a-market-ing we will go

following a tip from aline, i decided to check out frieda's summer open-air market last saturday. it was held in the parking lot of what appears to be their rather nondescript corporate headquarters in what i call off-the-605-industrial-park land. it's closed tomorrow for the holiday, but it will be open again for the rest of the saturdays in july.

i was just in time for a cooking demo, so i sat down to watch the chef prepare two fruit salads.
one was just chopped up summer fruit such as a few types of peaches and melons. for the other, he lightly grilled some special type of apricots, asian pear, and melon, then tossed it with a little bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and fresh spearmint. totally yummy. totally wanted to buy every stinkin' fruit he used after sampling them.

instead, i wandered around to take in the fresh, bright colors and scents of the produce. this freeloader also appreciated that they gave free samples of fruit for tasting before buying. i tried yellow raspberries, a fresh lychee, a few melons, a few types of papaya, and i forget what else.

exotic + less common fruit:

donut peaches

tamarillos

red cactus pears

figs and chermoya

three different varieties of papaya.

babies! i may not be too into human babies, but i love baby/mini everything else.

baby broccoli

baby cauliflower

baby bananas

baby pineapple

colorful + fresh produce:

lots of 'taters!

carrots that won't necessarily turn you orange if you eat too many.

everyone fondled and subsequently ripped apart the fresh herbs displayed.

colorful cauliflower

lemongrass

on the way home, i stopped by yet another market. i've seen these popping up and have been curious.

produce is overpackaged, like at my homie trader joe's.

good selection of italian and spanish pork products, pre-sliced. yum.
i think joe sells them for less, though.

i do like these heat sealed packages of meat for their anti-blood-drip factor.

this is all i came home with from fresh&easy.
and yes, i could have gotten it for 50 cents cheaper from my friend joe.

i did bring back quite a bit more from frieda's, however.

the bear and i both LOVE tomatoes.

the magical shallot.

a camouflage melon, baby pineapple, and mangosteens.

baby pineapple next to tub o' mozz for scale.
you can eat its core, too!
super sweet and fragrant.
my car was filled with their sweet scent all the home.
with the windows down.

what i did with all this produce:
- strawberries for mom
- strawberries for mother bear
- strawberries for bear and me
- a fruit basket containing the camouflage melon and a basket of strawberries to express my condolences toward my freelance job client who recently lost her father.
- mangosteens for me (pretty yummy, but pretty freakin' hard to open)
- fresh mozz, tomato, basil pasta for lunch [horrible photo, but i wanted to show the beautiful mix of colors thanks to the tomatoes.]