I love market day

I love going to the farmer's market, wandering the stalls, sampling the fresh fruit. The one by our place also has numerous restaurant and specialty food booths with Afghan, Indian, Thai, Vegan Soul Food, French pates and meats, and bakeries.

We take our bayong and take the nice stroll down to the park. It seems like every grocery store is selling reusable bags now, but they really can't compare to a serious bayong that you can load to the hilt and still have it so the handles aren't cutting into your hands. Americans, we're just new to this idea of reusable bags for purchases.

We might have an idea of what we might want to get: bread, some fruit, but for the most part we just wander and see what's there. Often we buy something to inspire us for the weekend meal.

Today's shopping included:

-1 pomelo
-1 original belgian waffle with powdered sugar (that I ate on the spot); they also had nutella and whip cream, but I settled for the basics. It was very good. A really dense waffle, a real breakfast.
-Ceviche - made with sole and another fish; The guy's mother made it, I had to buy it. C'mon, his mother made it! You would have bought it too!
-Sashimi grade salmon- We cut it up and had it for lunch and dinner
-Chicken duck pate with truffles - we got that from the French guy who sells all sorts of sausages. I wanted to try the Cassoulet, but that was $29/jar.
-guacamole
-cheese-mint sauce, lentils, cilantro pesto and two spinach balanis from the Afghan vendors that give tons of samples
-1 sweet french loaf that was soft as a pillow
-1 cheddar cheese loaf
-1 cabbage for the corned beef I bought at costco the night before, which I'll attempt to cook in the slow cooker tomorrow night. It is March afterall.
-1 samosa with cilantro and yogourt sauce from the Indian stand. I wasn't as enchanted with her sauces, but the samosa was very good.

Oranges were tasty, but the strawberries seemed out of their element for this time of year.

In less than an hour we had walked and sampled the entire market, and hiked back up the hill. I can see why my grandmother enjoys going to the market. Here, we only go once a week and keep everything in the fridge. But in the Philippines, they go every day, early in the morning. She likes to go and get the loads of vegetables and meat for the day's meals relying on her 80+ years of knowing what is in season, what is not. Then bargaining with the vendors.

I'm not sure if I would like going to market every day, mostly because I probably wouldn't have time to, but it is a different kind of food cycle. A different way of interacting with the people who make or grow the food you eat.