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After thirty days, almost as many destinations, and driving just under 10,000 miles, I’m back home in Baltimore. Between the beach, the Fancy Food Show in New York, and this recent trip, I haven’t been in town much this summer. All the while, material for posts has been piling up from around the country.

Shortly before heading west, I upgraded my cell phone/camera to a a Samsung 3.2 megapixel SCHa990. Unfortunately I was too busy to master the technique for shooting the best possible food close-ups. A lot of inferior looking photographs could dissuade me from posting some great meals from around the country.

Having been home now for three days, I’ve mostly been busy catching up on reading and what accumulates after a month’s absence. Before sorting all the notes and photos for posts about my trip, here's one about this morning's downtown Baltimore Farmers market

 Top left is okra, very much in season, which I just enjoyed, oven-baked" for breakfast. You can learn more---and get the recipe---by clicking “Oven Baked Okra” on our sidebar to access the recipe.

 To the right of the okra are yellow cherry tomatoes, the principal ingredient for a gazpacho I’ve been longing to make. My intention is to prepare some today. If it meets expectations, you’ll soon be reading about it.

 What excited me the MOST this morning was the heirloom tomato juice from Reid's Orchards in Orrtanna, PA. It’s in the pint plastic container, top row, second from right.

 Top right are fresh seasonal blackberries. While out west, I imbibed a mojito made with such blackberries and loved it. Although how to fix it was kept secret, I’m pretty confident that my own version will work. The plan is to substitute blackberries and do somthing very similar to our “The Invention of a New Blueberry Mojito” post.

 The three cucumbers bottom left add to those with which we're inundated and hang from vines supported by a trellis along the back side of the house. Unfortunately, some of the latter have been rendered bitter by the dry weather. The color of those from the market, however, convinces me they are good.

 Bottom middle are chive dumplings from a vendor of Asian treats.

 And finally, bottom right is a sugar baby watermelon. I assume its flesh is red. Whatever the color, some of that flesh could be used to prepare watermelon salsa according to a recipe from the Sun’s August 16 Taste section that they credited to the Arizona Republic, which cited Chris Green, a Phoenix cooking instructor, as the source.