Farmer's Market Inspiration

It was a record breaking Hot Day in Toronto today and I wanted to go to a Farmer's market.  When I looked up farmer's markets on the Toronto Farmer's Market list I found a Market I have never been to before.  It's the West End Food Coop.  It's a Market on Saurauren, around the Dundas West area. It was a whim type of decision.  I just thought I want to go to a farmer's market and see if I could get some fresh picked Ontario Strawberries.

 I found my Strawberries and found a lot more inspiration and  a friend to share it with.   As I was walking around checking out the vendors I bump into my friend Nick.  He works from home so you never know what he's up to so I was surprised to run into him there.  Although it was closer to where he lives and nowhere near where I live.  I decided that since I am not working a day job right now I would like to check out farmer's markets that I haven't been to and see if there are any differences between them.  As it turns out it was Nick's first trip to that same market, even though he is close enough to ride his bike there.  I guess this was his first opportunity to check it out too. He picked up a fish sandwich and was about to sit down to eat it and on the way to the bench I spied a popsicle vendor who made all sorts of fresh flavours.  I was going to get a Vietnamese Coffee flavour or maybe a watermelon lime concoction but then she said there were a couple of things that weren't on the menu board.  One of them was a Mojito flavour.  BINGO....she got my attention.  On a day that is over 30 degrees what's better than a lime/mint Mojito.  I grabbed one while my friend parked his bike.  I guess it sounded good to him too so he got one for himself.

What a great day.  Sitting at a picnic table under a tree having some Mojito pops with a friend I just happened to bump in to.  Coincidence is a funny thing.

After having that great Mojito pop we both thought it was a good idea and we should do that at home.   So I decided to pick up some more mint to plant on my balcony.

After I left the market I stopped into Kensington market and even found the popsicle containers to make them with.   HMMM... interesting for an unplanned day.

I think I even spotted Carl from Top Chef Canada at that market doing a bit of shopping.  So if it's good enough for a Top Chef it's good enough for me.

I am now ready to make some homemade mojito pops and it's all because of my Farmer's Market Inspiration today.   That's something you can't get from a supermarket.   I doubt you are going to bump into a friend at a supermarket and then sit and  have Mojito's under a tree in the middle of shopping.   Gotta Love it.   And that's why I love to go to Farmer's Markets.

For directions to this monday market check their website:
http://westendfood.coop/

We also picked up something I have never seen before - Tokyo Radishes.  

What's great about these radishes other than the cool white color is the fact that you can eat the root part as well as the leaves.  It has a peppery taste and would give you a nice crunch in a salad without having to add a lot of seasonings.