Market Food

Nom. I love me some market food. It's usually more expensive than i'd like to pay, but in this case it's so worth it and so fresh. Market food is great because you can usually watch your food being cooked right in front of you. You can easily tell the difference between fresh and pre-prepared: it's all out in the open for you to see. I shy away from the booths with large tubs of pre-prepared 'something' waiting to be reheated or slapped on a plate and covered with sauce, and I gravitate towards the smell of freshly cooked veggies and spices. When i got hungry last Saturday, i was in luck!

I tend to get hungry really early when i work the Saturday farmer's market. I'm up at 5:30 and my body gets all flumoxed and confused. So by 'lunch break' at 10:45 i'm about ready to eat a horse. But i'm also not getting any exercise, so prefer to eat something 'light' yet filling. Last week i chose this same booth's 'tofu burger': way too much bun. This week i went with the market pad thai, and was NOT disapointed.

To start with, this pad thai is made fresh every day. By fresh, i mean FRESH: the owner scours the market for seasonal veggies from other market vendors. This is serious 'market pad thai,' every veggie in it comes from the local vendors. That in itself is pretty neat. The fact that it's super delicious puts the icing on the cake.... or should i say the ginger peanut sauce on the noodles. Tee hee. The pad thai is full of delicious flavors and veggies already, and they even have a 'condiment tray' with sprouts, cucumbers, hot sauces, etc. For $5 i got the 'small plate' and was definitely full afterwards. Full, but not guilty full: sure pad thai is noodle based, but the freshness and abundance of veggies really lightened the meal.

I think this is one of the best deals at the market, so check it out if you're in the neighborhood this Saturday! Corner of Monroe and 2nd. Stop by and see us while you're there, too: we're just around the corner.

A Job, A Project, A Market

I'm up and Adam this Friday morning getting ready for another long Friday. Fridays are my Mondays and Saturdays are my Fridays - it's enough to give me calender vertigo! I love my job though, however temporary it may be, and in a way I look forward to these odd weekends. I work with a group of 17 and 18 year olds from around the Corvallis area as a part of the Community Services Consortium. I lead the 'kids' in their large garden, helping them plant, plan, harvest and compost veggies and flowers in preparation for Saturday farmer's market days. Our booth is lovely, sometimes sparse and a source of pride for myself and the kids. I'll be posting more about our booth and the project later on, but consider this an invitation to stop by our booth this Saturday afternoon.

The Corvallis farmer's market is open from 9 am to 1 pm and is full of bakers, organic farmers, beekeepers, and delicious prepared foods. We'll be having a big plant sale this weekend (if they got a sign together during my absence this week), so come on by if you're in the area and get some late season transplants to pop in the crannies of your garden, or just say hi!