Farmer's Market

Today was a good day. My husband and I drove down to the city and stumbled across the best Farmer's Market in all of Houston. We spent at least a good 2 hours and still didn't manage to go through the entire market. We kept taking bags of produce back to the car so we could return with more and more. By the time we pulled off the entire back of the car was filled with produce. I even purchased 4 pumpkins. I can't wait to go back.

If you know me well you'll understand why I'm so excited. I love to cook. If I'm not hunting down antiques, playing in the flower beds, you'll find me in the kitchen. When I use to live in California my BFF, Elizabeth, and I would drive miles in search of certain produce, cheeses, meats, and spices. She also loves to cook.

Most of the produce is trucked into Texas from California, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Mexico. That's one of the things I miss about growing up around the Sacramento Valley in California. My Aunt Diane had a farm and I use to pick produce during the summer months between swimming in the pool. We'd snap green beans in the evening and prepare dinner. All of it from literally her property. Those were some of the best summers of my life.

This is brown sugar from Mexico. A little clip can go a long way. It's really strong so you don't have to use as much. I'm thinking of using some tomorrow in a loaf of Banana bread.

Tis the Season for pumpkin seeds. I love to use them in my salads. Sometimes they fix the occasional sweet tooth by dashing a little cinnamon over them and baking them for about 5 minutes.

My mangoes were shipped in from Brazil. My husband loves to make mango smoothies. Believe it or not it was really hot today. I know that must sound funny coming from those who live up north. I had a short sleeve shirt and jeans on. By the time I returned home I quickly changed into a summer dress. Thankfully I was procrastinating and haven't stored my summer wardrobe away yet.

The papayas are from Chile. They are delicious! I love a good papaya.

Here's another mango but these are shipped in from Mexico. Look how large they are. I was starving by time we returned home so I cut open one of these beauties and by the time I finished my portion I almost spoiled my appetite for dinner. I could literally live off of mangoes.

Tonight I made a pasta dish with a ton of fresh peppers, sweet onion, tomatoes, etc. It was awesome. I purchased my meats from a local Cajun meat market. Can't beat buying meat from a butcher. And of course I always cook to New Orleans music to get me in the cuisine mood. Tonight it was one of our favorites Ingrid Lucia.



This really doesn't have anything to do with my Farmer's Market post but I thought I'd just share. Has anyone else come across these adorable little mini size ice creams from Starbucks? I noticed them in the freezer section of my local grocery store and decided to pick one up. It's so cute the top even come with a little spoon. The calories are not so cute but this Java Chip Frappuccino ice cream is so good I practically licked the cartoon clean, ha!