Saturday, January 30, 2010

Saratoga Farmers Market

It has been raining almost every day for weeks now it seems like.  Ever since my family left.  But when this morning dawned bright and sunny we knew it would be a perfect day to go check out one of the local farmers markets.  So even though I have a huge project that I am still working on for the upcoming trial I have been staffed on, we ran over for half an hour to enjoy looking at all the offerings. 


Although Campbell has its own farmers market that is within walking distance, it is on Sundays.  So instead we went to the Saratoga farmers market that is actually right next to where we go to church. 


There were beautiful flower booths with orchids, narcissus (which I bought - take a moment to appreciate the irony), tulips, cyclamen (that's for you Jessica), gerber daisies and a whole bunch of others.




And of course there were tons of fresh fruit and vegetables.  Like mushrooms.


And strawberries (we bought some).


And beets.  I thought of Dwight Shrute.  And my dad.


And farm fresh eggs.


And fish and other seafood.


And breads.


And swiss chard.  I don't even know what that is or how to cook it, but it was so beautifully and gaily colored that I had to take a picture and I want to figure out what to make with it now.


And cabbage.


And honey.  Oh boy was there honey.  I love honey.  So, so, so much.


This is butter lettuce I think.


And of course, since we are in California, there was lots of fresh citrus.


Somehow I missed getting photos of all of the booths with ethnic foods.  There were people selling Indian, Afghani, Vietnamese, and Greek foods and products.  Almost every booth lets you sample items so we tasted a lamb curry on naan that was baked while we watched (Paul's favorite), fuji apple slices and incredibly strong apple cider, spinach afghani flatbred with a garlic mint yogurt and sweet jalapeno sauce (my favorite), and fresh salsa. 

And as we were leaving, we saw trees that are already fluffing out in white blossoms.  Not just buds.  Blossoms.  In January.  I love living here. 

8 comments:

  1. Oh man I love the farmers market. And I love your pictures, seriously, you guys have talent. Btw, did you know Jason's dad is a beekeeper? You may have seen Miller's honey in Utah. Now that I know you are a honey lover, I'll have to bring you some. We need to get together soon.

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  2. Your new bag. SO CUTE. You should have set up your own booth at the market!

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  3. I am moving to California RIGHT NOW!

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  4. I'm completely impressed with your ability to take pictures in busy, public places! The pictures are beautiful! I'm super glad you found a Sat Farmer's Market too!

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  5. We love our farmer's market, too. It's just a couple of blocks away from our house on Saturdays. Penny loves all the free samples and often gets confused about which box of strawberries is for sale and which box is offering free samples. She quite frequently just walks up to a box of not free samples and picks up a piece of fruit and starts eating.

    Where did you get your bag? By the sound of Jessica's comment it sounds like you made it. Did you? It's so cute! And, if you did make it, you really should set up a booth.

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  6. Mushrooms aren't fruits or vegetables.

    I hate that my only comment is so negative, but I can't help myself.

    Those strawberries look delicious.

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  7. Saratoga looks like it has a great market. Your "butter lettuce" is actually bok choy though ;)

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  8. Marnie - yeah, I made my new bag a couple of Sundays ago because I needed something bigger to haul all of my stuff to church in. I'm glad you like it.

    Dee - you are right, as always, about the mushrooms.

    Bethany - I know, I thought it was bok choy, but there was a sign by it that said butter lettuce so that's what I went with for the blog post, but I think you are right and that it is really bok choy.

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