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Thursday, August 22, 2013

Dallas Farmer's Market

When I posted My Summer Bucket List, I received a FB message from one of my college roommates. She told me she wanted to help me cross a specific item off my Summer Bucket List: Buying produce at a farmer’s market. It took us a couple of messages to decide on a date, but we finally settled on Aug 17th. So last Saturday I got in my car and drove over to Dallas to the Dallas Farmer’s Market.

Before my visit, I went to the Dallas Farmer’s Market Website. I scoured the website to find any info I needed to know before my visit. I found some vital information about parking and my need for cash-ola. I also learned there were three main sheds. Shed 1 was all local produce, only from the State of Texas. Shed 3 was  for refrigerated produce sellers. All of this produce came from out of state. Shed 4 was for wholesalers  buying in bulk(aka, not me). I saw something about Shed 2 hosting eateries & specialty foods. I was not super concerned about shed 2 or shed 3. I found out that each shed had free parking (I like the word free!!).

Before I arrived at the Farmer’s Market my friend called and told me she was parked at the corner of Pearl & Marilla. Somehow (by the grace of God I think) I ended up parking right next to her with only a car between us. It took us a few minutes to find one another and then we were off! Of course we stopped by the Farmer’s Market sign for a selfie.
Next we headed to Shed 1. Still not sure what to expect we rounded the corner to find a long open aired shed with a street running through it. On either side of the street were vendors. Each vendor had people who offered samples of the food. I was happy to try different things. I mean I didn’t want to buy something that didn’t taste good! So we walked up and down the sidewalk and took everything in. I was honestly surprised by the variety. We saw melon, peaches, tomatoes, peas, okra, honey & even meat. My first purchase of the day was peaches. YUM! I have been craving good peaches all summer.
We walked over to Shed 4 curious about what we would find. Shed 4 was full of people and more produce than I my eyes could take in. We saw some different things, but did not purchase anything in Shed 4.

We returned to Shed 1. We talked about what we would purchase. I knew I wanted some tomatoes and my friend wanted to purchase some peas. So we picked out our purchases. At the last minute I saw some pears that I knew the hubby would like. He started back to school this week and I knew it would be a nice treat for him.
My friend and I were not ready to let go of our time. We sat and visited for awhile and watched people line up at the door outside of Shed 2 (remember that was the specialty food shed). We wondered what they wanted. I had heard about a place in Shed 2 called Pecan Lodge that served something called the Hot Mess. We wondered if that is what people were waiting for. When the doors finally opened, people rushed in to get in line at Pecan Lodge. We had to admit, it smelled divine, but we were not willing to wait in the long line that wrapped around the small stand inside Shed 2.

Instead we decided to head to Central Market. You see Central Market was running their Annual Green Chile Festival and no good New Mexican can allow that festival to come through without attending. So off we went to Central Market. I love to stand and smell the chiles roasting at the door. A smell only a New Mexican can truly appreciate!
We wandered through each section trying different green chile flavored things. I picked up two of my favorite things and one new item I had been wanting to try. First was my non-negotiable: fresh roasted green chile by the pound. I bought 4 pounds. Which I promptly took home and put in the freezer. I also picked up some green chile and pineapple salsa that I fell in love with last year. My new item was green chile hummus. I fell in love with this hummus at first bite!

I had so much fun with my friend Ashley. Ashley, thanks for helping me check off another Summer Bucket List item! I enjoyed spending some one on one time with you!!! Let’s not wait so long next time okay?
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