The Highlight Of My Week

I caved. Only once though. I'm ashamed of myself BUT the jambalaya I got at Fontaine's was DELICIOUS. I barely spent any money outside of the farmers market and bills this week, so I still consider it a successful week.







Unfortunately I am working brunch tomorrow so I can't make it to the Grant Park Farmers Market. I might go before my shift to see if anyone has tomatoes though, last time I went before they were officially open most vendors were setting up and fine with selling to me. So this morning I went to the Peachtree Road Farmers Market. I hadn't been in a few weeks, it was nice but I definitely missed Grant Park. The vibe there is better. I got red potatoes, sweet potatoes, eggplant, bok choy (woo!), arugula, bell peppers, yogurt, rosso sausages, applewood smoked bacon, turkey chili, goat cheese, garlic, candied almonds, and acai coconut energy bites!

Pure Bliss Organics is one of my favorite vendors, I'm obsessed with their acai coconut bites, so good! I grabbed a bag first thing I got there, and the lady (I didn't get her name :( ) asked if I would mind answering a couple questions and having my picture taken for some free product. Of course I said yes! It's $6 a bag for most of their products so I was all about it. They got my name and asked why I liked the product and then took a picture of Roxy and I. I picked the candied almonds as my gift :)

I also got to chat with Megan of Spotted Trotter Charcuterie, she and Kevin are one of my absolute favorite inspiring couples! Check out their website and read the "about me", such a cool story. Kevin has worked for some great chefs and found that charcuterie is his passion and decided to start his own business! His wife Megan is an attorney full time but also helps Kevin with Spotted Trotter. I'm so impressed with her, what a great woman to have by your side! I told her I work at La Tavola and I would love if they could come in for a date night. I'm sure they need it and I would love to take care of them, hopefully they can make it in soon! Oh, and Kevin's sausages are AMAZING. I get something new every week, and I'm always impressed. It is amazing how much better food tastes without preservatives.

I have always wanted to be a regular at a restaurant/bar, as someone in the industry I love that relationship between the server and the guests, but obviously I'm on the other side of it so it is hard to frequent another restaurant. This is so much better! Instead of blowing money on beer and food at a bar, I'm buying fresh, local products at the farmers market every weekend and building relationships with the vendors. Even if you don't make it to the markets, always try to support your local businesses, these are all wonderful people who are very passionate about their products and relationships with their customers.

King of Pops is a good example of one of my favorite local businesses as well. Why get ice cream from a chain when you can get a delicious, refreshing pop made with seasonal fruit! Their story is great, leaving the corporate world to sell handmade pops around the city. They have gotten so huge this past year, I hope they continue to stay true to themselves and don't compromise quality.

This post has turned into an ad for local businesses and markets, ha. I didn't mean to, I'm just so passionate about all of this, the markets have become the highlight of my week! I love telling complete strangers about my move to Portland, stopping to let children pet Roxy, hearing the success stories and hardships from the farmers. I could go on and on :) Point is, you don't know what you're missing out on...

When Tom gets back with his camera these posts wont look so... wordy. I need pictures to break these posts up, but I don't have a camera, and I hate posting pictures from my phone. I will post later about what I've been cooking this week with my produce, I could keep writing but this is already way too long!