Foodie 101

I feel a couple of food blogs coming on. On our recent press trip to Virginia, I started early one morning with a visit to the Manassas farmers' market. Are you old enough to remember the Alan Alda movie "The Four Seasons"? In it, Sandy Dennis plays a photographer obsessed with vegetables. That was me at the market. What gorgeous fruits and vegetables! And look at the size of this berry!

The array was amazing -- corn, eggplant, cantelope -- a rainbow of vitamins! And the tomatoes -- every shape and color.

And they had lots of heirloom tomatoes -- not as photogenic -- my favorites are Cherokee purple. I couldn't help myself; I bought three, not knowing what I was going to do with them. Patty Tracy of Historic Manassas stepped in and offered to take them to Robert Barolin, chef/owner of City Square Cafe where I intended to have lunch.

What a great idea! When we got to the restaurant, the waitress brought out this lovely bowl of tomatoes and we shared them around the table.


For my lunch, I ordered the Southern Shrimp Salad -- grilled shrimp over mixed greens with tomatoes, red onions, corn and a blend of Cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheese. This was tossed with a chipotle ranch dressing and served with a crispy tortilla shell. And it was as good as it looks!