Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Where I've Been and Farmers Markets

I realized that if any of my old blogging buddies come back here I should explain where I've been for 2-3 years! HA!

Well, I moved from sunny California to not-so-sunny Amsterdam. Wheeee!

It's been absolutely grand, though I will say that sadly for the most part the food is better back in my homeland. At least there is a bit more variety. But Amsterdam is really starting to catch the paleo and vegan bug so more alternatives are popping up in the stores, and there is a lot of growing awareness about ethical, sustainable animal farming.

There are many open air markets around the city which is very nice. There is typically at least one street market in every neighborhood which is open during the day time. There are also weekly organic markets, usually on Saturdays. But I do miss my 3-4 times per week huge organic markets with every vegetable and fruit you could dream of in California! Oh the nice weather...

I have apparently become very Dutch in complaining about the weather.

While the produce situation here is not as wonderful, it is still not bad! Did you know that the Netherlands is the world's biggest grower of tomatoes? Illogical until you see the huge greenhouses in the countryside.



Kale is a very popular food here, they eat it in a dish called stamppot which is potato mashed with kale and topped with sausage. To be honest, I'll just have the kale. For some reason I am not the biggest fan of mashed potato; I know, I'm weird.

In the winter farmer's market I have found that the apples here are very good, and there is always a lot of pumpkin. Luckily now we are coming up on spring so that means strawberries and asparagus! Yippee!!

What are you looking for in the farmer's markets this month? Any spring fruits or veggies that are exciting you?

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