Saturday Market

Today I took an early trip to the Hillsboro Saturday Farmers Market with the goal of watching the Chef Live demonstration, getting some berries, and a bunch of cut flowers for our house.  We had a visitor coming to our house at 10 am and it was necessary that be back by that time, so I arrived at the market around 9 am.

I walked the length of the market reviewing the offering of fresh berries and their mentally noting the prices.  I looked at the pre-made bouquets offered at the four different flower stalls checking out the colors and types of flowers available.  As I walked to the area where the Chef Live demonstrations take place, I met Ellen that performs the Chef Live demonstrations.  She noted that I was very early today, and that she was just heading out to gather the ingredients for her demonstration of making fruit salad in seconds.  Ok, scratch my first goal of seeing the Chef Live demonstration.

I walked back through the market to pick a bouquet of flowers.  After considering all of the options, I chose a vendor where we have purchased flowers in the past because she offers hardy flowers in a wide variety of colors.  The woman who operates the stand was also kind enough to let me come in to her stand and get down on my hands and knees to take some of my favorite type of photography: close-up photos of flowers.  I am glad that wore shorts to the market, as once I finished taking my photos, I just quickly wiped the flower stems and petals from my knees and I was off to continue my shopping.

With my bunch of flowers in hand, I was headed to purchase some berries, but I was sidetracked by the stand where we occasionally purchase fresh Oregon cherries.  I tried a sample cherry and found it to be very sweet and plump.  Now I headed to my car with a handful of flowers and two pounds of cherries.

Once I dropped off my load, I headed back to the market to pick up a flat of berries.  As raspberry season is just about over, I decided to pick up ½ flat of raspberries and ½ flat of blueberries.  That should hold us over until next week.

I see on the Chef Live blog site that there will not be a demonstration next week, but the last Saturday of the month, Ellen will demonstrate Super Veggie Wrap, so I plan on stopping by and sampling the wraps.

In the end, I was very satisfied with what I accomplished at the market.  I purchased flowers, cherries, raspberries, and blueberries.  I took some excellent photographs of the flowers, but I missed seeing the Chef Live demonstration.  I did make it home in time to store all my purchases and to be ready for the meeting.  I have learned that the best selection of fresh produce is available earlier in morning when the market opens, but to see some of the demonstrations, plan to arrive after 10 am.  Now I must wrap up my writing for today because I have quite a few blueberries to freeze.

Adventures In Food: Author: Kerry Howell