Visiting the Farmer's Market

Yesterday, I went to the Farmer's Market. I had planned out dishes and baked goods that I wanted to make this week and weekend and had a list and the best intentions. The plan was to go to the Farmer's Market and get exactly the things that I had written down. Nothing else. Because I knew what I wanted to make and had already written down everything I needed. 

Well, it didn't work that way. Usually I'm pretty good about only buying list-items. Well, not 100%, but I  generally don't get more than three or four non-listed items. 

The Farmer's Market though is a whole different story. They just have so many delicious fresh AND organic foods. It's too hard to resist. And all the fresh herbs. I already want to go back. Just to smell the herbs...

The boyfriend and his niece accompanied me to the Dekalb Farmer's Market and took some pictures. Said pictures I'll now use to get everyone else tempted to go to the Farmer's Market as well. (If you plan on going, call me! I want to go with youuu!) 

Oh, if you d want to go be prepared!

1.  Come when you have at least an hour of time, you might get lost in the oil and vinegar section, as I did...

2. Bring a sweater. Even if it's 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside, you'll need it inside. Trust me. Just do it. 

3. Eat before you go. Another option would be to eat something at the bakery at the Farmers Market. Just eat before you shop. 

4. Bring your own bags. They do have some, but they rip easily and you can save the world. One grocery bag at a time. 

So, this is a little glimpse into our Farmer's Market visit.  

At one point, I got a little lost in the oil and vinegar section.

But who wouldn't? Just look at what they have! 

 

I had good intentions. I really did! See that grocery list in my hand? I meant to just cross things off the list. I swear! But then there were all these other good things... Fresh oregano, thyme, basil, parsley... And they weren't expensive either. 

Oh, and then I came across extra virgin cold pressed coconut oil. See that white tub? On top of the lemon? That's it. Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is fantastic. Not only does it add a nice flavor to anything baked or cooked, it also has a very high heat stability and can therefore be used for stir-frying or other types of frying foods without burning. It has a lot of health benefits as well. But this isn't really a health blog. If you want to know more about it, though, look it up! There are plenty of informational sites about EVCO. 

But anyways, I got excited because I have this one recipe for a chocolate cookie cake that calls for shortening. And I really didn't want to use shortening. So, finding this oil kind of made my day. Seriously.

Well, and then there was the fruit and vegetable area. I REALLY got lost in there and spent wayyyy too much time looking at everything and picking out wayyy too many things. I'm going to have guests for dinner every night for the next few days... 

It just looked so good! All the fruits and vegetables looked so much fresher and richer than they do at other grocery stores. Will you look at that? Beautiful, right? 

Oh, the boyfriend caught me while I was contemplating buying $18,- organic tahitian vanilla beans. See those wrinkles on my forehead? I got busted with my hands on the vanilla beans. Kind of like a little girl with her hand in the cookie jar... 

And no, I don't always wear cute polka dot dresses when I go grocery shopping. 

After about thirty minutes the boyfriend and his niece lost interest. Weird, I know! It's the Farmer's Market! There is so much to look at that you could drop me off for a week and I could still find things to look at and be fascinated by.

Oh, here is a picture of the boyfriend's niece who came with us to the Farmer's Market.

The dairy section is also always quite tempting. I'm not really all that much into dairy products, but when I walk through the Farmer's Market's Dairy section I always remember all these recipes that I've wanted to make for a while but never had all the dairy ingredients for... Like Flammkuchen or buttermilk muffins or parmesan basil pesto. So, there are some of those non-list items... I don't have any pictures of the dairy section. I do have some pictures of fresh fish though!

Or maybe you like shell fish? Crab maybe? We saw some of those, too. Check it out!

Oh and then there is the meat section, too!

They have german sausage, bologna, salami and lots of other delicious goodies.

And that ends the Farmer's Market Pictures. Because for some reason picture taking isn't allowed in the register area. Actually, that's probably a good thing. Otherwise everyone could have seen how much I bought... And that would have made me look like I shopped for the fat person inside me that I usually try to hide...

Let's go Farmer's Market shopping sometime!