Fruit, almonds, and orchards

Sean's back has finally healed enough to allow us to take daytrips again.  Saturday we decided to head up to Modesto to shop at the Farmers Market and Stewart & Jasper Orchards Company Store and have lunch at Chipotle (Sean misses having one in town).  The market was great, as always.  I'm having fun trying out fruit I haven't had before, at least not in its whole form.  We bought a different kind of persimmon from last time and some quince, which the farmer told me are great raw drizzled with lime juice, tequila and salt.  I will have to give that a try.  I'm also sprinkling pomegranate seeds on everything these days.  They are so delicious and nutritious at same time!

We also bought some mini guavas.  I have had guava juice and guava jam, and a friend from The Bahamas once made me guava duff, a delicious dessert, but I have never eaten them raw and whole, so I am anxious for them to ripen.

 

Unfortunately, the Stewart and Jasper Orchards company store is not yet open in Modesto, though we had been informed that it was.  We fell in love with their roasted, salted, in shell almonds when we bought them at their store in Monterey.  However, while looking for the store that is not yet open in Modesto, we did stumble upon the Royal Robbins outdoor clothing store where I bought a fabulous scarf and glove set (not sure when I will even need those... maybe when we head back to Minnesota in December).  Royal is a Modesto native who became famous as a rock climber, particularly in Yosemite, and who started an outdoor clothing company with his wife (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Robbins).  So we had to head to the S&J company store in Patterson, which gave us a chance to gawk at the gorgeous Coastal Range for most of the trip.  There we bought some of our favorite almond treats.

And speaking of almond orchards, today we decided to take the dogs for a nice stroll in one just down the road from our house in Merced.  It was lovely to walk down the straight path in the shade, with leaves crunching under our feet.

Local Food

This week there was some good news, bad news, and neutral news related to local food in Merced.  The bad news involved the announcement of the closing of the Merced Organic Store.  Unfortunately this store was not able to overcome the loss of revenue caused by the massive summer construction project downtown that closed off the nearest street and made access difficult.  While I do not eat much prepared food, organic or not, it was nice to have them in town and I did stop by every other week or so to buy staples and snacks.  Honestly, I feel a bit of nostalgia for the place since I sought it out when I first visited Merced for my interview at the UC.  They gave me a coupon that I saved in case I got the job and I used it the week after we moved in.  I am sad to see them close, but am not entirely surprised as I was often the only shopper on the days I stopped in.

The good news is that Merced now has a great bakery called Little Pink Boxes that just opened on Main Street.  I am excited to try their croissants and other pastries and can vouch for the deliciousness of their cookies as I brought a dozen to a work meeting on Thursday.  They will be open late on the weekends and early on weekdays, so will accommodate everyone's schedule making it difficult to pass them up. Last week also saw the opening of a new hot dog specialty restaurant owned and operated by three graduates of UC Merced.  While friends and colleagues are initially underwhelmed by the selection, in spite of the locally sourced meats being served, we all hope to see improvements as the business grows.  In a town of 80,000 with high unemployment, local food and businesses take on great importance and many of us try our best to give them our support.

The place that never lets us down, of course, is the Merced Farmers Market.  A salon appointment had me shopping at the Modesto market last weekend (and I particularly appreciated the local cheddar and portobellos) but this morning Sean and I once again hit our favorite stands in Merced.  Along with the second week of persimmons, this week brought locally grown kiwi fruit.  The farmer told me to wait 2 weeks for them to be fully ripe unless I am willing to place them in a bag with an apple to speed up the process.  Since Central Valley apples are nowhere near as delicious as the Minnesota grown variety I am used to (I miss those fabulous U of M creations, with Honeycrisp still the hands down favorite) I have no problem sacrificing one of the Fujis I picked up last week at the Modesto market.

Another reliable favorite that has appeared in this blog before is Houa Khong Laotian/Thai restaurant.  We've been back a number of times with guests and they all love it as much as we do.  Last night we dined with our friends Nora and John and it was finally chilly enough (sort of) for me to try their version of Pho.  It was fabulous!  I am so happy to have found my spot for that delicious noodle soup.  As an added bonus, on the way out Nora found the homemade specialty cookies they sell to go and bought us each a bag.  They are made with coconut milk and are very fancy and delicious.  Served with a scoop of Ben & Jerry's vanilla, this cookie was better than any waffle cone I have ever had.