October 2022 Monthly Adventure
I decided to kick off the month by picking up where I left off on my previous Monthly Adventures post and further explore local farmers' markets. There are several of them in the city and surrounding suburbs, so I chose to go to a couple of the ones that I could easily drive to and find parking. I wanted to support local farmers and other small businesses, plus I realized this is a way to buy more affordable fresh food than what may be available in grocery stores.
Barton Creek Farmers' Market
First up was the Barton Creek Farmers' Market, a.k.a. "Austin's original farmers' market". I love going to the mall and it seems that every single time I've gone on a Saturday I end up arriving too late to visit the market. So, I dedicated some time in my day after attending CPR training to check out the farmers' market to purchase some grocery items and eat lunch.
During my visit, I first purchased some garlic and sweet onions. I later went on to buy some hot peppers, green bell peppers, and a type of leafy green that works as a substitute for spinach (I can't remember what it's called) from Fruitful Hill and Ringger Family Farm. These items will be important for some of the dishes I will be preparing this month. Additionally, I bought pecan granola from Dad's Premium Granola and a small jar of peach and almond jam from La Marmellata. My lunch was pork and cabbage dumplings from Goodie Dumplings. They were delicious and very flavorful with a nice crunch from the Napa cabbage -- a perfect lunch!
Texas Farmers' Market at Mueller
During my previous Monthly Adventure, I went to the Texas Farmers' Market at Mueller with the specific goal in mind to get ice cream. After walking around the entire market that day, it became quite apparent that I would need to make another trip for some grocery shopping. I was particularly looking to purchase meat and seafood because it would survive in my cooler bag and I live closer to this farmers' market than the Barton Creek one. Even though it was slightly cooler over the weekend, it was still warm enough for food to quickly thaw if not properly stored while walking through the market. I wanted to make sure my food remained frozen by the time I returned home!
I got really lucky with my timing in arriving to the market. I got there 30 minutes after they opened and managed to get the last lamb rib chops from Hackamore Ranch for my mom and the last cod fillets from K&S Seafood for myself. I also bought a pound of ground beef from Shirttail Creek Farm and a small whole chicken (less than 3 lbs.) from Westfold Farm. I purchased the fish last and then came straight home because the fish was the one items that wasn't already frozen. I wanted to make sure I put everything in the freezer very quickly after a few photos and update my grocery list to plan meals around my recent purchases from the weekend.
Wrap-Up
I had such a nice time meandering about both farmers' markets on a weekend with gorgeous weather! While I supported local small businesses, I also challenged myself to think carefully about what meals I want to cook and how to do so in a more creative way based on the ingredients I currently have in my kitchen and what I would choose to buy while shopping. Now that I have visited both the Barton Creek Farmers' Market and the Texas Farmers' Market at Mueller, I can say that Barton Creek is smaller in terms of the number of vendors but felt that they offer better overall variety. Some vendors also can be found at both markets, so that was cool to see. One of my biggest takeaways from this experience is the difference in the sweetness of items from farmers' markets and what's available at grocery stores. The amount of added sugar in jams, granola, and more from grocery store items is more than my taste buds realized. I prefer a natural amount of sweetness without unnecessary amounts of added sugar and that's exactly what I found at the farmers' market.
Something I didn't mention before is that I also had dumplings for lunch from Steamies Dumplings in my previous visit to Texas Farmers' Market at Mueller. I love dumplings and recently received a suggestion about starting a dumpling series for Kimi's Travel Thoughts. I'm considering doing that, but leaning towards making it part of my exclusive content for Instagram and featuring my time eating dumplings and other "pocket meals" throughout my travels or monthly adventures (or just a regular meal). More on that coming soon! For now, it's time for me to get to work in the kitchen and prepare meals with my farmers' market purchases.
Feel free to leave comments below, tweet (@KimiThoughts), or leave a post/message on Facebook (@KimisTravelThoughts) !