Farmer's Market Dish

Didja know that Davis was named one of the 10 great places to shop at a farmer's market in the US?  Yes, not a top 10 great, or 10 best, just one of the 10 great places (randomly picked from all places considered "great," I assume).  In the very reputable Travel section of USA Today... just let me have this one, okay?  It's pretty adorable for a little town and prices are SO MUCH lower than the Ferry Building's farmer's market in SF.

So, PD and I took a trip there last week and came home with some lovely ingredients to make vegetable tian.  It's a meatless dish that not only I, but PD as well, loves.  Yes.  Meatless.  And he loves it.  The fresh farmer's market produce certainly makes it tastier, but this Trader Joe's seasoning blend that I recently discovered, subtly takes it over it top.  So far, it taken everything over the top - this vegetable tian dish, mac and cheese, eggs, and... uhm, yeah... that's pretty much all that I've cooked in the past week and a half.

Trader Joe's: 21 Seasoning Salute

The main players in this dish: Basil, this two-toned-squash-thing-that-I-thought-was-so-cute-but-don't-know-the-name-of, heirloom tomatoes, onion, potatoes, and the magical 21 Seasoning Salute.

The final result.  In one of my beloved vintage Corning Ware casserole dishes.

 I always feel so much better after having this - it's a load of veggies, olive oil, and a few seasonings.  I feel like it negates the daily bags of Pop Chips that I might possibly be slightly addicted to. 

... and since you've probably deduced from the previous picture, there are 2 other, a little less classy, "secret ingredients".

Ahh!  The secrets out.  The healthiest dish I make involves cheese from a plastic shaker jar and Cheeze-Its.

Missing the City

What I miss most about SF is that there are SO MANY different types of people and they each have their own thing going on.  There are no weirdos because EVERYONE is a weirdo.  Well, some might disagree about the no weirdos part, but you get over that pretty fast - they can do what they want,  you can do what you want, there will be no judgement (because, really, who has time for that anyway), and everyone will just be happy together doing what they want.

That's what I miss most.  By far.

The second thing I miss most is the how walkable and public transportation accessible it is.  Buses, subways (2 types - MUNI and BART), light rails, cable cars, taxis, and heck - even pedibikes galore.  Between all that and the hills, who needs a gym membership?  You don't have to consciously plan to be active, it just comes naturally with living.

A close third is the food.  Oooh my, the food.  I did not realize how much I would miss it.  There are some fancy schmancy places there, but what I find myself missing are the little, casual, even "hole-in-the-wall" places.  Fancy a fish sandwich?  The best burger ever?  Sushi (that doesn't include cream cheese or deep fried shrimp in every roll)?  Moroccan mint tea?  Freshly baked brioche bread?  I've got a place for that (read like: I've got an app for that.).

I've been feeling a twinge of homesickness.  Can you tell?  Even though it's not my home anymore.  But I'll still call it that anyway. 

Oh yeah, and I also miss being able to see the ocean (or the bay, I guess) from most places.  If anything, you are most likely a 10-15 minute walk away from an amazing view of it.

Okay.  Enough of this longing.  Good night.