NAOMI LOVES Newsletter: Christmas in a time of covid

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A YEAR AT THEMARKETAn idea born in rural France, created in inner-city Australia, and madefor food lovers everywhereI’ve called this project “A Year at the Market” butit has taken more than two years in the making and Iam genuinely so excited to share it with you at last.The seeds of this idea came while I was living withmy children in a rural village in France, in 2018.Shopping in our village was done the traditional way,at the farmers markets each Thursday morning. Here,people from the entire village - and all the outlyingvillages - would come to buy all the fresh vegetables,fruit, cheese, meat, fish and eggs they needed for theweek to come. I learned to arriveearly to get my hands on the freshestproduce, but this came with itsown set of hazards because all theFrench grandmothers likewise gotto the markets early, and nobodywants to come between a Frenchgrandmother and the best looking leek on the table.At first, navigating the markets was as confusing as itwas frustrating. I’d arrive clutching a shopping list inmy fist, all the ingredients for all the meals I’d hopedto cook that week, and make my way in a somewhathaphazard fashion from stall to stall, searching foreverything I needed. Only to realise half way into myshop that a third of the ingredients on my list werenot in season, and another third were not even grownin this region.One week, after my children and I had been collectingchestnuts, I tried to buy Brussels sprouts sothat we could pan-fry them together with the chestnutsand some local bacon. When I asked one of the“I found myself wishingthere was some kind offield guide that could helpme navigate the seasonalmarkets, in the moment”farmers if they had sprouts, she said, “they’re not inseason… not for two weeks!” The food available atthe market didn’t change season-by-season, it literallychanged week-by-week.As the weeks and months went by, I learned that preplannedmenus and shopping lists were all-but useless.If I wanted to shop locally and eat seasonally (and Idid), I’d have to learn to accept whatever happened tobe available at the farmers market on each particularweek, and build a week’s worth of family menus fromthe best and freshest food I couldfind.The problem was that this is not aseasy as it sounds. (Or does it soundeasy at all?) I’m not a naturally confidentcook, and certainly didn’t havea ready-made repertoire of meals and recipes thatcould be planned on the fly, depending on whether tomatoeswere good this week, or mussels, or romanescobroccoli, or spring lamb.I found myself wishing there was some kind of fieldguide that could help me navigate the seasonal markets,in the moment. Not a recipe book to look upwhen I got home, but one that could tell me - whileI was at the market - how to choose the best of theproduce I was looking at, what to expect from it,what to cook with it (so I could plan my meals whileI shopped), and what to do with it if I happened tobuy too much, and couldn’t eat it all in time.When I couldn’t find the kind of field guide I wasWWW.NAOMILOVES.COM18
Right: This was justaround the corner from ourhome in Dinan, France. Itook this photograph whilewalking the children tochildcare one morninglooking for, the idea began to bloom in my mind tocreate one myself. Even after we returned to Australia,in a city with (relatively) fresh produce at grocerystores and supermarkets, it was still important to meto shop at the farmers markets (for all the reasonslisted on the previous pages), and I still needed helpnavigating the seasonal nature of shopping in such anexciting and spontaneous way.At first I planned to write my field-guide as a book,but it occurred to me that covering all the potentialproduce at a farmers market would make for a veryBIG book, not something any of us could easily carrywith us to market each week. So instead, I decided tocreate a series of pocket-sized booklets, colour-codedaccording to season, so that I could simply pop thein-season booklets into a produce bag and take themwith me on my way to the market, as a quick referenceguide to use while I shop.And that (finally!) brings me to today’s announcement.It occurred to me that if this was a resource I’dfind handy, maybe it would be something that you’dfind handy, too. Which is why I am over the moon toannounce a completely new and super exciting annualsubscription service: A Year at the Market.Ready for the big reveal? Turn the page...19WWW.NAOMILOVES.COM
Page 1 and 2: SUMMER 2020NAOMILOVES.COMCHRISTMASi
Page 3 and 4: Hello dear friend! I think that, af
Page 5 and 6: “When they receive your letter, i
Page 7 and 8: GIFT CERTIFICATESA thoughtful gift
Page 9 and 10: we were apart. At night I wouldlook
Page 11 and 12: “All thedarkness in theworld cann
Page 13 and 14: DIY FESTIVE,FRAGRANT,ETHICAL CANDLE
Page 15 and 16: 15 WWW.NAOMILOVES.COM
Page 17: ...Only, I have so many questions!
Page 21 and 22: A thoughtful gift for lovers ofgood
Page 23 and 24: CHRISTMASIN A TIMEOF COVIDBack in M
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Page 27 and 28: A Christmas menuTO SHAREIf covid re
Page 29 and 30: Cooking instructions
Page 31 and 32: 12 DAYSOF MERRYMAIL-ARTAn envelope
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Page 45 and 46: Hand-poured 100% soy wax candle,nat
Page 47: Heirloom vegetable seeds from theLi

NAOMI LOVES Newsletter: Christmas in a time of covid

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