Farmers Market 6-10

Hey a Saturday market post ON market day. What a concept!

I really thought I wasn’t going to make it to the market. Obviously I was wrong but I made it with just half hour to spare till closing. Which means I didn’t have enough time to peruse the stalls at my usually leasurly pace.

I don’t journal about it often because it is a staple of my table and it gets repetitive but the one thing at the market that is a “must have” is bread from The Bread Gallery. I cannot say enough about this bread. My usual purchase comes down to a bag of 8 rolls, then either their wonderful cheese bread or my favorite garlic spin.

The rolls are a perfect marriage of white bread and chewy crust. Just the right ratio to keep each bite interesting. Ever so slightly sweet they are the most perfect little sandwich rolls. Even better, I love them for breakfast, toasted then spread with a little bit or butter or jam.

The cheese bread is fluffy inside and crusted with a flavorful combination of cheese on the outside. Toasted, it becomes delightfully crunchy and I suspect, though I have not tested this out yet, it would be the perfect foil for a bruschetta with fresh summer tomatoes!

And then there is my Garlic Spin; a white loaf with a swirl of flavorful garlic in the middle. Unlike most garlic breads with huge chunks of garlic that you can only taste when you bite into the thick piece, the garlic swirl infused the entire bread with subtle garlic flavor. Never overwhelming the garlic is none the less assertive enough to add flavor to sandwiches. Though, I have to admit that my favorite way of eating thin slices of this bread is to brush it with a little garlic butter and a sprinkle of parmesan. It’s the only way to top perfection.

With that thought in mind, I my first visit this farmers market was to the bread stall. If nothing else I would have good bread.

After that, everything else was just gravy. I was lucky enough to find good cherries at the stall where I normally find potatoes because I just didn’t have time to comparison shop. The white nectarines, which are sugary sweet, were out next stop. They came from the same stall where just a few short months ago I picked up my new favorite grapefruit, oro blanco. I had just enough time to say a quick hello to the ladies in the stall and found out that they have planted a new variety of white grapefruit that is even better than the oro blanco. I can’t imagine! I do have to admit though, their fruit is much better than it was last year. So they are doing something right.

 

From there, I hurried my way to find my favorite local

Gouda

. The funny thing is, now that I have been eating it for over a year, I can tell the difference in the milk. Because I buy the youngest of the cheese, the seasonal variations in the milk really come through. The mouth feel of the cheese differs as does the pungency. This one was slow to develop the characteristic

Gouda

flavor, leaving a lingering tingle on my tongue for long after. I think this batch will be better melted.

The avocados and the corn were almost an afterthought. A chance stop at a vegetable stall while we were trying to decide where to hit next yielded the most tender white corn. Alas, much like the fruit the corn will be eaten straight.

It is only well into summer, when my family is terribly spoiled by an excess of summer fruit when I am actually allowed to cook with it. Any attempt before that gets met with something close to hostility.

Even my recent attempt at lightly grilling some apricots was met with grumbles.

But to be perfectly honest, I don’t mind over much. With fruit this good, why ever would you want to cook it?

Comments

[Megan]

My mouth is watering after reading this! I envy the fresh fruit and corn, as it's barely above freezing tonight in Ontario.

Your photography is gorgeous, too. Beautiful blog!

[Tanna]

Incredible photos! There is just never anything better that fruit that tastes like it's suppose too! Oh, those cherries...gorgeous!!

[Kitarra]

Megan,

Thank you! I LOOOVE my new camera, its allowing me to take pictures I couldn't before! I hope fruit comes in for you soon... I will be envying you when fall hits! I miss the pretty leaves!

Thank you for visiting!

Tanna,

Thank you. Comming from you I will take that as a compliment as I envy your photos!

And yeah, I was getting disillusioned with the fruit in the super market. Now that I've found the farmers market I am getting fruit like I remember fruit is suppose to taste like. It's a wonder!

Thank you for visiting!

[Ivonne]

Wow!

Look at those fresh vegetables! And the cherries ... I just love cherries but we're still a few weeks away at least before we get to taste any local cherries.

Just a lovely post!

[Kitarra]

Ivonne,

Thank you! I forgot to write about the tomatoes, but this is the first of the heirlooms and they are incredible.

That is the one part about living in California that I absolutely adore. The produces! I will hope for an early season for you!

Thanks for visiting!

[di]

Hi! I've loved reading your posts since I saw them over at LJ's Cooking community! The way you write is scrumptious! I can taste every nuance! I just read that comment where you said you love your new camera, and I just have to ask, would you mind telling me what it is? I'm looking out for a new camera, and I love, love your photos! Though I do know that comes with sheer picture-taking talent than the camera model!

[Kitarra]

Di,

Thank you for your kind words.

The camera I finally chose was the Cannon Powershot S3 IS. You can read a review of it here:

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_s3-review/

DC resource is one of the best sites for helping select a camera. They even have a wonderfull buyers guide. http://www.dcresource.com/buyersguide/

There is a lot of information on the site.

I chose the S3 IS because it was an ultrazoom with 12x optical zoom. It allows me to get in really close. It also has a super macro feature that allows me to photograph anything I can get enough light to shoot. It is a very nice camera.

Thank you for stopping by!

[Di]

Hi, and a belated thank you!! So nice of you to give me the links! That was really helpful. Apologies for taking time to say my thank you, it finally occured to me to check back to this particular page to see if you replied, though I did enjoy the summer sunset and crepes! Mmmmm crepes! Thanks again!

[Kitarra]

Di,

You are very welcome! Thank you for visiting!