Fast Forward

I want to say I'm anxious for spring, but that's not quite right:  I know technically spring IS here.  It's just that I'm anxious to get a little further into spring, to the time when fresh fruits and veggies are available and I can get back into the farmer's market routine.  I know it won't be long, but I'm ready NOW.

On Saturday, a friend and I took a little road trip.  The idea began when I started dreaming of fresh tomatoes and it grew into a combination birthday celebration and miscellaneous shopping trip--my friend's birthday is coming up a little later this month.  So we had lunch out, went to a quilt shop, visited the nursery for tomato plants, and then hit six or eight vintage/antique/thrift shops in the foothill towns of Loomis and Newcastle.  Oh, and we visited a produce store called Newcastle Produce.   The shop is owned by a local farming family who also has a booth on Saturdays at a nearby farmer's market.  They carry all sorts of fresh produce, packaged specialty items, spices, etc.  They even have cooking classes.  I love that place!

During our trip, I found this pretty blue bowl at one of the vintage/antique shops, but even more special, perhaps, was this beautiful book called Farm-Fresh Recipes by Heather Cameron of Missing Goat Farm.  Heather's farm is in British Columbia and she has a blog called A Day in the Country where you can see some of her beautiful photography and her wonderful recipes.  Here are a couple pages from the book--the beginning of the spring section -- 

and the start of summer--

I found the book at Newcastle Produce.  It's such a beautiful book, I just couldn't resist buying it.

Saturday night, I did some grocery shopping and cleaned out the refrigerator a little.  I had a package of blackberries that needed to be used soon, so I made a simple blackberry sauce and served it on vanilla ice cream for dessert.  For breakfast on Sunday, though, I thought pecan waffles would be a perfect way to use the rest of the sauce--and they were! 

And those tomato plants I told you I was so anxious to buy?  I planted them in a raised bed.  It's probably not surprising that all three of these varieties I picked out are early season tomatoes!  (As an after thought, I also grabbed a yellow cherry tomato variety, but that's potted separately--not enough room in this space!)

There's a lot I like about fall and winter in Northern California, but I sure do miss the variety of locally grown fruits and veggies we have available to us in the spring and summer.  I suspect spring produce will start filling the farmer's markets sometime in the next month or so.  In the meantime, I'll just have to be patient and watch my tomatoes grow.

I'm glad you could stop by for a visit!