Friday Favorite: Giant Horseradish

I've taken A TON of photos at the Farmer's Market before. But this one is one of my favorites. Check out the fresh horseradish. Makes me think of my friend's Bahram and John. We've got grand plans for a dinner party--and horseradish is going to have a role in it! Can't wait!

Friday Favorite: Summer in Bloom

Some pretty flowers from the Farmer's Market! Happy Summer!

Almost Summer Farmer's Market Bounty

Some of my favorite pics from my Saturday trip to the Farmer's Market! I love that all of my favorite summer fruits and vegetables are coming into season!

And check out these beautiful bouquets of flowers I saw, how beautiful!

New York City Green Market

I was in New York recently, and had about an hour to duck off to the Green Market in Union Square. It was an interesting experience to see what was in season on the East Coast, and to experience a New York City Farmer's Market.

I immediately noticed a ton of ramps. Ramps ramps ramps. They were beautiful. And there were plenty of them!

Apples! Apples were still around. That was a surprise to me...feels like it's been awhile since I'd seen them out here in San Francisco. But they were beautiful. And made me really want to make an apple pie.

And then asparagus was starting to make it's appearance. What I loved, was this farm's display:

South Jersey Asparagus?? Hmm. Something about that just doesn't feel right to me. I'm use to Cali grown asparagus, thank you very much!

No matter what city I'm in, or what season it is, I like checking out the local Farmer's Market. I love seeing what produce is available, talking to the local customers, meeting the regional farmers, and seeing what local producers are there.

However. After all is said and done, with the exception of maybe the Portland Farmer's Market, I tend to prefer my market here in San Francisco. Partly because I'm comfortable with it, I know the lay-out, I know the vendors, I know who's got the best Meyer lemons, who's got the best strawberries, etc. etc. And I've got all of my food vendors that I'm use to (the Green Market had NO coffee, can you believe that? My SF'ers, I was craving my Blue Bottle!) And on top of it all? My friends. Constantly running into friends, old and new. It's one of my favorite things about the market.

I guess when it's all said and one. There's no place like home!

Saturday Market Funny

There aren't even words to describe this. It's been at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market the last few times I've been there. It's a pop up 'screen'. And yes, it's a banana. And a monkey. With little holes cut in where a 'face' and 'arms' might be. Weird, right?

Well. That's not all. There's a guy playing the guitar and a guy planning a saxophone that go with this. They stand behind the 'screen', and stick their heads in the 'head' holes. And then there are little 'arm' holes too. So that they can stick their hands through and play their instruments.

It's beyond bizarre. I can't really explain it, but just had to snap this photo and share.

Friday Favorite: Baby Zuccini and Squash

This photo says it all. What more could you need/want than these gorgeous baby zuccini's and squashes?

I took this photo at the Dupont Circle Farmer's Market a few weeks ago when I was in Washington D.C. One of the reasons I was so excited for this photo? Just two nights ago, I had tasted some of the best baby zuccini, cooked up with some sweet corn, serrano peppers, Mexican cream and queso fresco at Oyamel restaurant. YUM.

Friday Favorite: Porchetta!

I mean really? DELICIOUS! One of my favorite Saturday Farmer's Market favorites! Yumm!

There's always a line--so don't let that deter you. But come on. It's SO worth the wait!!

Getting That Fix

Success at the market! Beautiful kumquats!

Welcome Home

Feels like it’s been a busy fall. I was gone for most of November, in New York and Australia. Before that? October was a busy month too. Weekends in Cazadero and Davis took me out of San Francisco. All of this time out of San Francisco was fine with me. I loved my time in each of these locations, and always enjoy exploring new places.

But after a little while, I start missing things at home. Among the things about SF I miss most? The Farmer’s Market. My Saturday routine. It's a good time for me to go and see what fruits and vegetables are in season, and also a fun way for me to learn about new ingredients. It seems like no matter how often I go, or how many cookbooks and magazines I read, there is always something new to be discovered at the market!

My sister and I like to go together, and we have our own little routine. I’ve written about the Farmer’s Market lots of times before, here’s a good recap from one of my fall trips to the market from earlier this year.

The first thing we do is stand in line for a cup of Blue Bottle Coffee. The weather this December Saturday was nice—chilly and brisk, but the sun was out. As we walked up to the market, we noticed that it wasn’t nearly as crowded as it usually is. It was kind of nice. The line at Blue Bottle was actually SHORT. We were thrilled. (And given the coldness in the air, we steered away from our standard New Orleans style coffee for a latte this time.)

My pretty coffee

Once we have coffee in hand. Michelle and I always go and pick up some type of breakfast sandwich to share. Sometimes it's a Prather Ranch breakfast sandwich, other times it's a Boccalone one. On this day, we decided to go for a Boccalone breakfast sandwich. Yum yum.

While we were at Boccalone, I got my water bottle refilled too. That's another must-do at the market. I always come with my water bottle in hand, and get my fill of delicious and refreshing sparkling water.

On this particular day, as we were walking towards Boccalone, I looked across the way and saw a familiar face. I stopped in my tracks and let out a gasp under my breathe. “Oh my god.” Michelle looked at me, looked in the direction I was looking at, and said, “What? What’s wrong? What do you see?”

It was Alice Waters. In the flesh.

She was signing books, and my loyal readers and friends will know, I have an obsession about getting books autographed. (Ok, I have a lot of obsessions, this is just one.) It was pretty neat to meet her (not my first time!), and to get a book signed. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a line, and not even a crowd of people around her.

After this pleasant surprise, we had to move on. Other things we love? We typically like to see which chef is doing the demo in the CUESA Kitchen. This Saturday? Staffan Terje from Perbacco restaurant was doing the demo. Perbacco is one of my favorite restaurants in San Francisco, and it was nice to see Staffan doing the demo. (Another familiar face! Gosh I love this place!)

We saw a lot of familiar chef faces, and stopped by some of my favorite farm stalls as well. I picked up some winter Clementines (yum!), and even a guava (that I wasn’t planning on buying, but because of the strong delicious smell, I couldn’t resist!)

We smelled some great fresh lavender. I had to refrain from buying about a billion of the little sachets—it made me think of one of my favorite people in the world, Miss Chloe Grace. My dear friend adores lavender, and I thought about buying a whole bunch and mailing them to her in New York.

I also made a stop at the tofu stand that I love. Hodo Soy Beanery is probably one of my favorite stalls (a favorite of Daniel Patterson’s too I believe, as we’ve seen him picking up items from this stall frequently.) My favorite item there? The tofu jerky. The fried tofu is marinated in Chinese five spices and I love eating them just plain. They are so delicious and I wish I could buy them every time (but at $7 a pop for a small container, it’s something that’s a splurge for me.)

One of these days, I’m not going to eat them all plain, I’m going to cook with them. I think slicing them up and tossing them into a stir fry or using them in a chow mein type of dish would be really good too. Sigh. Maybe I’ll have to buy two packages, one to eat plain, and one to cook with.

We drooled over the pardon peppers from Happy Quail Farms (and even chatted about the wonders of the pardon with a nice man who also happened to be admiring them.) We eyed some specialty salts. We almost stopped at the salmon stall to get a ‘sample’ of the yummy salmon jerky we love so much. But too crowded. And sadly, I think we’ve tasted more samples than we’ve actually purchased, so again, we had to refrain.

We ducked into Recchiuti so Michelle could purchase some Christmas presents. While this isn’t normally a stop on our stroll, it was a treat. We looked at all of the beautifully wrapped boxes and gift sets. And the “Holiday Motif” boxed chocolates with the beautiful holiday images were so amazingly beautiful. Michelle drooled over the Obsession Box while I nibbled on the yummy chocolate covered apple slice. We didn’t leave with only presents for others. We bought two house made marshmallows and enjoyed them in the corner of the market along with the creamy hot chocolate sample they gave us. Perfect ‘dessert’ to our Farmer’s Market outing.

The familiarity of the market, knowing where the stalls are, knowing I will always see familiar faces and friends, my delicious coffee, seeing what’s in season...it makes for a nice say to kick off my weekend. I don't need to spend a lot of time there. Even in just a few short hours, I always leave with a smile on my face. And every single time I go to the market, I’m reminded of why it’s my happy place and why I'm so lucky to be living here in San Francisco!

Yes, Another Farmer's Market

You all hear me talking about my 'happy place' frequently. The San Francisco Farmer's Market is one of my favorite places to go. But you know what? It's not JUST loving the San Francisco Farmer's Market. I've always loved Farmer's Markets. Something about walking around, taking time to pick through the produce, many times, talking to the farmer's themselves. It's a good way to get inspired by the local and seasonal produce. And to learn about new vegetables or varietals. It's also a great chance to meet different people in my own community. I just love it.

When I travel, I try and check out the local Farmer's Market when I can. I've been to the Farmer's Markets in Washington, D.C. (Dupont Circle area one), in Aspen, in Portland (one of my other all time favorite Farmer's Markets!), Seattle, and internationally, to many open air markets.

The other thing about markets? It's not something you do once? Each time you visit, depending on the season, there are new things to see, new things to taste, and new items to buy!

Well, one of my all time favorite's is the Davis Farmer's Market. And recently, I was in Davis and had the chance to walk through the market with some friends. Here are some photos of the things we saw (click to view the slideshow!):

Davis Farmer's Market

There were so many fantastic things that caught my eye! I can't wait until I can check out another market in a new city soon.

Fall Farmer's Market Treats

October is my favorite time in San Francisco. The weather is typically perfect--little to no fog in the morning, warm during the day, and then nice and cool at night. Fall is in the air and it doesn't get much better than this.

The other day, I ducked out of the office at lunch time to pick up a train ticket. That was my excuse. I mean sure, I needed the train ticket, but the real reason I wanted to leave the office? It was Tuesday. Farmer's Market Day at the Ferry Building.

I rarely get to go to the Tuesday market--getting out at lunch is so hard! But what a treat it was! I saw these beautiful cranberry beans:


I had JUST read about these beans from one of my favorite blogs, The Amateur Gourmet. I had a busy week ahead of me, and no time at home and in the kitchen, so I didn't buy any. But hopefully sometime soon.

Another sight I saw? This beautiful pepper plant! The 'flowers' are bright yellow little peppers:

It was GORGEOUS! Wouldn't this make a pretty center piece? Makes me want to throw a dinner party--just so I can go back and get this plant for my table.

Sadly, by the time I did get my train ticket, walked through a few stalls, got a refill in my Boccalone water bottle and chatted with my friend Tatiana, it was basically time to head back. Hopefully I can make a few more trips to the Tuesday market in October...it's so nice to be at the market without the craziness of the Saturday crowds!

One last thing! Check out the pretty flowers I brought back to the office, definitely helping to brighten up my week!

Foodie Regret and Foodie Excitement

All week, I’ve been regretting not purchasing those beautiful squash blossoms I saw at the Farmer’s Market last Saturday. And every day, I sat wondering if they were gone from the markets and if I had missed my chance this season. I was nearly in tears when I thought about it. Why didn’t I just spend those few dollars on the squash blossoms?

This last Saturday, I went to the Farmer’s Market with some friends. I met up with my friend Vanessa and her daughter Chloe (Chloe’s first San Francisco Farmer’s Market trip!), as well as my friend Charissa (in town from Washington DC) and her family.

Beautiful Chloe--Yensa was able to capture the best photos of her!

We had a great time…but for the first 15 min or so, I was distracted. I hadn’t seen Charissa in months, but all I could think about were my squash blossoms (sorry dear!) I bee-lined for the farm stand that sold them the week prior (well, as soon as we all had our Blue Bottle Coffee in hand!) I pushed and shoved (well, not shoved too hard, but I was aggressive!), making my way to the back of the market. I could feel my heart starting to race as I realized in mere moments, I could come to realize that my chance had passed until next season. And then from a distance…there it was. The yellow blossom! Success! Thankfully they still had some. Not quite as gorgeous as the week prior, but still squash blossoms nonetheless. Phew.

After I bought the blossoms, I was able to calm down a little bit. And relax. And enjoy the sunny day. I could finally spend time talking to my friends, and pointing to all of the other wonderful things the market had to offer. Charissa’s sister bought some lovely rose sugar. I’ve got to get my hands on that! Next time. I can see the potential already. Perhaps a rose infused ice cream. Or perhaps sprinkled on top of some shortbread cookies (maybe that Michelle Obama shortbread cookie?) Or even more simple? Just over some fresh strawberries! Yum! Next time. For sure.

And oh! Yensa, the budding photographer, was snapping away the entire morning. She’s super talented, and captured some really beautiful shots from the day.

I’m lucky she snapped this one of me below (I don’t even know what her initial target was, but I’m so happy she caught this moment!) I was so excited to have my squash blossoms, I couldn’t even wait until I got home to use them in a salad. Pure foodie excitement. Pure foodie porn.

Happy Saturday!

This was one of my first weekends at home in San Francisco in a long time. I did what I love most—I headed to the Farmer’s Market! My sister Michelle, and I met up with two of my friends, Jason and Eric. We kicked off the morning with my favorite Blue Bottle Coffee. What is my coffee of choice? If y’ll really must know, I am a New Orleans style coffee fan. It’s Blue Bottle iced coffee with roasted French chicory, sugar and milk. All perfectly mixed. Not too sweet, just perfect. Yum yum yum. Seriously. Even this morning, which was a little overcast and a tinny bit cold, I opted for my iced New Orleans coffee.

From there, we began perusing the stalls. Eric was a man on a mission and bee-lined for a few different stalls. Michelle saw some gorgeous strawberries and headed there. Meanwhile, Jason and I kind of hung back and took it all in.

I saw a lot of familiar faces. In fact, ran into my friends Kevin and Alli and their new baby Charley! (Hmmm, wonder if this was Charley’s first Farmer’s Market outing?) We saw some familiar chef faces too. We saw chefs (and other fans) congratulating Chef Daniel Patterson from Coi Restaurant on his recent four star review by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Michael Bauer.

Sadly, this was also the night the famous Rubicon was closing. And we even had a Drew Nieporent sighting along with Chef Stuart Brioza and the Rubicon crew. Made me a little sad just seeing them…to think, I’ve never been to Rubicon! Sigh. Guess I never will. We’ll have to anxiously wait and see where Stuart and Nicole end up!

Here are some of the things we saw…

Some amazing bell peppers...look at all of the colors!

I took this photo just for my friend Bahram...shout out to East Palo Alto!

Squash Blossoms! I almost bought them, but wasn’t exactly sure how to prepare them, and the petals looked so delicate! I also knew I wasn’t eating at home tonight nor tomorrow, so hesitated and ended up not buying them. My friend Josh later told me, “You could have simply eaten them with olive oil, sea salt and mixed greens. They’re like candy!!” Sigh. My biggest regret of the day was not buying them!

Look at these beautiful hydrangeas!

They were huge and colorful and gorgeous!

We also watched Chef Chris Cosentino of Incanto Restaurant and Boccalone fame do a cooking demo, but since we were late comers, we ended up sitting in the back on the ground (as Michelle and I shared a Prather Ranch breakfast sandwich...yum!) Chris demonstrated how to make Sharyln melon with Boccalone Lardo with torn basils, and was great at getting the crowd involved. Super interactive, and we could hear the crowd laughing and getting really into it. The bite sized sample was tasted was really good too. Chris did a great job, but we had more fun gabbing in the back with his wife Tatiana.

All in all, a fun and relaxing Saturday morning. A great reminder of just how great this city is and how lucky I am. Oh yea! And yes! As promised, I came home with some pretty flowers of my own. Not as amazing as those hydrangeas we saw earlier, but still pretty.

Dahlias of my very own to enjoy this week!

Ice Cream Across the Country...And My Next Flavor!

Go Bi-Rite! Glad to see this lcoal favorite is making it's way into the national headlines. http://www.forbestraveler.com/food-drink/americas-best-ice-cream-story.html?partner=blog

This has turned into quite my diary of my ice cream making adventures. Anyone curious about what the ice cream for this weekend is? Peach ice cream! My farmer's market trip this morning turned out to be very fruitful (no pun intended!) Aside from the gorgeous sweet peaches, I also came home with a big bag of cherries and a brand new cherry piter. I've always wanted one! Not sure yet if I'm going to do a plain cherry ice cream or something fancier like a cherry rum ice cream (recipe from Emily Luchetti).

It was a beautiful SF morning, so lots of people out at the Farmer's Market. I was lucky we went early, and more crowded and I couldn't have wanted to stay! The first Saturday market day for Chris Cosentino's Boccalone...which from what I saw today, is already a huge success. Spotted some of my favorite San Francisco chefs checking out the fresh produce and mingling with other chef friends and locals. It was really nice to see and made me happy to live in such a great food community.

The Woes of City Life

Today, I found myself missing life in suburbia. I had errands to run, needed to get some household things and groceries. It was an ambitious list for the day. For the most part, I'm proud to live the life of a city dweller, sans car and all. But on a day like today, I missed my car and all the conveniences of strip malls and big box stores.

My sister and I are members of a city car share program, so thanks to the great minds of ZipCar, my errands happened smoothly today! And better yet, I got a Target trip in. The best store ever. Seriously. Moving to the city has made me appreciate all these little luxuries.

Speaking of city life, one thing I missed this long weekend was my Farmer's Market trip. I'm out there as many Saturday mornings as I can be, so hopefully I'll make it out there soon.

All in all, a fun, restful and productive long weekend!