First Farmer's Market of the Year

Finally, the day I've been waiting for all winter has arrived! The first day of the Cherry Creek Farmer's Market. I hopped right on my cruiser and headed down yesterday morning to enjoy the beautiful weather, and all the sights/smells/tastes to experience. Some of these vendors I've actually been dreaming about throughout the cold months - I missed my 13" tortillas (a huge stack for $6 that you could get in flavors such as jalapeño cheddar, or sun dried tomato basil), the Grateful Bread company (that concocts the most delicious 14-grain bread), and of course, the flowers, the puppies, the people, the pastries! Oh my!

Oh, those wonderful tortillas! I use them for breakfast burritos, as a thin pizza crust, a delicious snack to dip.... UGH - they are amazing.

Mmmmm..... I do love jam (and all of the other things that are available to taste)!

Ah, yes - the Greatful Bread Company! Now, I'm not a hippie anymore (I went through a bit of a phase in middle school....but who didn't?), but this bread is really amazing. Last summer I asked the woman in the booth "so what kind of ingredients do you use"? She goes "Um, you know, flour, yeast, grains, all the usual stuff you use to make bread!" - I laughed so hard! She thought it was common sense, but it's amazing how many additives we've figured out to put into bread - she sticks to the original ingredients, and it's some of the best bread ever baked (in my opinion)... funny how that works, ain't it?

More flowers....

I happened to walk up to the Kettle Corn booth the moment they were pouring out another batch! I was super excited that I could capture this photo. The people at the booth were super fun too - they saw my Rocky Mountain Rollergirl shirt, and they got so excited for me that I made the league. We chatted for a bit, they were a lot of fun.

Herbs, glorious herbs!

Of course, PUPPIES! Oh golly - I love those little guys. The pups were out and about everywhere I looked. I had to snap a few pics of the cuties....

I came across these super yummy looking empinadas on my stroll, that were so pretty looking that I couldn't NOT give them a try. And Guava Cream Cheese? Yes please! I don't know how they get the shell to be so flaky and not dry out at the same time - it was absolutely delicious. The guava wasn't too tart, it was a very mild sweetness, and the cheese complimented it perfectly. YUM!

I can't wait until we finally have our own tomatoes growing in our backyard garden, but these will have to do for now! Not that I'm complaining of course.... Farmer's Market tomatoes taste SO much better than grocery store ones... I had to buy a couple!

The people at this spice booth encouraged everyone to give a sniff to each of the bags. They smelled so delicious that I found myself dwindling by the booth for a while, and sniffing a lot of them.

My favorite kind of flowers!

This bistro sets up a tent every year, at which they cook up a GINORMOUS skillet of Paella. I have always wanted to try it, but unfortunately they make a full-meat version that I can't enjoy while at the same time staying a vegetarian. Such a dilemma! Ah well, I can least appreciate how wonderful it smells, and how awesome it looks! Luckily my friend Ryan shared his secret family recipe for Paella that I have yet to make at home.... and that I can easily make vegetarian (or more specifically, pescetarian)!

I loaded up all my goodies into my bike basket, turned my iPod onto the "Great Lake Swimmers", and had a beautiful ride home, where I quickly cooked up a pizza for lunch (made with my newly acquired sundried tomato basil tortillas)!