Not So Serendipitous

Food & Photography by Elisabeth Norris

Farmers Market 10/18/12

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The fruit I picked up today kind of strikes me. It just doesn’t seem right that I can buy peaches, watermelon, and grapes straight from the farmers market. California growing seasons never cease to amaze, nor the sheer access I have to so many different fruits and veggies because of my geographical location. I mean look at the berries I have been buying in the last month. Though things are shifting slowly, this is the last trickling of melons at the market and the same for peaches. You don’t see many pluots, plums, or nectarines. Grapes are in full swing though and I am hoping we see more apples and pears. I feel like we are lagging a bit in the fall varietals… oh wait, we don’t have fall yet.

  • Peaches
  • Watermelon
  • Grapes (can’t remember the variety)

Mostly the same in the veggie department. I did though find some firm/not sitting on the vine too long bell peppers for $1pr/lb.

  • Carrots
  • Kale
  • Parsley
  • Garnet yams
  • Tomatoes
  • Broccoli
  • Bell peppers
  • Green onions
  • Leeks

Farmers Market 10/4/12

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No more raspberries at the market this week. Kind of wish I would have bought two flats last week rather than one. But I did get a great price on strawberries! Six bucks for half flat of organic/incredibly still sweet strawberries! Half of the flat has already been cleaned and chopped into small pieces and frozen to help fight my sweet tooth at night. Not sure what I will do with the other half… ahh I love end of season abundance. Grapes have hit the market in full force. Prices are in the $2 – $2.50 per/lb range so I’m holding back a bit till they drop mid to late season. I did pick up some for $1.50 per/lb that are good but not the “oh my goodness” good. I figure it was good time to start breaking of the peaches which will be out of season soon.

Aside from the berries it was more of a stock up kind of trip. Greens/starchy carbs/fibrous carbs etc. I intentionally went light last week to use up what I had. By dinner last night I was down to a few onions, 1 head of garlic, a few jalapeños, 3 small eggplant, and a small nob of ginger. But the bins are replenished and it is another week ahead of on going challenge to do tasty and healthy things with veggies.

  • Italian flat leaf parsly
  • Green onions
  • Broccoli
  • Garlic
  • Cauliflower
  • Red potatoes
  • Lemons
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Yellow onions
  • Spinnach
  • Kale
  • Tomatoes

  • Grapes
  • Cantaloupe
  • Yellow peaches
  • Strawberries

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 8/23/12

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One too many days late, but I did make it to the market last Thursday and was able to take some photos but time hasn’t allowed me to get the post up till now… Monday, the following week.

This week I intended to buy a honeydew melon but only found ginormous melons. Like way too big for one person to consume (Will doesn’t eat much fruit at home unless it is part of a meal.) So when I asked if they had anything smaller then best he could offer was the similar Canary melons. And for some reason, because I wanted a smaller melon he gave me $2 bucks off (all melons were $5 each.) No complaints from me!

  • Canary melon
  • Peaches
  • Valencia oranges

Nothing too spectacular in the vegetable department. Just some basics. And tomatillos! First I’ve see this season. I foresee some salsa experiments in the near future.

  • Tuscan kale
  • Tomatoes – cherry and early girl
  • Jalapeños
  • Tomatillos
  • Garlic
  • White potatoes
  • Corn

And because I needed a dose of sunshine. Sunflowers of sorts… possibly Tohokujhae.

Farmers Market 8/16/12

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California is most certainly having an amazing fruit this summer. The cantaloup I picked up last week was like liquid sugar. And the peaches are out of the world right now. Hence why I picked up quite a few more… though half of those are going in a tart.

  • Yellow peaches
  • Red plums

And in the vegetable department… well I’m getting a little bored. Not so much in the produce but in the fact that I’m not doing anything interesting with it. I certainly hemed and hawed at the market this morning. Gotta work on this whole meal planning thing. One thing was for certain though, I was getting more heirloom tomatoes! Prices dropped by .50 cents all across the market. It is only a matter of time before end of season hits and everyone is trying to get rid of the tomatoes for dirt cheap! The rest is just a mishmash of produce that I’m not sure what I will do with in the coming week.

  • Corn
  • Thai eggplant
  • Yellow onions
  • Red onions
  • Heirloom tomatoes
  • Japanese sweet potatoes
  • Leeks
  • Sweet chili peppers
  • Thai chili peppers

Farmers Market 8/9/12

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I’ve noticed over the last couple of months that there seems to be some kind of correlation between the number of people at the market and the sunshine. I’d say there was about half the amount of people this morning than there was last week. And yes, the sun was shining last week… this morning, not so much. Not that I’m complaining, the less people = better shopping experience in my book. So on with todays haul!

  • Kale
  • Cherry tomatoes (can’t seem to get enough of these little guys!)
  • Lemon verbena (I think… something lemony/not-quite-minty)
  • Heirloom tomatoes
  • White potatoes
  • Green beans
  • Corn
  • Baguette

  • Cantaloupe
  • Yellow peaches
  • Asian pears
  • Figs