All, I mean ALL, about my going to the Portland Farmers Market at PSU yesterday and what I bought!

I don't know exactly how this will work for y'all. I may end up driving you completely crazy, but I feel compelled to try it. Five short videos here for y'all. I had to figure out how to edit the longer one into short enough segments that I could e-mail them to myself from my iPhone, then download them to the iMac, then upload them to Flickr, then post them into the blog at Blogger. Where in the world would I be without all of these nouns after AT? Sad, I'd simply be sad.

Following the videos, still shots of the items that I bought and videoed after I got home--I couldn't get those videos to go where I wanted them to go using my make-shift-process that I outlined above, so I took a screen shot of each item as it appeared in a video, then cropped until I liked how it turned out. I uploaded them to Flicker.

Lo and behold, the entire screen shot uploaded, so I had to crop them in Aviary, a Flickr edit thing-ey. I'm all into make-shift-processes on today's post. Enjoy!











Now for what I bought at the market. Thank goodness for my backpack! I stuffed it with the items in jars, the cherries inside a plastic container that I took with me, and the loaf of bread. I ended up having to buy two $1 reusable shopping bags from Unger Farms where I bought the Hood strawberries--they traveled as well as could be expected in another plastic container, most of them still inside the paper pint carton they came in. I used the two bags for the candy, the pate, and all of the veggies.



Carrots and zucchini. I plan to bake the carrots and put the zucchini in a pot along with lots of the other veggies.



Spinach, one bunch for the pot.



Cabbage, about the size of an orange, some for the pot, some to cook some other way.



Walla Walla Sweet Onion, some for the pot, some to eat raw on the occasional half sandwich.



Green onions, same as the Walla Walla.



Turnips, for the pot.



Broccoli, to be steamed and enjoyed immensely.



Hood strawberries, already eaten sliced in Cheerios and by hand, along with the occasional half sandwich.



Cherries, waiting to be counted out, measured into the proper serving and taken to work as part of lunch.



Scrumptious pate that I eat in small cubes as part of lunch. I've got to figure out how to count the carbs and calories.



Cherry Country delights, to be eaten now and then when I have space in my carb count. Rose City Pepperheads Mango Madness Pepper Jelly, to be enjoyed as measured in all sorts of ways. The stuff is pure gold. Unbound Pickling Bread and Butter Pickles, to be consumed by the slice on the occasional half sandwich.



The bread to use for the occasional half-sandwich and/or the occasional whole piece of toast. It's divine!

Felt good enough to go to the Portland Farmers Market Saturday

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Saturday evening I ate a small, fresh-baked baguette--no kidding, I got it at the Dollar Tree in a package of two which you're instructed to bake on the oven rack for 8-10 minutes until golden brown, imported from Holland, of all places--a sensible amount of Pearl Creamery Artisan Goat Cheese, a sensible amount of Rose City Pepperheads' Mango Madness, a sensible amount of Chop's Farmhouse Country Style Pate, and a sensible amount of Unbound Pickling's Bread & Butter Pickles. Wow. Then for a late lunch today, after a laundry marathon, I ate a sandwich on Pearl Bakery's honey wheat bread--with, once again, sensible amounts of goat cheese, pate, pepper jelly and pickles. I eat sensible amounts of these goodies because I want them to last all week. I cannot get over living in Portland where I am allowed to happily spend my hard-earned cash on products produced with pride by locals. I am blessed. See more details about my purchases below. I'll bet your mouth will water, maybe your stomach will growl. Let me know, OK?


My friend Sarah, a recent graduate of University of Gastronomic Sciences in Bra, Italy, has found a great job with the Portland Creamery. She sweetly posed for this photo holding my purchases. I bought Artisan Goat Cheese, Sweet Fire Artisan Goat Cheese (the addition of marionberry preserves adds the sweet, habanero pepper adds the fire), and Cajeta, Artisan Goat Caramel. Swoon city, y'all. Creamy, flavorful, spreadable yumminess. I am very excited to have these products in my frig, even more happy to have them on my plate!
 

Sarah didn't know that I stopped to take this photo. I love the look of concentration on her face as she listens, ready to answer questions and offer tastes of Portland Creamery's products.
 

I bought Bread & Butter Pickles, pure perfection. From their Web site, every word the truth in my opinion: sweetened with blueberries and pear. Bread and butter pickles, subtracting out large quantities of sugar from the formula while adding fresh Willamette Valley blueberries and pear juice to sweeten the taste equation. Perfect on sandwiches and cheeseburgers or add a flavorful and joyous touch to your tuna or chicken salad.
 

I bought a loaf of totally wonderful, great textured honey wheat bread (see the one still there with the big white label in the low basket to the right) and one satisfyingly sweet little pastry called a rugelah, I think that's how they spelled it. I decided to eat it slowly; it's small enough to be gone in two bites, but that would be plain stupid. I made it last for five bites. Yea for me! It's in the case on the top shelf, right, as you look at the photo. The lady had just helped me and had a smile on her face--I caught her in this photo with what I'm sure was a passing moment of farmers-market-been-there-since-probably-6:30-a.m. fatigue. I took the photo at 1:03 p.m. 
 

I bought my all-time-favorite pepper jelly, Mango Madness. My gosh. That stuff is so good! Sweet and spicy, a nice-to-the-tooth-and-tongue consistency. Spreads like a champ!
 

I bought a couple of pears, green and red anjou, if I remember right. I know they're going to be good because every other single piece of fruit I've bought here over the years has been. I trust fruit from Draper Girls.
 

When I go to the Farmers Market, I have to have enough money with me to get a box of Cherry Country Dried Cherries & Milk and Dark Chocolate. So outta sight good, melting chocolate and chewy cherries. I can eat them one at a time without cheating myself by eating them more quickly. I really can! There are 20 in the eight ounce box. I like to get the mixed chocolate because variety is the spice of life. I also got a jar of Montmorency Tart Cherry Jam. I shall have Pearl Bakery honey wheat toast and Cherry County jam for breakfast this week. I am blessed.
 

I bought Farmhouse Country Style Pate, to which I readily admit I am addicted. You can see tidbits of it there on the edge of the cutting board, right in front of the Chop man. In my haste to get into the package, I tore through the label, rendering it unreadable. To tell you the truth, I'll be buying it again before too long; I'll be more careful so that I can share the ingredients with you--I'll even take a photo of the slab inside the butcher paper.
 

Finally, I bought a bunch of both the yellow irises and the purple irises. I stopped by the Blue Diamond on the way home and left them for the sweetest bartender in town, Janessa. Her birthday is this Wednesday, so those flowers are her birthday happy from me.