garden gnome, $30 market haul

The first week of June arrived, marked by our fifth consecutive trip to the Hollywood Farmers Market. For reference, we’re following our new $30 farmers market plan, whereby we venture to the farmers market each week with a pre-set $30 budget that we have to spend –not just a budget that we can spend. Essentially, we take $30 to market and absolutely have to come home broke.

This week we elected to stick to a fairly consistent formula of items which we use in a regular rotation of recipes and salads. Nearly every week that we’ve purchased a pint of strawberries –delectable I might add– the next morning has been celebrated by a delightful breakfast of piping hot waffles with sliced strawberries and fresh whipped cream. There are few things outside of Disneyland that will put a ear-to-ear grin on a little girl, but strawberry waffles seems to do the trick.

In the photo to the right, you’ll see our $30 farmers market haul for June 6 , which includes the following:

• one bunch of organic carrots
• one small bunch of radishes
• one bunch of sweet onions
• one hothouse tomato
• one pint of organic strawberries
• one pint of sugar snap peas
• one small bunch of kale
• one large organic cucumber
• one 750ml bottle of heirloom blend hard apple cider from Heirloom Orchards ($10)

As a side note, this is our second bottle of hard cider from Heirloom Orchards. The first bottle was semi-dry; this second bottle is their heirloom blend, which is less dry and slightly sweeter.  The cidar comes from organic Oregon heirloom apples from both the Willamette Valley and the Hood River area. The cidar is produced and bottled in Salem, Oregon. I must say that this truly is the tastiest hard cidar I’ve tasted –though McMenamins offers a very tasty contender, running a close second. If you have a chance to stop by the Hollywood Farmers Market, stop by the Heirloom Orchards tent for a sample.