Bruce helps keep it fresh at farmers market

Everyone needs to be a voice for something. Everyone needs to find a way to make their community unique. Sometimes, the desires are etched in the growing process, and one does not realize it until they think back to growing up and the things that are now memories. Then a light bulb goes off. They then asks why? Why are they not a part of the life of this community?

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Kit Bruce has been an advocate for saving trees and saving the farmers market. Bruce is not a long-timer in Port Royal, having become a homeowner just five years ago. She and her husband, Louis, often came to Beaufort to visit friends and thought this might be a place they would like to live. They found an old house in Port Royal and decided they wanted to tackle it as a project and make it their home. This would not be the first project of this kind for the Bruces.

Using boards from the ceiling to make floors in some of the rooms and tearing down walls to the bare walls, then restored, the Bruces are doing much of the work themselves. Kit loves living in old houses, and the location of this one in Port Royal was certainly a challenge.

Kit grew up in a house in Charleston that was 250 years old. Her parents did some restoration after moving into the house.

But there has been another obstacle: the challenge of the Farmers Market in Port Royal. Growing up in Charleston, Kit can remember the vegetable vendors shouting the produce of the day as they pushed their carts down the streets. She can remember her Dad's desire to purchase from them each time and her mother cooking as much fresh produce as she could. Then when she spent time with classmates who live on the sea islands, where there were fields of vegetables, she would go picking vegetables with them.

"It just seems to be a part of me, to want to preserve the old and live from the fruits of the land," she said. "Farmers must have a way to utilize their properties and save our land. ... I think it is more valuable to us as a society and community to preserve our heritage and farming as a way of life than to give it up to development."

There is more to the idea of the farmers market and saving the land. Kit wants to see people eating healthy. A way to promote this is to learn to eat seasonally. Eating healthy can begin at the farmers market, and Kit practices what she preaches. Lewis loves to cook. It is nothing to him to prepare an omelet using eggs, pesto and tomatoes -- all purchased from the farmers market.

The idea of the farmers market started slowly at the entrance to Port Royal Elementary School. Principal Kay Keeler was supportive and offered assistance in all areas to vendors there. As the market grew, more area was needed, and now the market is located in Heritage Park near the entrance to the Beaufort Naval Hospital on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

"York Glover has been instrumental in helping with the vision of making the market happen," Bruce said.

The Town of Port Royal supplies the tents, and the place is becoming a meeting place for friends. Here, they exchange recipes and delight in seeing everything fresh.

Kit does not call her role as coordinator of the farmers market a job. It is her love. You can see her there early as the farmers set up their wares. You will see her there as the employees of the town come to take the tents down. Then she lingers around to talk to whomever is there and checks to see if the farmers had a successful day. "This market means so much to this area," said Bruce. "Here we can support our farmers by buying locally as we learn to eat seasonally. The market is not just about selling vegetables. It is about changing lifestyles."

Tomato Pie

2 refrigerator crusts

4 to 5 tomatoes

1/4 pounds Cheddar cheese, grated

Handful basil, torn

2-3 tablespoons mayonnaise

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Salt to taste (to place on tomatoes)

Line pie pan with one crust. Add sliced tomatoes and basil. Thin mayonnaise with lemon juice and pour over tomatoes. Spread cheese on top. Place second crust on top and pinch edges.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes.

Louis and Kit's Shrimp Pie (casserole)

1 1/2 pounds shrimp, cooked, peeled and deveined

1 large bell pepper, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 cans (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes or 1 1/2 quarts blanched seeded, peeled tomatoes

3 ribs celery, chopped

4 to 5 slices bread, crumbled

8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, plus enough to top pie

1 stick butter

10 drops Tabasco sauce

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

salt, pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

Saute pepper, onions, pepper in butter.

Add rest of the ingredients and stir together. Pour into casserole and top with reserved cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly on top.

Can be served over rice with saladand bread.

Shrimp and Grits

1 1/2 cups stone ground grits

1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tomato, red or green

4 tablespoons butter

Salt and pepper

1/3 cup Half & Half

10 drops Tabasco sauce

Prepare grits 30 minutes ahead. Cook grits by bringing 4 cups of water to boil. Add 1 1/2 cups salt. Stir in grits, reduce to low. Stir occasionally and add water if necessary. Milk may be added to make grits creamier.

Saute tomato in 2 tablespoons butter. Add shrimp and 2 tablespoons more butter. Cook shrimp until just pink, about 4 minutes. Add Tabasco, salt and pepper to taste and Half & Half.

Spoon shrimp over grits. Serve immediately.