Heirloom tomatoes, focaccia and strawberries

I love going to market. Even if it's just going to Superstore, I will get excited by the thought of visiting the bulk aisle. This morning I was so giddy with excitement that I woke up on my own at 7:30am. I am not a morning person. This was an amazing feat.

I made a quick cup of apricot black tea, and headed out the door. The weather was grey and chilly with the clouds threatening to rain. After being here for a few months I am finally gaining confidence in taking transit to unfamiliar destinations. I had a proud moment today where I intuitively found north. Growing up in Vancouver is a treat when it comes to knowing your compass points. The mountains always loom to the north, the ocean is on your west, and the rest is fairly easy to figure out as the streets run as a perfect grid. When I first came to SF my internal compass was completely lost. I would feel disoriented every time I got off a bus, or had to find a transfer. And the streets here, oh my. The streets run every which way but north/south or east/west. So getting to the Alemany Farmers Market this morning was a pleasant surprise.

I staved off breakfast for the specific purpose of eating at the market, and it was a good decision (despite my tummy protesting otherwise). I chose a beautiful, flaky, fragrant cinnamon twist made from puff pastry, and dusted with powdered sugar. Numerous other vendors offered free samples of hummus, focaccia, and fruit, but our absolute favourite was this twenty-something vendor selling bolani. She was by far the best sales person there with a friendly attitude and an insistent nature to feed you every flavour and accompanying stuffing that she was selling. It was delicious.

I bought (all organic):
3/4 lb. golden raisins
bunch of carrots
bunch of orange beets
kale
red fingerling potatoes
yellow onion
madarin oranges
strawberries
kalamata olive and artichoke focaccia
portobello mushroom
shiitake mushrooms
baklava (this was so sweet and tasty and vegan)

I'm off to cook a farmers market inspired dinner with S&J. This week we made beef, mushroom, parsley stuffed ravioli from scratch (J is a pastry chef, which helped a lot), and we'll probably make pasta again tonight. We bought some lovely lemon basil today and are hoping to make herb pressed noodles :)

Happy Saturday!

S's house where the flowers change every week. I think this week's are white lilies.