Eat Your Veggies

Today might be THE time to go to the farmers' market, because we're expecting perfect weather.

December. 75 degrees and sunny. This is why I moved here.

Pasadena has two regular certified farmers' markets: Saturdays 8:30-12:30 at Victory Park, and Tuesdays 8:30-12:30 at Villa Parke Center. There's a third market in the Playhouse District in summer. This doesn't include nearby farmers' markets like Sierra Madre on Wednesday afternoons, Thursday mornings in Glendale or evenings in South Pasadena, Friday evenings in Eagle Rock, and Montrose on Sunday mornings. Not to mention the unique farmers' market in Altadena on Wednesday afternoons. We have every day covered, and then some.

Each of these has its own...is it okay for me to say "vibe"? Each has its own vibe. And I'm pretty sure you can get carrots at all of them, year 'round. Maybe not Altadena. I did say that one's unique.

Check out FarmerNet for an amazing list. Living in the city is no excuse to eat canned vegetables.

Zen Monday: #152

Zen Monday is the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what I think the photo's about.

Just say what you think and have a good time. There are no prizes, although sometimes there are kudos.

Altadena Urban Farmers Market

If the photo looks a bit homey it's because the Altadena Urban Farmers Market takes place at someone's house.

Granted, it's a big house, but it is indeed private property. If you're local you're likely familiar with the Zane Grey Estate, owned by Steven Rudicel and Gloria Putnam, a young Altadena couple. I can't claim to know them but this past Sunday I stood in the goat pen (beyond the grape vines out back) and introduced myself to Steven, just to have a chance to tell him "thank you." I'm awed at how these two regularly open up their historic home to their community.

John and I thought we might pop up to the market and buy some soap from Anne Louise Bannon (because her hand-made soap is superior to every other soap we've ever used), then pop back home. But just because we don't know Rudicel and Putnam doesn't mean we didn't know about half the people at the market, and that included patrons and vendors. Besides Anne and her wine-making husband Michael Holland, we stopped to talk politics with this one, hiking trails with that one, etc. Our neighbor from across the street was there with her daughter. Michael Coppess from East of Allen stopped to chat. Our friend the Apron Strings Baker was there! She who makes the cookies for A Penny for Your Thoughts, the coolest coffee-shop-within-a-gift-shop in Pasadena, was selling challah and cookies at the market! She sold out, of course, as did Anne. You want the good stuff, you get there early. These folks make and grow things at home. It's small business at its loving best.

Read Felicia Friesema's LA Weekly article to learn more about this unique event. Felicia herself gave me this giant, delicious mulberry when I saw her at the market. You meet the most fascinating people there.

The Altadena Urban Farmers Market is more than a market. It's a community bonding event. Yet it's possible John and I attended the final one. Let's hope there'll be another market in June.

Pure Love

When you set up a cage at the Farmers' Market and fill it with puppies, you will draw a crowd. The sign requested cash for photos. I tossed a dollar in the box and started shooting.

Would a legitimate breeder sell dogs at the Farmers' Market for $3,000 a pop? (or pup?) Apparently so. I looked them up when I got home and as far as I can tell, the operation is aboveboard. This sweet baby is a Lakota Mastino, "not for the passive owner who has no plans on working the dog. Needs a strong leader who understands dog behavior." 

In other words, you don't bring this dog home, stick him in the back yard and give him a bowl of kibble and a Nylabone. You train him. Every day. If you don't, pretty soon you've got 125 pounds of muscle, teeth and chaos on your hands. This breeder will find homes for these dogs even at the price he's asking. I hope he's clear with the buyers about what they're getting into so the dogs don't end up in shelters, or worse.

I have nothing against purebred dogs. Though my personal preference is for mutts, some of Boz's best friends are purebreds. But if you're in the market for a dog, I recommend skipping breeders altogether and going straight to a shelter, even if you're looking for a purebred--even if you're looking for a purebred puppy. You can find what you're looking for if you're willing to put a small effort into the search because there are so many unwanted dogs. Spend a couple of hundred dollars instead of a few thousand and save the remainder for your pooch's Nylabone fund. Now those things are expensive.

Nylabone images

Thanksgiving

Under southern California circumstances, a photo of chocolate turkeys in the rain is appropriate for Thanksgiving. Chocolate, turkeys and rain are just three of the many things I'm thankful for.

I could go on, but let it suffice to say that the list of things for which I'm grateful is far longer than the list of those for which I'm not.

I started writing this long, preachy thing about looking on the bright side on a rainy day, blah blah. But you know whether to be thankful or not. You know what's working for you and what isn't.

So let me just wish you a happy Thanksgiving. Today and every day, may you find your equivalent of chocolate, turkeys and rain.

Cold Up There

Hey, guess who won this week's contest: it was Betsy Coles! Congratulations, Betsy! Like everyone else who entered this week, Betsy answered Friday's question correctly. "What famous San Marino institution just received a $100 million gift?" Why, the Huntington, of course.

Betsy's name was pulled out of a (clean) poo bag by my neighbor's delightful mother/mother-in-law/grandmother when I sidelined her while she was trying to get from her car to her family. I'll be mailing out Betsy's copy of Hometown Pasadena 2009-2010 this week. It's my last one, so this Friday I'll be giving away my one and only copy of Helen of Pasadena by Lian Dolan! That's going to bed the day after Thanksgiving, and we're kicking off the holiday season with Helen. Be sure and check in to win.

Despite yesterday's rain, the Farmers' Market did a brisk business. More than one merchant mentioned, however, that the Saturday before Thanksgiving should be BIG, much bigger than a rainy day crowd. I admit I didn't really want to go but I was out of Sconeage granola and that is not to be borne.

When I finished shopping I came home and stayed cozy indoors. I love that on a rainy day. I felt so domestic I made corn bread. Okay, it was from a mix, but it filled the house with a nice smell. I didn't feel domestic enough to do laundry, but it was a pleasant afternoon.

I thought I'd do a comparison of our weather with that of Chicago and New York but it's not bad out east. It was 45 degrees and cloudy in Chicago yesterday, and 54 degrees and sunny in New York. (They say it got to 63 degrees here but I'm not buyin' it.) You know where it was really cold yesterday? Right here in California, in the mountains at Mammoth. 38 degrees and snow. And it got down below 20 overnight.

It's beautiful there, though. Check out what the Chieftess has been finding with her camera at Mammoth Lakes Daily Photo.

Back to the Sconeage

I know. It looks kind of like an ad.

It is, sort of. The Sconeage Bakery is one of my regular stops at the Saturday morning Farmers' Market at Victory Park because I am flat out addicted to that granola. When John comes with me he always gets a scone. He loves them in every flavor, partly because he's not picky but mostly because they're all good. And don't get me started about the cookies.

And Lionel (pronounced "Lee-o-NEL"), the owner of Sconeage, is from France. He has a French accent. He speaks French to those who speak French to him. Plus he's a nice guy. Plus his lovely daughter, who works the booth with him, is so over all that Frenchspeak.

I took all my photos yesterday at the market with the Canon 20D, which recently returned from being repaired. I'm having to learn to use it all over again. I took several shots of Dillon and Graeme, whom you may remember from last summer. They returned to the market yesterday to add a touch of class, playing their classical-contemporary fiddles with the mountains as their backdrop. (You can book the Dillon and Graeme violin duet for events; email scran7(at)att.net). The two are another year more handsome, more polished and more talented, but I'm sorry to say my photos are...not. I'm not working the camera well in bright sun and/or shadow yet.

The photo above came out okay. I emailed it to John and we messed with it on the iPad in an app called TiltShiftGenerator. Then he emailed it back to me and I uploaded it to the blog.

This stuff was probably easier in the days of darkroom.

Theme Day: Open Air Markets

In the San Gabriel Valley there's an open-air Farmers' Market almost every day of the week. (You're going to thank me for this link to Hometown Pasadena's listing of all of them. You might want to bookmark it. I know I keep needing it.)

I've taken many other photos of Farmers' Markets, but this one is timely for today's City Daily Photo theme day because we've been under a Fruit Fly Quarantine. Sellers have been required to cover their produce with netting to keep the flies out. Official inspectors roamed the market recently, making sure the rules were followed. Everyone seemed happy to comply; no one wants to carry that fly out of the quarantine area and back to his farm. And that measly old fly didn't slow business down one bit.

Pasadena has famous open air markets of a different sort, too. Maybe next time.

Check out the other blogs that are participating in today's theme around the world.

The Spice of Life

Just how many different kinds of mustard does a person need? (The answer is six.)

Perhaps you'd prefer Pomegranate Cabernet jam. And if that doesn't suit you, Mark and Stephens has seven other flavors of jam and marmalade, so it's likely there'll be one to please your palate. You could order them online, but if you're not sure which one to try, head for the Saturday Farmers' Market at Victory Park where Mark himself will give you a sample.

We bought the Sundried Tomato Pistachio Pesto. Don't taste it if you don't want to buy it because once you sample it there's no going back.

Abundancia

photo inspired by John Sandel

There's always something to photograph at the Saturday Farmers' Market at Victory Park. Yesterday everyone was exclaiming over the purple peppers (near the top of the photo) at the Jaime Farms booth.

We shopped all around the market: peppers, zucchini, eggplant, broccoli, arugula, freshly baked bread, peaches, granola and fresh swordfish. You can also buy oils, plants, beef jerky, cheese, olives, and a lot of other things I'm forgetting. The only way to get fresher produce is to grow it yourself (or to have a generous neighbor who gardens).

We ate our peaches for lunch and had the fish and broccoli last night. We're going to make a ratatouille this week; I was inspired by the Altadena Hiker. I probably won't take pictures of mine. I'm not the Julia Child disciple she is.

There's a new Farmers' Market in town called the South Lake Avenue Summer Farmers' Market. It happens every Wednesday from 3:30-7:30 pm until September 29th in Shopper's Lane at Del Mar Blvd. And don't forget the Tuesday market at Villa Parke and the Thursday market at Robinson Park (also 'til September; check out the Pasadena Farmers' Markets here).

Pasadena has so many Farmers' Markets we could buy fresh produce almost every day if we needed to. But we don't. I didn't have to buy tomatoes for the ratatouille yesterday because we have a generous neighbor who gardens.

The Market Itself

My old Nissan, fondly nicknamed "the Snot Comet" (don't ask), finally took a nose dive. I am between cars. This temporarily makes me and John a one-car family, which wouldn't be difficult anywhere but here in soCal.

I enjoy a good walk for local errands. We have the ARTS bus for getting around town if I need to go further afield. The Gold Line will be getting us to and from Azusa within a mere four years. (Of course most of my driving takes me in the other direction and public transportation takes a tad less than four years to get me where I need to go, but only a tad.)

John and I have been taking turns with the car. It's working out. (Good thing it's temporary.)

But

One thing I keep having to miss, schedule-wise, is the Saturday Farmer's Market. This is a horrible, terrible, dire problem. Grocery store fruits and vegetables are not the same. I don't care what store you get them from, they're not as good. We've managed without them, but we suffer. I am not managing, however, without granola from The Sconeage. Lionel's company makes such superb granola that I've become addicted to it. I am miserable without it.

My stash had run out. Last week I was craving my granola and lo and behold! Friend Bellis called from the Farmer's Market and offered to pick up four containers to tide me over! Bless her!

I still owe her five bucks.

Now that I've found The Sconeage website I realize I can order online, but that is beside the point.

Zen Monday: #76

Zen Monday is the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what I think the photo's about. There's no right or wrong. It means what you think it means, or what you want it to mean.

I look for a photo worth contemplating or, failing that, something odd or silly. And I stay out of the comments box for most of the day to avoid influencing the intellectual path of the discussion.

As I post each new Zen Monday photo I add a label to last week's to identify it if necessary--if I know what it is.

Precious Heirlooms

No hothouse tomato ever came close.

I bought a huge bag full of heirloom tomatoes from the Jaime Farms booth at the Pasadena Farmer's Market last Saturday. I got a few of each color: light green and dark, subtle yellow, bright orange and all varieties of red from pale to brassy. We've been eating them every day.

We've had them with:
pasta (saute them with olive oil and fresh basil, then top with parmesan);
BLTs (I like mine with fresh avocado on miner's sourdough, both also from the Farmer's Market);
sliced and piled piled on a plate with chopped shallots and some more of that fresh basil, with a splash of balsamic vinaigrette...mmm....
or
by themselves.

How do you like your heirlooms?

Fish Story

So I was standing in line to buy fish at the Farmers' Market yesterday--by the way, if you haven't tried the fish at the Saturday Pasadena Farmers' Market you're missing out. It's the freshest. And we love sisters Marilyn and Eileen and their friend Juan, who sell us delicious fish every week. The halibut is incredible--but I'm getting off track.

Where was I? Yes. So. I was standing in line to buy fish and I heard Pachelbel's Canon in D Major. Pachelbel's Canon is popular. It's not unusual to hear it at the grocery store or on the radio. Everyone's heard it, it's the 17th Century's answer to Stairway to Heaven, or it would be, if such a thing were possible. But I'm not here to talk about time travel. And anyway, I usually hear the banjo guy or the zither man or the man who sings the Mexican folk songs. It is unusual to hear Pachelbel at the Farmers' Market while waiting in line for fish.

So. There were these two guys. Young. Dillon and Graeme. Or Graeme and Dillon, I'm not sure which is which and I didn't interrupt them to ask. They stood in the parking lot playing their violins for a small but rapt audience. I grabbed a business card that said "classical-contemporary-fiddle/violin duet for any occasion....especially YOUR occasion." You can email them at scran7 (at) att (dot) net (I got their permission to post it). 

These enterprising boys sounded pretty good with the Pachelbel and I wouldn't be surprised if they could give you some Page & Plant if you asked for it. (I can't guarantee that and I didn't ask, but Jimmy was known to play his guitar with a bow, so why not?)

I lost my place in line. But I went back and waited. It was worth it. I got the picture, and the last pound of halibut.

Sweet

Before I moved to southern California I had never seen a pomelo.

Walker Farms sells pomelos and other fresh produce from their booth at the Pasadena Farmer's Market. (I especially like their Pink Lady apples.) When I tried photographing the pomelos today, John suggested I get something else in the shot to provide scale. Otherwise, if you're like I once was and have never seen a pomelo, how would you know it's not a grapefruit?

Fortunately, a most charming model happened to be available. Her daddy works at the Walker Farms booth. Her camera-shy dog, J.D., guarded nearby.

In case you're wondering, pomelo tastes milder than grapefruit. And sweet.

Please note the scale. That pomelo is bigger than her head!

Farmers Market, Rain or Shine

The rain let up for the Farmers Market, but attendance was slim today on both sides of the counter. Some of the farmers we usually see didn't make the drive. Who can blame them? Many come from surrounding counties, and that can be a long drive when the skies threaten and you know there won't be a lot of buyers. Plus, rain is a mighty good excuse not to get up at 3AM.

Farmers Markets happen every day in SoCal, and many of the same merchants sell at several of them. At the Saturday market in the parking lot of Pasadena High School, we can purchase fresh fish, nuts, artisanal olives, handmade cheeses, flowers, decorative plants, handmade granola and cookies and a variety of breads, as well as the seasonal fruits and vegetables you'd expect. There's another market Tuesday mornings at Villa Parke Center, and one in South Pasadena Thursday evenings.

Besides the fresh, organic food the best perk is getting to know the people who produce it. You can't beat that.