A trip to the farmers market

Nothing better then a chilled-out Saturday.. Especially after a late Friday night!  I was planning to spend the day at home devoted to catching up on the blog and maybe watching some movies. Instead, I got out to the farmers market before 11:00 am (a miracle for me on a Saturday)! There is so much more available when you get out to the market before noon. Normally when I get to a farmers market most of it is sold out, so I think it can be assumed that I came home with a big bag full of treats!

While it was great to get out early... It makes me wonder why we don't have a night market here? Edmonton has never been night-owl friendly, but maybe it needs to start. I would go.
So, what kind of treats did I find while out and about today?
The first place I hit up was the olive stand. I love olives; they are so packed full of flavour, so salty, and so satisfying. I bee-lined for the stand and what normally is picked over, was completely full of yummy spreads, oils and...Almond-stuffed olives! It seemed like a weird combination, but trust me, this is so good! I don't know if I would put these into a martini, but what a awesome snack! These will be coming to work with me on Monday.

I made my rounds to the fruits and veggies and it was unfortunate that the selection was not the best. I am sure it has something to do with our weather. Even so, I managed to get cucumber and carrots and tomatoes. I have to say it has been a while since I have seen decent tomatoes in the stores. These smelled so good, I let the person selling them know how nice it was to see good tomatoes. She reminded me to stop buying the crappy ones in the grocery store and to buy local.. She is right, they are way better.

Behind the veggie stand was something I have not seen before in the farmers market, a mushroom stand! I couldn't help myself and impulse bought an assortment of mushies. In fact, I don't even know what types were in the basket. They just looked so good and earthy, I figure I will find a use for them. Suggestions so far have been risotto and risotto. I think coming soon will be a post on my first ever attempt at making risotto.

On my way out of the market, I came across a hemp stand. Out of curiosity, I went to chat with the person there. I know very little about hemp, other than you can make a myriad of things with it. I have tried hemp hearts and hemp milk and really liked both. I bought a big container of hemp hearts. The woman at the stand talked about all sorts of things you can make with it. Milk, flour, protein powder.. So I plan to do some experimenting with this. It would be really nice if I could make my own milk. I have been thinking about this one for a while since soy and almond milk are kind of pricey and seem like they should be an easy process.