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A trip to the Dupont Circle FreshFarm Market this past weekend allowed us to pick up some treats not offered at our neighborhood markets — including Cibola Farm’s buffalo hot dogs and Chesapeake Bay blue crab (soft shells and lump meat). Paired with fresh produce from the market and our CSA, we had three simple, local dinners this week (and a fourth mostly-local CSA quinoa salad).

Dinner #1: The hot dogs were served on Firehook Bakery torpedo rolls, the closest approximation to hot dog buns we could find, and caramelized sweet onions from our CSA. (Plus a dab of non-local mustard. I actually tried to order local mustard from our dairy, but the ordering system has been having problems.)

Dinner #2: Soft-shell crab sandwiches. The husband, unimpressed by the improvised hot dog buns, went to the grocery store and found that their only HFCS-free buns were also locally-made, Martin’s potato rolls of PA (104 mi.). So he won that round… Quick cornmeal-coated, pan-fried soft shells need little accompaniment other than the first field-ripened tomatoes of summer and some CSA lettuce on the bun.

Dinner #3: Pan-fried crab cakes, and quick ciabatta pizzas. Ciabatta from our neighborhood bakery (Caboose), topped with baby yellow zucchini, basil, sweet onions, and fresh ricotta.

For dessert, local eggs, gooseberries and cherries starred in a yummy clafoutis. And an added treat, our local Buzz bakery was giving away free mini honey cupcakes (with local VA honey) for “Don’t Step on a Bee Day.”

Farms/Producers:

• Buffalo – Cibola Farms, VA (73 mi.)
• Crab – Buster’s Seafood, VA (138 mi.)
• Ricotta – Keswick Creamery, PA (121 mi.)
• Onions, basil, lettuce – Potomac Vegetable Farms CSA, VA (23 mi.)
• Baby zucchini – Spring Valley Farm & Orchards, WV (113 mi.

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