Shop Tart managed to score a sunflower loaf and her favorite ciabbatta, but the baskets were getting low.

Love the local honey.

And the flowers. Shop Tart Tip: Give Donna some money and let her do her thing. Her arrangements are mad chic and mad fresh, so they last for days, if not weeks.

If the Shop Tart gets around to it, she would love to make holiday baskets filled with local products for all her friends. She might start with Susi Toffee. Although the sample was delicious, the Shop Tart was afraid to buy a whole bag. Because she would eat it all.

She could add Heather’s bread, a packet of Wolf Pecans, a jar of cheese from Castra Rota, a bottle of Palmetto Potions hot sauce, a bag of kettle corn, a growler of Hunter Gatherer beer and at least one of these cute little jars of honey…

…and a bird feeder!

Admittedly, the bird feeder might be a bit much. Perhaps she could get one for each of the grandparents instead. Grandparents love bird feeders…and grandchildren.

Although the Shop Tart didn’t need seafood, shrimp, clams and wreckfish from Wadmalaw Island (home of Firefly Sweet Tea vodka) were available.

She signed up for the Wild Carolina Sustainable Seafood email list so she’ll know what they’re bringing in the future and can plan dinner accordingly.

Banu Varlik of It Bites Gourmet was there with her home-made delicacies, including classic and chocolate baklava, tabuli and delicious carrot and yogurt spread. The carrot and yogurt spread with a box of fancy crackers was the perfect thing to take to two different parties over the weekend. (The Shop Tart was still exhausted from making the soup on Friday and couldn’t possibly come up with a home-made dish.)

Saturday evening, the Shop Tart left her children with a wonderful sitter and a Spotted Salamander mac and cheese casserole. She went to the game with her friends and enjoyed watching the Gamecocks win. They won. OK? The details aren’t important*. After the game, she went to the Whig. Sadly, cheese fries were not on the menu at that hour. She had this instead. It was pretty good.

Sunday morning, she made an omelet for the children with Wil-Moore Farms eggs, Split Creek Farm feta from Rosewood Market, sweet peppers and spinach. It was delicious, especially with a hot cup of Cashua Coffee. The rest of the day was spent waiting for daddy to come home. He arrived and la famille went to an afternoon party with a container of carrot and yogurt spread from It Bites to share. It was a hit (and a now-permanent dish on the Shop Tart’s party menu).

Happy Shopping and don’t forget to tell them you read it on the Shop Tart!

P.S. Guess who has a blog. AnnaBelle LaRoque! Check it often for fab pictures of things in the shop and tidbits about her process and what she’s working on now.

* Sigh.

Email this • Share on Facebook

Filed Under Uncategorized |  

Comments

• The Shop Tart Loves...

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  

• Elsewhere on the Shop Tart

  Frequently Asked Questions
  
  South Carolina Designers
  
  Contact the Shop Tart
  
  Who is the Shop Tart?
  
  The Calendar
  
  Exclusive Deals
  
  

• Recent Posts

  • Fashion break!
  • Spreading sunshine.
  • Shop Tart Tuesday: Sweet Vans at Britton’s.
  • Four restaurants a day.
  • A yummy breakfast and two cheap treats.