8.30.2009

Farmers Market

Call it what you will,
touristy, busy, noisy, over priced, difficult parking, etc...
We LOVE the Madison FARMERS MARKET!
Love with no bounds.

It's become a weekly Saturday morning date to spend the morning lazing in our p.j.'s and eventually hit the road to catch the last minute deals down by the Capital.

After years of weekly shopping, we of course have our fav's/deals...only good after 1pm!

Here's our best of:
Starting counter clockwise at the intersection of Main and Carroll, here are a few spots you can't miss when you're in Madison on a Saturday!

Oakhouse:
2 for 1! While they last!
Yup! After 1-1:30, everything is buy 1 get 1! Our favorites are the peanut butter cookies and the muffins! If you can get there right at the beginning (1pm) they have some great breads too!

Mushroom lady:
One very rainy day, we got a full bag of portabella's for a measly $10, but this incredible experience has only happened that once...other then that, my father is the only one known to talk her down in price...very impressive...but her mushrooms are to die for! A Rodolfo staple.

The cheese tent! (Main and MLK Blvd)
I think this one is famous for all cheese lovers...I don't actually buy their cheese reguarly, which I do feel bad about...but we did do it once! Their piping hot skillet cheese is a meal on a toothpick! If you can wait your turn patiently in the crowd, there's a dilectable reward on the other side!
(while I'm eating cheese, Rodolfo heads over to:)

Carr Family Farm:
This is where Rodolfo buys his beef sticks/brats/hotdogs. Amazing hotdogs! $4 for a pound I believe, but they are to DIE FOR! While I nosh on my cheese sample, Rodolfo downs his entire beef stick in 3 bites! - We also buy our eggs here! $3 for 1 dozen! AMAZING EGGS! Totally worth the extra dough.

****By now we've reached the corner of Main and Pinckney****
Garlic Basket People:
This is where we get our garlic! Incredible deals on garlic at this corner!

The Asian ladies (all of Pinckney)
There are 3-4 Asian ladies which Rodolfo loves to try to snaggle a deal out of with his puppy eyes....It helps if I'm with him, complaining about how we don't need any more food, and really, can't we just keep moving!?! Right around then, they take pity on the skinny dude, and throw in an extra bag of green beans to fatten him up!

This brings us to Pinckney and East Wash
MELON MAN!
BEST MELONS IN MADISON! BY FAR!
We're on our 6th week of melons from this fine gentleman and we're still in love!
$2 for a small, $3 for a large, you can't lose, just make sure to leave room for your giganto monster melons in your shopping bag!

Ostrich Lady
Great spot for your first ostrich tasting, but move along, it's a bit pricey

Which brings us to the corner of Mifflin and Pinckney streets where we must dedicate a tribute to:
Mr. Fill a bag
We miss you Mr. fill a big!!!
"Fill a bag! Fill a bag! As much as you can fit for $5!"
He hasn't been at the farmers market for 2 years now and we miss him terribly.

so from there , flowers, flowers, plants, plants, blah blah...1/2 block later,

THE LADIES! (intersection of Mifflin and Wisconsin)
You want a deal on great looking produce? They have it! Peppers, tomatoes, peas, whatever is in season, they have it and at budget prices...no end of day sales, but their produce is great!

On to Carroll St...

The apple guy:
Here's how it works...Rodolfo 10 feet away, "ooh! ooh! he's here! The apple guy!"
Then we walk up, only to the dude...not the ladies, it's not the same,
guy: What are you looking for?
R: Something...sweet and crunchy. (He always says this...trying to seem like he knows a lot about apples. He doesn't. It's cute!)
guy: try this.
He hands Rodolfo an apple...I don't really think it matters what it is, it could be sour as all get up for all I know.....but Rodolfo always says:
R: I love it! 5 pounds please!
He's a sucker for a free apple sample! "A whole apple Sarah! Can you believe it?!?"

And last but not least on the intersection of Carroll and W Wash...

Grandpa man:
Grandpa man can be distinguished by his cane and stool, while he sits and watches everyone shop, and occassionally yells out to the random onlooker, "We got a deal today! Zukes and cukes!" This is the best spot for 3 for $1! and Great Rainy day specials!!! For cukes, zukes, gigantic heads of lettuce for $1 and fairly priced peppers, this is the place to be! We always go here close to the end of our hunt for all the things we couldn't find cheaper anywhere else. The lettuce always goes bad on me quickly, but! IT'S HUGE!!!!

Here ends my virtual tour!
I hope you check out the real deal next Saturday! Maybe we'll see you there!!!

8.20.2009

Preparation, perserverence and all those p's

Leaving for a year....

How do you begin to prepare for that?
Fortunately I have great friends with great ideas!
  • Lots and lots of granola bars, check
  • Special sheet to sleep on for urky looking motels, super check!
  • Tent, got it!
  • Two awesome backpaking bags, done and done
  • I just got my hep A shot #2, so I'm boostered up for life, and! I'll be booking my travel doctor visit shortly!

Now, there's the less precise decision making factors...
  • If we don't know exactly where we are going, how do we know which visas to apply for?
  • Where are we going anyways?
  • What do we desperately need to take with us and what do we not need quite so much?
  • Can teddy come too?
  • Are we talking malaria pills and bug nets? or a toured stroll through London?
The truth of the matter is, I have no FREAKING CLUE! That's probably half the fun.
We'll wander around with our heads cut off, and somewhere in the midst of it, we'll discover a passion for Buddha or yoga or peanut butter sandwiches and I guess we'll just go with it! I trust Rodolfo and myself enough to go with the flow. Whatever seems right will be right.

Gratitude day 2

Penny cuddles  Working remotely and sleeping right up to 9am after a bad nights sleep A wife who reads instructions allowed while I throw IK...