Countdown to Farmers' Market Season

It's almost April, people. For this foodie, that means: farmers' markets openings, vegetable gardening, trips to local farms and wineries and lots and lots of, well, food. Delicious, fresh, local food.

As the growing season gathers steam, I'm getting an early start at plundering my local food sources for early goodies. Specifically, spinach.

Has anyone else been eating this green, leafy goodness from Bootstrap Farm in Bixby? I snagged some over the weekend, and I've been putting it on everything. I even had an inner dialogue on whether or not it'd be good on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

I didn't try to find out, but maybe I should have. It might have been a flavor explosion, taking Jiffy and all-natural preserves to a whole other dimension. I guess we'll never know - at least, until tomorrow at noon, when I'll be making yet another peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Don't judge. Most foodies are snobby, but they all secretly pine for the PB&J.

Lordy, that spinach just won't stop.

I procured this Bootstrap spinach from the little corner grocery at Charles Page Boulevard and Phoenix, BlueJackalope Grocery & Coffee. Proprietor Scott Smith has a great thing going at this place, apparently. When we arrived - unbeknownst to us, before opening - several people were camped outside. Some were jonesing for their morning coffee fix at the BlueJackalope coffee counter, and others were waiting for the meeting of the Tulsa Community Garden Association to start.

Even before the local farms burst with produce, Smith has stalked some local yummies, including the spinach from Bootstrap and Fisher's eggs from Bristow.

Though they didn't have any the morning we were there, BlueJackalope offers a small menu of sandwiches, made from ingredients available at the store. Tulsa's Bloggy Bloggerson, Michael Bates, gave their avocado, hummus and muenster cheese 'which a try:

Delicious. It costs the same as a Roastburger at Arby's, but it's far tastier and healthier, and it's sold in an old-fashioned neighborhood grocery.

I need to return soon to give it a try for myself. In the meantime, I'll content myself with my signature chicken naan pocket, stacked with Bootstrap Farm spinach.

Careful, little sandwich. Don't hurt 'em.

2008 Okie Blog Awards

Over the past few weeks, Oklahoma bloggers' votes for the best blog in the state were cast and tallied. Now, the results are in.

The best blog in the land is Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, a blog which I confess to reading pretty much obsessively. Ree Drummond's Confessions, where routine posts on her life on a working cattle ranch garner hundreds of comments, is great evidence for the argument that people aren't interested in Oklahoma because of its world-class museums or behemoth event centers. Not that they aren't great, and not that I don't love them myself, but they're all over the place.

Rather, it's the things about our neck of the woods that can't be found anywhere else - parts of the state where there are more cows and horses than people, real-life cowboys descended from generations of the same and acre after acre of gently rolling prairie - that draws attention from the world over. Good job, P-Dub, for directing eyes from all over this big, wide world to little ol' Oklahoma. I'd love to know the number of people who have decided to make Oklahoma their next travel destination thanks to the beautiful photos of the landscape on that blog. No wonder Drummond also took the Best Looking Blog award.

Several of my other favorite blogs won awards, too. Batesline.com took Best Political Blog. Rocks in my Dryer won Best Writing and was the runner-up in the Best Family Blog category. DoubleShot Coffee Company won second in the Best Commercial Blog set, and Tasha Does Tulsa took the Best Culture Blog award for the second year in a row.

*Blink blink* Squee!

I'm so humbled to have won the approval of my fellow Okie bloggers not just once, but for two years running. I love writing this crazy blog, and I'm so glad you all think it's pretty good, too.

Thanks, y'all.

Sorry. I always manage to ruin a tender moment.