Saturday, September 29, 2012

Coffee, Crepes and Conversation!

Since I've been working at the local Saturday morning  Farmer's Market, at least half of my hard-earned cash is spent purchasing from the vendors.  But you really can't help yourself when you're surrounded by such wonderful produce and baked goods.  


I work for a few hours a week on promotional stuff.  Saturdays start at 7:30 AM with set-up of the umbrella tables and canopies for the musician & community table, greeting and trouble-shooting.  By 8:30 when the Market opens, I'm ready for my weekly cup of coffee.  Yes, I said my weekly cup of coffee:  I have a high sensitivity to caffeine so the coffee has GOT to be worth my drinking it!  And this cup is so worth it!  I'm partial to a dark French roast with half milk and half cream.

Other than an apple or yogurt out the door, my Saturday breakfast comes from "The Airstream Cafe"  which also sells breads and pastries from "La Boulangerie Vendeene".   I've been trying to eat my way through the Market (as any good Ambassador would do!).  This morning, I had their crepes: it's made from spelt but is very light in texture and this one was filled with this season's strawberries (and a few  rogue peach slices) and was topped with real whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce.  Delicious!


After that, I get to sit or just wander and schmooze -- something I'm particularly fold of.  I see lots of my own friends come through the Market.  But I've met so many other people:  people I'd been seeing around town for years but didn't really know as well as all these brand new never-seen-before people.  It's wonderful!  We chat about the weather, those lovely, plump tomatoes, how nice the sweet potato fries are and so on and so on.  By 10:30 AM once I've collected the weekly dues, I'm off duty and can fill my own basket with good stuff before I head home.  


Saturday afternoons, I usually begin to cook.  


Fun, fun, fun!  

Besides what I've purchased myself, some of the vendors like to tuck in a little something extra for the "Market Wrangler & Schmoozer" -- one of the perks of the job!  A head of garlic, a few tomatoes, a bunch of herbs ..... often I come home with something I've never eaten before.  Each week, my taste buds are heightened in some way; my new foods list is lengthened and my menu grows.  

Thank goodness for Asian daughters who are adventurous eaters and for new friends who till the soil and harvest the produce so that I can enjoy such wonderful, organic food.  

Only one more Market  Saturday left and then we pack up here in rural Nova Scotia until late next spring.  The harvest is almost at an end here; rainy weather and cool nights and mornings are the norm.  So, I've got a lot of cooking and eating to get done!

Over the next few weeks, I'll share some of my new food adventures:  things like Delicata squash, tomatillos, Jerusalem artichokes and more.


  • Are you an adventurous eater?
  • Have you eaten anything new lately?

3 comments:

Pamela Gordon said...

Your Saturday morning market adventure sounds like a lot of fun. There is always something new and different at farmer's markets. Have you ever been the the Boyce Farmer's Market in Fredericton? It's open year around. I'm not much into trying new foods, especially if I have to cook them. :) I'm pretty traditional in my diet almost to the point of boring. Your Asia daughters are inspiring you to try new things and that is good.

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

It must be fun to be there at that market on Saturday mornings. I love fresh produce, but am not so very adventurous anymore. It'll be interesting to see what you've come up with there.

Marguerite said...

I have trouble with caffeine too so completely understand the weekly cup. Coffee just tastes so darn good though. We're pretty unadventurous with food in our house - hubby prefers hotdogs to vegetables so it's tough getting outside the box. Growing our own food though helps to broaden our horizons just a bit.

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