Not So Serendipitous

Food & Photography by Elisabeth Norris

Farmers Market 9/27/12

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Fruit is the star of the show this week. I came home with more raspberries as they were cheaper than the week before. The flat of 6 were only $5!! More freestone peaches as I know they won’t be around for much longer. And figs! The basket of figs was only $3! I think end of season of my favorite part of a season… lots of produce at great prices.

  • Pluots
  • White nectarines
  • Freestone yellow peaches
  • Figs
  • Raspberries

Went light on the veggies this week as I still have a fair amount leftover from last week.

  • Spinnach
  • Garnet yams
  • Ginger
  • Tomatoes (They are not heirlooms but I scored these guys for $1 pr/lb)
  • Kale

Farmers Market 9/20/12

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It was a nice surprise to find organic raspberries for $1 a basket! Hence, the flat! I don’t have an immediate use for them so most are going to be frozen to use for baking down the road. Om nom nom.

  • Valencia oranges
  • Yellow peaches
  • Nectarines
  • Raspberries!

Nothing terribly exciting in the veggie department. Didn’t have a chance to get idea of what I want to make in the next week so I winged, per usual. I did though come across Jujube’s! This is the second week I’ve seen them and there were tons of people buying these little guys up. So I grabbed a few, made note of the name, looked them up when I got home.

  • Eggplant
  • Zucchini
  • Jalapeños
  • Heirloom tomatoes
  • Cauliflower
  • Yellow onions
  • Jujubes (though in hind sight they should have been shot with the fruit!)
  • Leeks

Another look at the jujubes.

Aren’t these eggplant beautiful?

Farmers Market 9/13/12

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Back to our regularly scheduled program today! After any time away, even if it is just two weeks, it is really fascinating to see how the season is moving along. Grapes are every where in the market now. Cherry tomatoes are gone, but the price of heirlooms are starting to come down. The big fruit vendors have less variety. But I spied guava, kumquats, and a few items I have no clue as to what they are!

Things were pretty barren because we just got back from another trip so I went for a little bit of everything.

  • Corn
  • Japanese sweet potatoes
  • Red potatoes
  • Yellow onions
  • Heirloom tomatoes
  • Globe eggplant
  • Broccoli
  • Carrots
  • Multi-colored bell peppers
  • Garlic
  • Italian flat leaf parsley

  • Cantaloupe
  • Plums
  • Lemons
  • Nectarines
  • Yellow peaches

Farmers Market 6/14/12

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Oh summer fruits, I can no longer say no to you. What can I say, the fruit keeps getting better and better. Which also means I’m spending a bit more $$ to have these fruits but I’ve come to the conclusion that it is worth it since I will be gone for the month of July. I might as well enjoy them while I can. :)

I also think I am getting hooked on this whole buying bread at the market thing. I brought home a baguette. A two and a half foot long baguette! And an almond croissant.

Not much interesting with the veggies. This week has been really nuts so I have no real direction meals. But I do always need garlic and onions.

  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Red garlic
  • Asparagus
  • Red potatoes
  • Yellow onions
  • Leeks – yes I am grilling these this weekend

The tomatoes though… these are a treat. These little guys came from down in the Central valley aka where they have enough sun to grow these little flavor bombs. The farmer was mentioning that these were picked yesterday, about 16 hours ago. And they taste like it. I <3 tomato season. So looking forward to the heirlooms in late July/August. But for now I’ll enjoy these little flavor bombs.

Farmers Market 6/7/12

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Holy expanding market Batman!!! They added a third row to accomodate all the vendors! With the addition of all the summer fruits now in season, the market has a wonderful mix of veggies, fruits, and handmade goods.

I am quite smitten with this weeks haul. The cherries are amazing! The peaches? I found for $1/lb! And the bread? I have been craving artisan bread like something fierce. Last week is when I noticed there is a french bakery at the market, Crepe & Brioche Bakery from up in San Francisco. Reality is that I just don’t have the time for making artisan bread right now. So why not buy it from the artisans who can make it a ton better than I can? Worth every penny. I haven’t cut into the pugliese yet, but the butter croissants?

<insert some adjectives and adverbs describing how good they are>

Okay then. Moving onto today’s haul!

  • 1 loaf pugliese
  • 2 butter croissants
  • Yellow peaches
  • Nectarines
  • Cherries
  • Lemons

  • Heirloom tomatoes … okay, I know I should not be buying these this early in the season. But the price was right and I couldn’t resist. I just hope the flavor is as good as their August counter parts.
  • Baby eggplant
  • Yellow onions

Farmers Market 5/31/12

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Sometimes I am blown away at the prices I find at the farmers market. Take the green beans, for example. That’s over 2 1/2 pounds of green beans. How much did I pay for them? $1. Yep, 1 dollar. They aren’t old either. Now I’m not quite sure what I am going to do with all those beans, but I’m sure I’ll find a away to use them up.

The aubergines are making an appearance again because I found an incredible recipe for an aubergine peanut curry that I want to make for you. It’s a great change of pace from the typical fried eggplant.

  • Carrots
  • Green cabbage
  • Brussel sprouts
  • Baby egg plant/indian eggplant/aubergines
  • Patty pan squash

Finally bought me some strawberries! I was really due for a change.

  • Strawberries
  • White nectarines
  • Lemons