Time, travel, technical difficulties, and tiredness

Ok, so, I was supposed to get this going, but I've been having a busy couple weeks! I've been going back and forth a lot from San Diego to Vista...and then I was sick as well. Because of that, I've been excessively tired as of late.

As for the technical difficulties, I bought a cable so I could transfer the photos from my phone to my computer for this blog, but the person sent me the wrong one! In fact, he re-marked the box to say it was for my phone, but it surely is not. Whatever.

Anyway, let's get on to the food part of this entry!

The pictures, which I will upload as soon as I can, are from a couple different places. First, is the Hillcrest Farmer's Market. I absolutely LOVE going to a good farmer's market. I am a fiend for fresh produce, and where can you find it fresher than this without growing it yourself??

When I first get there, I head all the way to the back side, and to the left. First place I always hit is Sweet Tree Farms for the stone fruits (peaches, nectarines, plums). They have always had some of the best nectarines anywhere, but I've noticed this year they seem to be picking them a little earlier, and then when you get them home, they want to get all wrinkly and leathery on the outside before the inside gets soft. Sad. But, if you look carefully, you can find some that are at most a day from ripe and those are the ones you want.

Luckily, there seem to be a lot more vendors to choose from if you're looking for stone fruits this year! Lots of varieties of peaches, and nectarines, and so many plums! Last weekend I bought some dinosaur egg plums, Santa Rosa, and these little gold plums with a greenish tint to the flesh. All were juicy and sweet, with just a hint of tart. So good!

Aside from the stone fruits, there's plenty of avocados, artichokes, asparagus, cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans etc. There's also so much more than produce! Olive oil, anyone? Crepe? How about some beef jerky? Need a new handbag to go with that dress? This last trip I even saw salt and pepper shakers in the shape of a couple!

And of course, there's the ready to eat foods. If you just have a little sweet tooth, there's Kettle Korn, chocolate truffles, french pastries. Looking for carbs? There's dozens of bread and baked good offerings. If you're hungry enough for breakfast or lunch, you can have that too: Crepes, both sweet & savory, gyros, kebabs, hummus, tamales, empanadas, tacos, burritos and more. It's a veritable smorgasbord!

I recommend you hit the market early enough to get your hardcore shopping done before the big crowds arrive (it opens at 9 am and stays open til about 1 pm), and then take a leisurely stroll around to find something delicious to have for brunch!