Napa Valley “Marketing” Fun

I was excited all morning for my lunch plans.  I LOVE going to Farmer’s Markets (in case you hadn’t noticed) and today I was also including a trip to the Oxfbow Public Market too.  I have to admit that I have it pretty good being about to head out to the Napa Valley Farmer’s Market each week in Wine Country. 

Every time I see this sign, it makes me want to follow the arrow to the Napa Wine Train 😀 instead of heading to the Farmer’s Market.

This year they switched the layout since Copia (Julia Child’s place) closed down.  Now all the vendors line up in a parking lot to sell their loot.  I LOVE all the colors and different things you can find when you are in Napa ~ it isn’t just all about the fruits and veggies.  At the very end of the market they have a place you can get coffee, sit and chat with your favorite bakery pastry.

Only in Napa will you find a “Peace Table” at the market – LOVE it!

 

And you can also buy homemade dog treats.

   

I LOVE the herb lady ~ her plants and flowers always look so amazing that they make me want to buy something every time I go.

One of my favorite things about this market is all the different colored vegetables you can find.  Purple peppers and purple green beans are two of my favorites. 

Colors ~ these are the tomatoes you always see me buy ~ they are so sweet!

 

I usually stroll back and forth a few times to make sure I didn’t miss anything.  Today’s trip was pretty much just about picking up some HUMMUS, lunch and veggies. 

My next stop was the Oxbow Public Market.  It’s a pretty cool place that has really unique vendors.  There are of course several places to eat, but, also fun stores where you can buy spices by the scoop, a butcher to pick your meat cuts, wine, cheese, teas & coffees, baked goods as well as a gourmet fruit/vegetable stand.  A lot of the stuff is pretty expensive (it’s Napa!), but, it’s fun to check out.

I really wanted to try the Three Twins Organic Ice Cream today ~ It was the Madagascar vanilla ice cream that was calling my name.  But, I was good and totally resisted.  The story of this place is pretty cool and it’s the only place in the world that I know you can pay for a $85,000 ice cream Sundae on top of a Glacier in South Africa.

 

I’ve never eaten Venezuelan Food, but, this Pica, Pica place intrigued me.  I may have to go back and try it ~ doesn’t their menu look interesting?  LOVE the vegetarian options too!

 

The Fruit Stand ~ My Spin Class instructor works here.  I was so glad I could tell her I worked out this morning and that was why I wasn’t working out at lunch 😀

 

Here are my Farmer’s Market Finds this week.  I made sure to pick up some Cinnamon Swirl bread to put in the freezer for the next time The Husband asks for Double Cinnamon French Toast.  I was only planning on getting 1 loaf but she said I could have the 2nd half off.  So, I picked it up and gave it to my co-worker to share 🙂

 

Spicy Hummus with Harissa from The Hummjus guy ~ this is my NEWEST favorite flavor – it has a great kick!

   

I saw a girl buying a bunch of these sweet peppers at the market and I had to ask her why.  She said that they were amazing cooked up in a little olive oil and sea salt.  I bought a few to try out along with a bunch of colorful peppers.

Can you all guess what this is?! I’ve never seen it before and when I read the sign I knew I had to try it.  It’s Thai Eggplant ~ It looks so cool!

 

Summer Squash plus yellow & green zucchini. 

 

One of my co-workers raves about the tamales that they sell at the market.  I look at them every week but never buy them.  Today, I decided it was time to give them a go.  I picked up a pack of Vegetarian Tamales and some fresh Morita (not sure what that means) salsa.

I LOVE the roasted look of the salsa.  She said it was medium spice ~ um ya, I am a wimp I guess because it’s H-O-T spicy to me.  The flavor is amazing though ~ like a spicy version of Chevy’s roasted salsa ~ YUM!

 

For lunch I had 1 Vegetable tamale.  I wasn’t sure what the nutritionals were on it (other than the ingredients) so I kept it to one.  I could have easily eaten two though.

 

Topped with that “medium” Salsa Morita!  So good.  The corn masa has so much flavor mixed in ~ you can taste garlic along with some chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper.

 

Along with my veggie tamale I had 2 cups of watermelon/cantaloupe

 

and FIZZY Water!

 

Dessert was a small break of the Trader Joe’s 72% Cacao Dark Chocolate she left for me! 

I was a really nice co-worker today and brought in a batch of my Nectarine Raspberry Sorbet to share with my co-workers to thank them for voting for me in the recipe contest.  I am a little late saying thanks, but, I don’t think they minded at all :)  Everyone devoured it, but, I saved room for THIS as my afternoon snack.

A slice of a Rocky Road apple (my co-worker shared again!) and a pluot.

OMG ~ This apple rocked!  Caramel plus white & milk chocolate plus walnuts plus marshmallows – um, ya, I was pretty much speechless after eating this.

 

I think I realized I need to have some sort of protein with my lunch since I was hungry all afternoon.  For my drive home, I grabbed a small handful of the Annie’s Organic Cheddar Bunny Snack Mix.  OMG ~ This flavor is awesome.  I LOVE the original but the cheddar flavor is light and has just the right balance of cheesiness.

 

Wow ~ that was a LONG post!  I didn’t plan on it being and I even cut out pictures.  I just wanted to share a little bit of my farmer’s market fun with you all!  Kudos to you all if you are still reading 😀

See you all for dinner!