April at the Farmers' Market

Squash blossoms and artichokes, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

The second thing I do on Sunday morning is to go to our local Farmers' Market. Besides becoming more and more popular and helping our local farmers sell directly to their neighbors, it's a wonderful source of inspiration for the coming week's menus. I was planning to pick up my usual organic strawberries and fresh "happy" (that's free range & organic) chicken and eggs. And the hand made chicken tamales with salsa verde is a given. But today I was hoping to find pea tendrils and snap peas for a fish dish I want to make. Not only did I find the pea greens but also fresh tender arugula, artichokes for $1 each and these gorgeous squash blossoms. I hope I get to paint these beauties before I eat them and I'll really be lucky if I get to do both. I hope you all have a local Farmers' Market to shop from each week.