Market Day!

(No, not the fund raiser. A real market day!)

One of the side benefits to J&H was that I got up early on Saturdays, and thus, had like the entire day free, as opposed to waking up at 10 like I normally would. :) Since rehearsals usually let out around 11, I would stop by the North Market on the way home to pick up food for the week.

As long-time readers know, I love to cook. I am a foodie, all the way, and subscribe to several food magazines. One of the big topics not just there, but in the "Crunchy Con" lifestyle, is buying locally grown products. I always liked this idea, but I didn't know how feasible it was. At first, I switched to Trader Joe's (which I still love with all my heart). But their produce would say things like "grown in California", which isn't really "local." So after a bit more reading, I decided to try and go as local as possible. That meant places like the North Market.

Unlike a lot of farmer's markets, the NM is open year round, and what they have is what the farmers are growing. There is also Jeni's Ice Cream (which is heaven on a spoon), meat stands, fish stands, cheese, bread, many pastry stalls, and international foods (like Indian and Chinese). My "usual" visit, which is on Tuesdays after work, consists of getting produce at the Greener Grocer, and then heading to Jeni's for a pint. I'm on a Raspberry Yogurt kick now.

So today, I bought:
--One pound of heirloom tomatoes (one "Hillbilly", a reddish color, and one "lemon boy", which is (duh) light yellow).

--One pound red bell peppers--they just looked so delish. (They are being used in tonight's beef tacos.)

--One pound red grapes (for the lunches)

At Jeni's:
--One pint of raspberry yogurt

The nice thing about buying in season is that everything looks so good. The peppers are the bright red you see on a kindergarten color wheel. The heirloom tomatoes are just gorgeous and have such a snappy taste!

I normally only go once a week, unless I'm out of something that I desperately, desperately need. It's not far from my office so it's not that big of a trip. Saturdays are just wild, though, but that's when I can do a big shopping trip and get things like meat and bread, if I need them.