So today I went to the
Austin Farmer's Market at 4th & Guadalupe. It was my first time there. Last month while I was on vacation, it was one of the things I vowed to do upon my return. My first Saturday back...and I've already done it! In Greece, all of the meals were so fresh, practically straight from the restaurant owner's garden. People seemed to buy what they need and what was available and not to go overboard shopping, like I tend to do. So my "resolution" was to try shopping more weekly & buying fresh, rather than stockpiling my cupboard. So now when I do use those instant rice mixes or jars of pasta sauce, I will mix in fresh veggies and fresh garlic to make it taste more homemade.
So today, this is what I found...
I had the freshest hibiscus mint tea + lemonade combo. With
lots of ice. ($2.00 – Nile Valley Herbs) Refreshing! Already ninety degrees at noon, I went back for a refill before I was two booths away. The next booth I stopped at was the Ethiopian food. Upon first glance, I was going to buy the spinach pie, but after tasting the spicy lentil, I was sold on that instead. ($3.50 – Aster's Ethiopian Catering, 786-9524 – available at the Farmer's Market, Whole Foods, & Wheatsville) Aster's Ethiopian Catering, Spicy Split Lentils sandwich: onion, chili powder, olive oil, water, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, salt, spices. Mmmm.
The one good thing about going at noontime (the Farmer's Market on Saturdays is only open till 1pm) is that the prices may be $.50 off or 2-for-1 by then. The bad thing however is that they have practically run out of everything worth buying. And they’re hot & tired and ready to pack up. I got there about 12:30pm. I almost felt rude for showing up so late, but they still appreciated the business. I even ran into an old friend/roommate Laura & her boyfriend. The pesto & soups made by Julie (Austin Readymade) sounded wonderful per the list of ingredients, but I'm gonna have to show up earlier some Saturday and catch all these treats before the booths shut down.
One booth down were the kolaches. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, so the cream cheese kolaches weren't that enticing to me. Oddly enough, poppy seed kolaches were said to be the standard original kolache. Those definitely didn't look good to me (and some lady whispered to me that she didn't really like them either), but all of them were practically sold by 12:30pm anyway. I purchased the Tomato & Feta Cheese kolache ($2.50), which was more like a sandwich. (I just ate it now. It was delicious. Also, I am currently in
love with feta cheese.) I would assume from the
list of vendors that these were from Southside Kolaches (because they were the only kolaches listed) but don't hold me to it. Everyone was super friendly there, not just trying to sell their goods, but earnestly friendly. And they had been there since at least before 9am when it opens. (I'm sure I would have fizzled out on friendliness by noon.)
There were plants for sale, some crafts like soaps, candles, and t-shirts (which surprised me because I thought it would be more food products out there), honey, salsas, etc. It was a manageable size, just two rows, but still enough of a variety to stock up your pantry with fresh goods for the week until next Saturday.
The second row of booths was mostly fresh veggies. As soon as I saw the sign, I knew I had to have some: Farm Fresh Eggs. We're talking
farm fresh eggs. So I marched up and asked. Unfortunately, she had sold out by 11am or so. Durn! And to get my hopes up. And then I saw the back of a pick-up with towers of empty egg cartons teetering out the back. "Say that you do?" Yes. One dozen eggs = $3. I'll take 'em! Free-range, organic-fed. (Makes me think of all these happy chickens frolicking around on their big farm in Wimberley and laying their fresh eggs daily for me. I think I might invest in a chicken someday. Someday...) And I ask, do I just bring this carton back for you? He said, "Oh yes please. See all these? We re-use. Recycle." I said, yes I see, I love it. I'll be back.
-PLEASE BRING CLEAN CARDBOARD EGG CARTONS TO THE MARKET: These can be reused by the smaller 'yard' egg farmers. Bring them to the farmers selling eggs--they'll gladly take them off your hands.-
I couldn't walk away without some veggies, the original reason I had set out on this mission today, but the yellow tomatoes and the okra and others weren't that appealing to me. I'm sure all the standards had walked off early, and now were just the exotic or unwanted. But I found one last booth that caught my eye, and I walked away with 3 Italian eggplants (they're smaller & rounder than the larger black eggplant, and the lady said they were also less bitter), 1 red onion, and 1 head of elephant garlic (altogether $5.50). She had another type of garlic, but I forgot the name already, as she said it is less garlicky, and that is not what I want out of garlic. What I want is more garlic. Now, I don't know what I’m gonna make with this veggie combo, but it should be delicious, if the freshness of the ingredients has anything to do with it.
And yes, it's probably more expensive than those super grocery stores, but I don't care. I'm buying fresh, organic, local and from people in Austin. So I'll pay a few cents more, please & thank you. I will definitely be going again. Not next Saturday though because I'm helping my mom with the
Sunshine Kids. Oh, and not the next Saturday because we're having a camping/tubing weekend. So...the first Saturday of August, I will definitely be back to Republic Square Park. They also offer a Thursday evening Farmer's Market over on 5th & Comal, 4-7pm, so I might actually check that out over the next couple of weeks since my weekends in July are already tied up. I even signed up for a card that you can submit for a drawing for a free basket of fresh veggies (if I bring a friend, I get double stamps...wanna join me?). I think last month they were offering SW airlines tickets to entice new customers, but I think that promo is over.
Grand total = $16.50, for a drink, two sandwiches, fresh veggies & a dozen eggs. I also feel like I invested in a little piece of Austin, and that, my friend, is priceless.
--
My day of being a good Austin Samaritan was not over yet. Before I had left my house, I had loaded my car with my house's paper recycling that had accumulated over the past few weeks, and dropped it off directly at the 9th St main recycling location for
Ecology Action. All the good Saturday Samaritans were there, unloading their recyclables before starting the rest of their weekend. It felt good. I felt good. I had already accomplished two on my mental list of what to do when I returned from vacation:
1) Shop local. Shop at the Farmer's Market on Saturdays & Thursdays. Buy organic, fresh, & local as much as possible.
2) Recycle. Reuse. Use less. Waste Less.
3) Bicycle more. Bike to work. Bike to friends' houses.
4) Simplify your life. Remember what is important.
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My day of being a truly Austin granola chick was still not over yet...and it wasn't even 2pm yet.
So off to
Wheatsville, for some soy milk and toilet paper. Now, I won't tell you my total at Wheatsville, because I tend to overspend when I go grocery shopping. I'm one of those people who you probably hate to go grocery shopping with unless you are one in the same and enjoy grocery shopping to the level I do which consists of reading all the labels and standing in the produce section, sniffing the garlic and giggling about five times before actually deciding to buy. Then going back and smelling the garlic again, and giggling, and imagining eating the garlic raw, right there, what would happen, who would stare, then you drop some garlic and laugh, and then look around and hope no one is watching you, but then again, everyone else in Wheatsville is half-crazy too so who cares if they are watching you. Then finally buying the baggie of fresh cloves of garlic for only $1.99 and daydream about what you are going to make with fresh garlic all week and imagine yourself reeking of garlic for about a month and envision yourself rubbing some garlic on your wrists and would anyone buy an eau de parfum made of garlic if I invented it. Yes, that's how I shop. I usually need a good half hour in Wheatsville and about 2+ hours in HEB. But I'm gonna try to stop that because my time equals about $100/hr. So my thirty-minute stint in Wheatsville still totaled fifty bucks.
I usually get the Silk soy milk, vanilla flavor, but there was a $.50-off coupon for Vitasoy, so I thought I'd give it a try. I got organic original so we'll see. I also opted for Almond Breeze (almond milk) which was on sale too so I'll let ya know. I've never tried almond milk before. I usually only use the soy milk for my cereals, which I have three unopened boxes from before I left for some reason. (See earlier statement, about stockpiling for Armageddon every time I'm in HEB.) If there's a coupon or a sale item, I'll buy it, unfortunately. There was a $.50-off coupon for Bisca crackers, so of course I will try. And, hmm...what can I dip on the crackers? Let's try some of Wheatsville's baba ganouj. And let's pick up some cheese. (I would so try to be a vegan except for my undying love of cheeeeese.)
I remember reading this
Fit for Life book by Harvey Diamond before, and I was trying to remember one of the recipes or eating guidelines: corn tortillas + avocado. So I buy both. Along with some sprouts and oh yes, spicy mustard was what went with it, yes. Mmm, Reed’s ginger brew. My old roommates J&K used to always drink that. I'll just take one instead of a four-pack. Okay, so $.50-off coupon for bottled water, I'll take that. The hibiscus tea was so good this morning (and it's so hot outside) that I go and find something comparable in the instant iced tea department. Well, raspberry tea, but that's okay. And cheap. I check out the lemons, but they're organic and mongoloid huge (is that totally un-pc?) and they scare me with their size and deformities. I guess I like the tiny unnatural lemons better. And then I run into the garlic (see earlier description). I have this strange love affair with garlic: I love garlic, and I don't know whether or not garlic loves me back. Much like most of the relationships in my life. While in the fresh produce, let's get some kiwi for dessert and some mushrooms for dinner. Now, what to make for dinner...
I pay $20 cash towards my lifetime membership. Only $25 away from being an investor in Wheatsville, so I better frequent there more often now. Oh good! I see now that my total was really on $30.42. Thank goodness! The additional $20 (which I saw my total as $50) was the extra of my cash payment toward my membership. Look, I'm getting better. Only $30 for 30 minutes. Oh well, wait, I did spend $16.50 earlier at the Farmer's Market, so we are pushing near $50. But hey! I didn’t go out last night and there's still money in my wallet from getting paid on Thursday. Let's see how long it can last...
Next Saturday July 22 is Member Appreciation Day at Wheatsville, where members save an additional 10% all day. Remind me to hit there again next weekend. With a stopwatch and an exact shopping list. And next time I will remember my own bag.
Now, I'm off to go swimming at Bull Creek with my sister and my five-year-old twin nephews! Happy Saturday!
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