Tuesday, August 08, 2006

I LOVE the Tuesday Farmer's Market

I'll admit it; I shop around for my dream Farmer's Market. I visit the Saturday morning one close to my house. It's very small and appeals to our strong Asian population. The stone fruit is hard-as-a-rock, the veggies common and there's not much else.

Sunday mornings I can drive over to Martinez; while slightly larger, the new vendors are soaps, candles, jewelry. Still not what I want. We checked out Marin's famous Sunday market last month: Everything there was double the price of the markets in our county. And it was too crowded.

But Tuesday mornings I can drive 12 miles south to El Cerrito and be in heaven. Today I found white nectarines that are only 1 day away from ripe. As close as I will get. I found a booth selling raspberries, the last of the season blackberries and Red Heart strawberries. I got a "three-fer"--a carton of each berry--for $5. It will complete tonight's supper.

There was a vendor selling only heirloom tomatoes ($2.50/pound). I picked one of about seven types. Tomorrow's supper will include sliced heirloom tomatoes with slices of buffalo mozzarella.

I can plan 3 days worth of menus while walking around the market. It would be perfect if I also remembered to return on Fridays. I could cover the whole week.

NOW THE BONUS: The farmer's market is located right by a Trader Joe's. TJ's is the only place I can varieties of sheep and goat milk cheeses. So a stop at one place means a stop at the other. Most of what I need to fill out those menu plans I pick up at TJs. Healthy, delicious stuff and not too expensive.

So the important stuff: What's For Dinner, Tonight? A mixed veggie quiche made with freshly grated Pecorino and Manchego cheeses (summer squash, onions, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes) with a fresh fruit salad.

What else did I do today? Do some my work for BlogHer and sketched some design elements. And so far: 8822 steps.

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