Tableau Vivante

I take a lot of pictures of pretty fruits and veggies at the market. But the ugly ones definitely merit some face time. These seemingly bruised and battered pears aren’t abused Boscs, as I had originally thought. They’re a variety Joe at Walker Farms calls “Winter Pear”. When I first saw them last week I was going to pass them by. Joe insisted I try them. I am ever so glad he did. Big, juicy pear flavor. Fragrant like a fruity flower. Musky just enough to make you go wow. Ugly? At first glance, I’ll admit that yes, I was turned off. Lesson learned. He parks these under a yellow tarp so the picture above is a bit on the amber side.

It’s not too late to plant your own peas for a nice early summer harvest. But if you can’t bear to wait, there are a few growers at the market more than willing to provide you with some instant garden gratification. Took all my willpower to not pluck these juicy looking pods from the vine.

Asparagus is sweet and crispy and oh so wonderful right now. Had some for lunch today that blew my mind. Just needs a light steam. Don’t bother with salt. Let the flavor come through on its own.

Spring here is early summer in the desert. TONS of cherry tomato varieties were out on the tables today. All of them look almost oversized possibly due to the healthy rains we had this past month? Looking to make some sunny tomato salad like the kind I enjoyed yesterday at LFCC. No basil though. Drat. Too early still.

Not a ton of shots today because I spent a good chunk of my time at the market chatting it up with a wonderful man by the name of Hel (he spelled it for me). Hel spied my camera and his eyes positively gleamed with interest. We started gabbing about lenses and such and I come to find out he’s a professional photographer who used to own a studio in San Gabriel way back in the day (he’s in his 80’s now). At first I thought it would be just a short, “nice camera” conversation. But he was genuinely interested in my photography and through the conversation I became very interested in his. And of course I’m kicking myself because I didn’t get a shot of him. I’m hoping he’ll be at next week’s market. Thanks, Hel. Was a real pleasure.