U District Farmers Market

I’ve been meaning to go to the Farmers Market for a couple of years now. It’s no more than a few miles away; there are just some very very very large hills separating us. Anyway, we packed up the babe and finally made the (short) trip. I had hoped to get some blueberries, but apparently the big seasonal things were cherries and strawberries. So I bit. The cherries were Tietons (never heard of them). For both vendors, sad to admit, I remember neither of the names of the farms.

yay summer!

yay summer!

Both were incredibly tasty. Fresh, ripe and juicy, with just the right amount of sweetness. Worth the exorbitant prices I paid for them. From what I can tell, the prices at this market aren’t necessarily any less expensive than at the grocery store. The berries were most definitely better quality, though.

Here is one vendor at the market that I will say by name. Belle’s Buns. I hear about them all the time in the local food blogs and at last I got the opportunity to have a taste for myself. After careful thought, I chose the cinnamon brioche (the customer before me also ordered one, and the customer after me followed suit).

cinnamon brioche from belles buns

cinnamon brioche from belle's buns

What a delight. I savored every bite of a soft, pull-apart pastry with rich, sweet dollops of sugary cinnamon stickiness. Plus, the piece itself was not too large, so I didn’t over do it. I did it just right. Makes those silly Starbucks pastries look pitiful.

Fresh Fruit and Veggies

I landed some fresh CSA veggies via a co-worker who went on vacay for the week. Score! In addition, the husband and I went to Rising Sun Farms (a little farmstand in Roosevelt/Ravenna), and picked up the first rainier cherries of the summer. I didn’t know about RCs until I moved out to Seattle. While Bings may be juicier and sweeter to some, I find Rainers to be refreshing because they are less sweet to me. Either way, I love cherries and have been enjoying the batch we got yesterday (for a far cheaper price than was at the local MM and a farmers markets. Woohoo.)

rainier cherries via chattycha on flickr

Some baby carrots from Oxbow farms:

baby carrots via chattycha on flickr

Some kale, sauteed with garlic and green onions:

kale via chattcha on flickr

Some ginormous green onions:

green onions via chattycha on flickr

I recently discovered that I like kale. I’m picking up the previously mentioned co-workers box of CSA goodies tomorrow as he’s roasting in Nevada, and may have to swipe the kale…