Saturday Morning Farmers Market

Most cities and towns have a farmers market. Some are big and some are small but I'd have to say that ours is fantastic! From the minute you step out of the parking lot and into the farmers market territory, you feel like you're part of a family of friendly people. Even the rain doesn't stop people from going. The vegetables are beautiful hues of green, yellow, orange, and purple.

The fresh fruits and vegetables shine with such bright colors that it's hard to walk by without taking some of them home with you. The apples in the fall are my favorite!

Most of the time there is live entertainment too. If you're not in a rush and you're enjoying your time at the market, why not stop by and enjoy the music a little bit? Take a seat and relax. Let your senses fill with all the sights and sounds of the market.

In the early summer time, there's not much produce ready but the flowers are bountiful! They have them in every color imaginable and they smell like they are freshly cut. Put a big bunch on your table and the entire kitchen will light up like never before!

I love honey. When I was little, my mom worked at a popover restaurant. They made popovers that people would eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The dinner popovers were filled with things like Chicken Ala King. They were delicious but my very favorite way to eat them was warm, with melted butter, dripping with honey. They were so good that I can almost taste the warm popover in my mouth.

My next favorite honey recipe is honey cinnamon butter. I let butter sit until it's room temperature and then I mix in honey and cinnamon until it tastes the way I like.. sweet and cinnamony!

Do you know how to tell if your honey is pure or not? If it's pure honey, it will crystalize. You'll then have to let it sit in warm water to soften up again.

If you don't have time or a farmers market that you can go to, there's still plenty of ways for you to get some honey. Make sure that you get pure honey. After awhile, if you don't finish eating all of your honey right away, it will crystallize in your cupboard. If it doesn't crystallize, it wasn't real honey to start with. In order to soften it up, put it in a bowl of hot water.

You can find many interesting and unique things there! There's lots of clever people who find ways to make home decorations out of things that would normally get thrown away. Old spoons make beautiful wind chimes. Old ceramic plates are glued together to make yard decorations. There's something odd and unusual for everyone to find!

Strawberries were the highlight of this day. They were bright red and huge! The prices varied anywhere from $3.00 to $4.00 for a pint with most places offering 2 pints for $5.00. What a deal!

One of my favorite summertime treats is angel food cake loaded with strawberries and whipped cream. Sometimes I like to throw in some blueberries too! Another favorite dessert of mine is strawberry pie made with fresh strawberries.

The early summer vegetables included ones like onions, lettuce, beans and asparagus. I didn't think I would find much so I was quite pleasantly surprised at the variety. I love buying zucchini at the farmers market. I cook it in oil olive with a little garlic salt sprinkled over it.

I absolutely love the bright colors of these clothes! They are so pretty! Besides shirts, they have dresses, purses, bags, shorts and more. The sizes range from infant to 3XL at our farmers market. I always have to stop to see what's new.

If you would like to save the environment, reusable bags are the way to go! They are earth friendly and are sturdy enough to carry your fruits and vegetables through the market.

There's not a lot of apples during early summer but the apple lady is still there! She brings wonderful apple cider and delicious apple bakery. This time, I bought a frosted apple cinnamon roll. The frosting was creamy and sweet and the roll was nice and soft. I would definitely buy those again! They also sell apple cider donuts. They are a local favorite. So good!

Fresh cheese curds are one of my favorite things to get at the farmers market. They make them fresh that morning and they squeak in your mouth when you eat them. They also offer blocks of cheese. My favorite is sharp cheddar but they also offer aged sharp cheddar, mild cheddar, and a few specialty ones like jalapeno.

These markets have been around for a very long time but have once again been growing in popularity lately. More people than ever are on a search for wholesome foods to feed their families.

I had to add another picture of the flowers. They are so beautiful. It's hard to walk by and not grab a bunch to take home. They are bright and beautiful and liven up any room. Put a big bunch of them on the table. The smell is magnificent and will make the whole room smell fresh and springy.

Many people around here look forward to our farmers market because it has so much good food and other unique things at it. Our city wouldn't be the same without it. Does your city put on a nice summer farmers market too?