Bloggycat's paw paws and grilled polenta cakes

I'm getting a nice list of really cool blogs to follow, don't you think?  I feel like a copycat, or in this case, a bloggycat, but these fantastic bloggers just have the BEST ideas! 

The amazing Paw Paw fruit

In the spirit of Poor Girl Eats Well, I decided to see what I could do for a few bucks at the food co-op and farmer's market this weekend.  Of course, having Mr. JP with me always seems to make the bill go up (not because he puts things in the cart, but because he is a good partner in crime!), so we weren't able to come even close to the $25 shopping cart, but we got some pretty neat stuff from the bulk bins and the farmer's market.  The thing that really busted the budget: paw paws. 

Our favorite fruit, not sold in stores because of their extremely short shelf-life, easy bruising, and their need to ripen completely on the tree (so they can't be shipped raw and gassed later), shows up this time of year for about one week, and then it's a long, long wait until we can have more of the tropical tasting custard-like fruit.  So, of course, we bought every last paw paw and some paw paw cake, along with Honey Crisp apples, peaches, and some Asian pears.  I have a weakness when it comes to locally grown fruit.  Good thing Mr. JP had a few extra bills in his wallet!  What I did get for cheap, though, was a whole bunch of different colored sweet peppers, and a few blazing inferno hot peppers for my salsa and green tomato pickles.  I could have walked out of the farmer's market for $4 if it hadn't been for those paw paws!

I've been seeing a lot of recipes for polenta recently, and I really want to try my hand at making it, but none of the recipes seem to be too clear on whether I should use cornmeal or corn grits.  I looked for something like a box that said "Polenta" on it at the store, but didn't see anything other than Bob's Red Mill corn grits that said it was also known as polenta (and also known as "Holy Cow that's expensive grit!")  So when I was at the co-op, I got some corn grits.  I'm going to try my hand at making Grilled Polenta Cakes with goat cheese (minus the caramelized onions because I forgot to buy onions).  I hope they turn out well enough to cut out of the pan and fry up to get that crispy crust on them!