Farmer's Market time of year

I was struggling with what to write today, so I thought I would share with you one of my favorite things.  Enjoy!

I think there isn't a time of year that I don't love for one reason or another.  But since it is almost summer...I am currently in love with that season.  In Oregon the weather never gets really nice till the end of June and not consistently till mid July it seems.  So it is about this time every year that I start to get the itch for nice weather...and this year? It is raining a ton!  Fortunately there is one thing that tides over till it is nice all the time and that is the Farmer's Market. 

Prior to moving to Oregon I never went to a local farmer's market on a regular basis.  When we started going to the markets here I was so shocked to taste the difference in the foods they had compared to the grocery store.  I seriously hadn't tasted lettuce or carrots or peas like that since I was a child and we grew it in our backyard. 

I am spoiled by the markets in this area because they not only sell fruits, vegetables, and plants, but they sell meat too and this past weekend we decided to try out some grass fed beef.  We had seen Food Inc and were convinced that we needed to start buying more grass fed beef, but hadn't really done anything but talk about buying a 1/4 or 1/2 of a cow.  The farmer's market is giving us the opportunity to purchase the meat in smaller quantities which is great for us right now.  We made the meat last night and I have to say that it was pretty tasty!  It was definitely a bit tougher than I am used to, but the flavor was absolutely fabulous so I didn't mind the extra chewing I had to do.  I have heard there are ways to make it better, so we will have to look into that for next time.

Another favorite thing from my farmer's market? The crepes!  Actually there are a lot of food stands with lots of delicious food, but the crepes are currently my favorite.  They use ingredients from the market (some are not from the market though like the bananas and Nutella--YUMMY!) and are so freaking delicious that I spend the night before going dreaming about them. 

All this being the said, I have a new absolute favorite thing from the market...okay, maybe there are two things that are my new favorite(s): Strawberries and raspberries.  Seriously, they were so sweet and juicy that I was in heaven after just one bite!  We finished the raspberries before we even got home!

So there you go!  If you ever wonder what I am doing on a Saturday morning in the summer, you can probably guess that I am at the farmer's market with my family stocking up on really good (local) food!

TTFN
Mommy C