California Dreamin'

We really do appreciate what we don't have. I appreciate fresh delicious produce this time of year when Wisconsin has oranges, bananas, and apples. I am so hungry for some berries! And I don't want the hard unripe ones either. As for locally grown items? We just have to wait a couple months here. It does sound a bit Garrsion Keillor-esque to talk about the cold winter making us good people....but it does make us value the produce that Californians just don't think about since it is attainable to them nearly year-round. I guess I don't appreciate a rainstorm or the bite of cold air the way they would either.

I love California produce...especially in the spring. One of my favorite stops when visiting my sister and family is the Euclid Farmer's Market . This trip the sign said "Sam's", so I'm not sure of the current name....either way the fresh produce is good. She discovered this place early in her California living a couple years ago, and we have adopted it a "must stop" as well. Eleanor and I have always gotten delicious and inexpensive produce there. How can a cantaloupe be 33 cents? How can berries be sold for pennies? We like to stop in soon after our arrival to make sure we are stocked up for our visit since it isn't only the prices that are good......the produce is good as well.

When we stopped there with our friend, Emma, we got all kinds of fruit and dehydrated it in Lisa and Greg's food dehydrator and ate dried fruit for a couple days. Hooray for Greg being the infomercial gadget guy since it was a fun project.

Another fun thing about the area where this market is located is that there is a strawberry field almost directly across the street. There is a stand near the road...like a stand we would see in a rural area in the midwest....and the strawberries are grown right there. This is on a busy California thoroughfare in the shadow of Disneyland. I like to stop there for the strawberries and the Euclid Farmer's market for the rest of the items called for in a produce run.

In a similar vein, there is a Sunkist citrus grove in the shadow the a huge shopping mall, The Block. I guess it amazes me since rural areas are a bit more distinct from our urban areas where I live. Even though the farms are not far from me, they don't front the busy road where a shopping mall is in my suburb.

Yum...all this fun produce in addition to the citrus grown in Lisa and Greg's backyard.

Yeah. Vacation is good.

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