Market Haul

I can hear Etta James singing as I slice my spring onions in half and lay them reverently in the melted butter at the bottom of my widest pan, douse them with a little water and white wine, sprinkle them with fresh thyme leaves from the garden and cover them to braise oh-so-slowly toward tenderness.

At last!

Our own little farmer's market here in Point Richmond has started up again for the season and our street is filled with white tents sheltering smiling vendors selling fresh fruits and veggies, plus handcrafts and prepared dinners.

A trio of musicians adds to the festive air, their coffee can out prominently in front is slowly filling with appreciative donations. Neighbors are milling among the tents, greeting each other and carrying heavy sacks of produce or small children. Older children flit around the little park uner the watchful eye of our Indian statue and dance to the music. Some people bring their dogs, who sniff and wag with enthusiasm.

My berry guy is back so strawberries are now on the menu; I resisted all berries until he returned. His are so sweet, shiny and ripe, they were worth the wait. Green garlic can be found weekly just down the street. Spring onions are plentiful and so beautifully colored. Freshly baked breads and pastries, plentiful bags of nuts - in short, it's a mini cornucopia just two blocks down the hill.

We are hoping for a fishmonger and a cheese vendor to round out the offerings. In the meantime, we are reveling in the return of the market and the warmer weather. At last.

O, Happy Day!

Happy days here in Point Richmond - our little farmer's market has reopened for the season and will be with us every Wednesday evening from 4-8pm until late October! It has started small, with fewer tents than last year, but we have some interesting new vendors and several of the downtown restaurants are opening for farmer's market specials, too.

Little Louie's, for example, is opening their excellent new wine bar, 4 to 9, for tastings on market day. The venerable Hotel Mac is also having market day specials on Wednesdays. Even the Hidden City, which is normally open only for breakfast and lunch, is opening for dinner on Wednesday evenings. We noted that the new Mexican restaurant, El Sol (a branch of the one in Rodeo) in town opened on the first day of the market with samples and promises to be a great new place. There is even a vegan restaurant, Symphonie, in Point Richmond. The popular new pub-style restaurant, Up and Under, is a lively place for a drink or a meal. In fact, our little town has more eateries than you can shake a stick at; why not come try some of these? And, if all you want is a cup of coffee while you stroll the market, Little Louie's and Starbucks will happily fill your cup.

There are also pickup foods at the market - My Beloved and I enjoyed the barbecued pork dinner with potato salad and baked beans, and were torn between that and the turkey leg offering. There is also a Shave Ice stand and a Kettle Corn tent, not to mention the Churros and Funnel Cakes available at another tent. Sadly, I haven't seen the Baked Potato guy this year, yet, but I'm hopeful he will return.

Fresh veggies, fresh flowers, fresh breads, jewelry, art, fresh pastas, even fresh sausages - we have it all just on our doorstep for the next five months and we'll be looking for you to enjoy it with us!

Farm to Home

Our little Hidden City just hit the big time, foodwise. This summer, the city fathers or mothers, whomever they may be, have started a farmer's market in our tiny downtown triangle. Before, I always had to load up the car and schlep over to either Berkeley, El Cerrito or Marin county to attend farmer's markets. It's not a big trip to any of those and the markets are lots of fun, but I'm still delighted to have our very own market now.

The market will be open through the summer every Wednesday evening from 4pm-8pm. The downtown triangle streets will be closed to traffic and the booths will be set up in the middle of the streets.

At this inaugural event, timed to coincide with the Point Richmond Stroll, an annual event where the merchants and services promote their businesses, there were bands playing on all three corners, children of all ages running around, dogs of all descriptions wagging at each other and people stuffing their bags and baskets with all kinds of lovely fresh produce. I bought two big purple onions, a bunch of green garlic, a basket of the most fragrant strawberries I have found this season, a graceful, curling bunch of bitter melon greens (I have no idea what to do with them; they are an experiment), English peas, an anise bulb, local asparagus and two loaves of French bread. My rolling basket, which was light as air on the way down the hill to the market, had gained some tonnage for the trudge back up.

I plan to be a regular at the Wednesday market. Come on down and join us! There are several good restaurants in town that will be open during the market hours and a couple of coffee shops if all you want is a cuppa to carry around the booths. Even if we aren't really Big Time, we'll have a fine time.