Santa Claus

Looks like I’m not the only one doing some last minute Christmas shopping this year.

I spied Santa Claus himself having lunch at the farmers market in San Francisco. You can’t really blame him either, because I doubt they are getting much good winter produce at the North Pole. He looks like he may have even lost some weight!

Hopefully he found some of the awesome citrus fruit available this time of year as well as these red Livermore walnuts from Hamada Farms, since they match his outfit.

Livermore Red Walnuts

Clementines

And I wonder if Santa is the one responsible for hanging mistletoe all over the city? San Francisco residents BEWARE!

Mistletoe

As for my own shopping, I actually didn’t buy much since I’m leaving town in a couple of days. I’m loving the Tuscan kale and other thick winter greens right now. And, as always, the Meyer lemons.

Greens & Fennel

Kale, Radishes & Lemons

I also grabbed what will likely be my last bag of Padrones until next summer.

Carrots

Pimientos de Padron

Unfortunately I had to skip this challenge guaranteeing the best cabbage ever, because I already had too much food. If it’s still available in two weeks though, I’m totally on it.

Persimmons

Best Cabbage Ever

The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market will be closed next week, December 26, so I’ll be taking the day off.

Spanish Onions

I hope you all have a delicious holiday!

Bring your own bags is the new message from the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. As of next weekend, the Saturday farmers market at the Ferry Building will no longer be providing free plastic bags to shoppers. Instead they encourage you to bring your own bags or purchase the reusable or biodegradable BioBags they will be selling at the information booth. Their goal is to help the environment by cutting down plastic bag waste generated by the market.

The Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA) that runs the farmers market is leaving it up to individual vendors to decide how to deal with the change. Most of the vendors I spoke to will offer BioBags–some will provide them for free while others are charging $0.20 – 0.25 per bag. For your convenience you should plan on bringing a large tote bag to carry your items. For things like lettuces and berries, you should consider bringing your own small bags or expect to purchase environmentally friendly bags at the market.

Apricots and Strawberries

Blueberries

The farmers market is a completely different place than it was just 4 weeks ago. You can still find delicate greens and spring garlic, but we now have all kinds of berries, cherries and other stone fruits that make it feel more like summer every day. Do yourself a favor and go find some blueberries from Triple Delight!

Also this week was the first appearance of my favorite frying peppers in the world, Pimientos de Padrón! I bought some and they were AMAZING. I love them early in the season because the spiciness level is perfect for me.

Bagged Padrones

Colorful Heirloom Tomatoes

Maybe the best news of all is that the tomatoes are finally sweet! The heirloom I bought this week from Bruin Farms was the first of the season where I actually had trouble getting it from the cutting board to a serving bowl without eating it all first. I didn’t even need salt. That’s how you know it’s good

Organic Artichokes

Squash and Dandelion Greens

Let me know how you guys like my second attempt at video. I didn’t have a camera man this time, so I limited the filming to my kitchen after I got home with all my goodies. Feedback welcome!!

Today’s purchases:

• Heirloom tomato (Bruins Farms)
• Padrones (Happy Quail Farms)
• Mediterranean cucumbers (Happy Quail Farms)
• Apricots (Catalán Farms)
• Blueberries (Triple Delight Blueberries)
• Salad greeens (Marin Roots Farm)
• Leek scapes (Marin Roots Farm)
• French breakfast radishes (Marin Roots Farm)
• Purslane (Madison Growers)
• Summer squash (Balakian Farms)
• Rainbow chard (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Broccoli crown (Iacopi Farm)
• Meyer lemons (Hamada Farms)
• Italian sweet basil (Chue’s Farm)
• Mint (Chue’s Farm)
• Garlic (Chue’s Farm)

What did you find at the market?