Finger Limes

Last week, I visited my son who lives in Los Angeles. My first stop after landing was the Farmer's Market at the 3rd Street Promenade. It was Wednesday, the market day, and I headed straight there. When I lived in Los Angeles, this was one of my favorite things to do and one of my favorite markets there.

I happened upon something I had never heard of: Finger Limes. The vendor let me sample one and I had to have it! They were selling the carton for $10 each or you could buy the limes 2 for $1. I bought four.


Later that night, Alex had a friend over and I cooked dinner for the three of us, sauteed red snapper and vegetables from the market. We "played" with the limes as a topping for our fish.





Finger limes originate from Australia and are now being grown in California. They're shaped like a small pickle. When you slice them open, squeeze from the bottom, and out comes this citrus caviar! When it's in your mouth, it pops like citrus pop rocks! So much fun and delicious and so exciting finding a new food! It was really good with the fish and added to our dinner conversation.

We had a great visit and it was also good to be back at one of my favorite markets on a beautiful day in Los Angeles.

Another Lake Weekend

Last weekend, my husband and I (and our dog Haven) were able to spend another relaxing weekend at Lake Burton. Last time we were there it was summer and the lake was very active. This time, there was hardly anyone there, very few boats on the water, and it was very quiet. So relaxing!

We stopped at the market on the way and bought fresh vegetables and apples for the weekend. There was a pumpkin there called "Marina di Chioggia", a green pumpkin that said would be good for ravioli and gnocchi.

I did not buy it, just wasn't in the mood for investing the time to make either. But it seemed interesting.

There were about 10 varieties of apples. We bought about 5 different kinds and enjoyed them all weekend. I also used them to make apple tarts later in the week.

They also had cranberry beans, one of my favorites. These have a beautiful red and white outer shell, and when you cook them, they taste a lot like pinto beans, only like fresh pinto beans. I cooked them the way I've recently discovered, with a bunch of sage and lots of garlic. They were delicious!

We had a great time and it was nice to get away for a Fall weekend.