Farmers Market Mecca

The first of this month I went on a trip with my youngest daughter, Aubree, to Seattle, WA and visited Pikes Place Market. I was very excited as this was on my bucket list as the ultimate farmers market to visit.  Aubree called it farmers market mecca and it was that and then some.  It's Seattle's epicenter of fresh produce, specialty foods and independent businesses. Established in 1907 to connect citizens and farmers.  There's a year-round farmers market, crafts market, bakeries, fish markets, butcher shops, produce stands, specialty groceries, take out food counters and fine dining establishments.  We spent 3 hours there, made many purchases, ate a yummy lunch and had a blast.  There was so much to look at, we didn't go into all the shops but pretty much covered the main floor with the open markets.  We saw them throw fish at the famous fish market several times.  I was never fast enough with my phone to get a picture but it was fun watching them.  There were tulips and fresh flowers in abundance at the many flower vendors, so beautiful and smelled great.  My favorite part was the produce vendors, we went to several who gave samples of fruit and were so helpful.  Aubree and I bought a variety of fruits and vegetables to take to her home in Oregon for our meals while I was visiting.  I was very excited about the 2 different varieties of artichokes that I can't really get in Oklahoma, they were so yummy. There was a sign for big sexy tomatoes so I had to buy one of them.  We ate lunch at Uli's Famous Sausage. They are the Pacific Northwest's finest handcrafted artisan sausage. We got a sausage platter with 3 different bratwursts, bacon, apple and lamb plus sauerkraut and red cabbage.  Everything was delicious but the bacon bratwurst was to die for.  They also had a meat counter where they sold the sausages so we bought 2 pounds of the bacon ones, 1 to share with the family we were staying with and the other to take back with us. We enjoyed bacon brats for several days. We went into a spice and tea shop that was really fun.  We bought several kinds of loose tea. Aubree was amused that I shared my secret of adding shredded eggplant to dishes, especially ground meat with several of the young women that were waiting with us to have teas measured out and were talking about how they couldn't get their families to eat eggplant.  I love sharing with people different ways to add and cook vegetables to their meals. I found an awesome canvas tote bag that said

"Produce to the People" that Aubree said I had to buy because it was perfect for me. There were various artists selling all kinds of stuff.  We found one selling prints and I bought one of a lady standing behind a vegetable stand, which I love, and Aubree got one of the Seattle skyline.  We also bought soap products, jam, hand dyed yarn, and a tea towel amongst our fruits and vegetables.  We had such a fantastic time.   It was a wonderful mother/daughter experience together that I'll always cherish. What a fantastic Mother's Day gift.

Enjoy,

Bamah