It’s been a while since I’ve been able to make the Wednesday night Petaluma Farmers Market. The stars aligned just right today (barely) and I was hightailing it downtown early this evening with the little man. The weather here has been gorgeous lately – a tad hot, but just right for this southern girl – so I loaded little man into his stroller and decided to make an evening of it, texting the boy on my way in hopes he might be able to meet us there for dinner. Our texts went like this:
{me} Farmers Market! Tonight! Meet us there?
{him} Indeed!
{me} Crepes!
{him} Sunshine!
{me} Cranky Baby!
Two of us were clearly excited to renew this weekly tradition now that our incessant travels have come to a standstill for the moment. The third was just along for the cranky ride.
And the market was lovely. Petaluma competes with Santa Rosa’s Wednesday night market – which draws a much larger crowd – so sometimes I am a little bummed at the lack of quantity and quality of vendors at P-Town’s market. But those vendors that do show up are passionate and wonderful and I’m so thankful to live somewhere that I even have access to something such as this. Whenever we entertain thoughts of moving somewhere where pizza doesn’t cost $8 (see below), I always remember evenings like this and come back to the ultimate realization that we are living our dream, right now, right here.
Our market night in photos:
1st up: wood-fired Margherita pizza from Pizza Politana. Absolutely finger-licking delicious.
The Amy Hogan Trio was on stage tonight and she was absolutely lovely. Little man and I even contributed to the tip jar after sitting and watching for a while. Loved them!
Market Schwag for the evening. Clockwise from left:
Lavendar Honey from Hector’s Honey of Fulton, CA. A bit of a splurge, I plan to drizzle this on fresh figs that have been dolloped with goat cheese. Nom nom nom nom…
Kale from Petaluma Bounty, picked fresh just this morning. Organic, of course. My favorite way to prepare Kale is a la Alice Waters: saute wet, chopped kale leaves in olive oil until wilted. Salt and cover to steam for a few minutes. Uncover and let excess water evaporate. Push kale to side of pan and drizzle a spot with olive oil. Add chopped garlic and pinch of red pepper flakes. Saute until fragrant. Toss all together with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, S&P. Devour.
Loaf of Daily Bread from Full Circle Baking Co. (Penngrove, CA). A favorite for the teething little man.
Organic mixed salad greens from Green String Farm.
Olive Oil Cake from Napa’s La Saison. Not a huge fan of olive oil cake, I LOVED this one after tasting a sample. I can’t wait to dollop it with some Bellweather’s Creme Fraiche, perhaps lightly toasted and paired with a morning coffee?
Mix of summer squash and zucchini from Petaluma Bounty – freshly picked this morning and organic. Destined to be little man’s next batch of squash-potato-cheese puree. Yum!
Dad and son reunite. Aren’t those little toes delicious? Not for sale ladies, sorry.
A flight of wine from La Dolce Vita Wine Bar. We opted for the Petaluma Gap flight which featured a 2007 Chardonnay from Stubbs Estate, a 2007 Pinot Noir from Ridgeway (Two Pisces) and a 2009 Pinot Noir from Cazar (second label for Chasseur). All were lovely, but the Ridgeway took the prize. Delightful.
And not pictured is the grand finale: 1 scoop of Laloo’s Goat Milk Chocolate ice cream for the walk home, where little man promptly passed out.
I love this county.
Guess we won’t be moving any time soon, pricey pizzas be damned.
xo, e
Great post as always…makes me feel like I am right there with you and Cranky.