the market basket

When I first met Jean-Marc I thought it was so charming that he had a market basket in his kitchen. We have always had one at the farmhouse that we like to take to the market (or supermarket) to fill up with veggies and fruit; it's so romantic! This is it here:

The first time we headed down to visit his parents together, Jean-Marc filled up his market basket with empty jam jars, various tupperware (pronounced: too-pair-WAR) and plastic bags. He mentioned that all these things belonged to his parents and he needed to return them. "Sounds normal," I thought, but I wasn't expecting the eventual refill that was coming our way. Upon our departure, my mother-in-law gave me a list of everything she had put in the basket: homemade jams, fresh veggies from the garden as well as a few leftovers for Jean-Marc's lunch the next day. Apparently this is a ritual that is to happen every time we get together. Just this last weekend we ended up with two homemade jams, leftover homemade apple tart, a container of grated carrots and a bag of washed frisée from the garden, green cabbage and leeks from the garden, as well as some rillettes, vegetable stock, apples and potatoes. We never know what we're going to get, but I have to admit it's kind of nice to get a surprise basket of mostly local and homemade/homegrown things. It's somewhat like those deliveries of organic produce that are usually a surprising mix of unexpected items, except mom-style.