I attended the one on Saturday when it opened in May and the Thursday one on June 16th. A recent Press Release lists the Thursday hours as 11 am to 3 pm, but the website has them as 10 am to 2 pm. I was there between noon and 1 pm, and it was very busy.
I stopped at the Market's promotional booth and added my email address to win a basket of fresh fruits and vegetables. The Market's representative, Camillus Apakama, told me they are giving one away each week. I asked him if the Market would be open year-round and he said it will, even though the website has a close date of October 27th.
I asked how they would deal with bad weather, and he pointed the covering on his booth to keep out the rain, and made a shivering gesture to react to the cold. The event is next to the parking garage, so I wonder if it could be an option to hold it in the garage when the weather is really bad.
The produce section is smaller but the ethnic foods section is bigger. The Thursday market is designed to be a lunch stop for the 30,000 people who work in Bishop Ranch. In fact I saw Marci McGuire, the Manager of the Bishop Ranch Transit Center, Attorney Ellen Rosenbluth, and retired school teacher Sally Scholl lining up at the food booths.
The food booths are a regular International Bazaar: Middle Eastern Kabobs, Italian Pizza, Central American Tamales, South American Empanadas, and Brittany Crepes made by an authentic Frenchman. My friend Marci had a buckwheat crepe with bacon, cheese, tomato, green onions, and sour cream. She said it was delicious.
I didn't stay for lunch, but I bought a lot of fruits and vegies.
Last year I started a diet I called the Progresso Soup Diet. I entered a contest to win a trip to New York City for a makeover by saying why I liked Progresso soup. I didn't win the contest but I lost almost 50 lbs. in time for my 50th High School Reunion last October.
Unfortunately, as often happens with obese people (Hey Oprah!), we gain some or all of it back. Well I've gained back about 20 lbs. and I can feel it. So I want to lose that 20 and maybe another 20. That would take me down to a nice round (you betcha) 200 lbs. I would be very happy at 200 lbs. As I have said before, for me fat is thin or at least not morbidly obese.
I went to the Farmers Market to stock up on lots of fruits and veggies. I actually like fruits and veggies, and I can eat them all day and in big quantities. I recently found out that filling up on soup, fruits, and vegetables is called the Volumetrics diet. Who knew? I thought I invented it.
My problem has always been portion control. I just like to eat a lot. Not only do I like to eat a lot, I like to eat a lot of whatever it is I'm eating. There are no portions. There's just whatever is there. It's like the old joke, "I'm on the Sea Food diet. I see food and eat it." Well if I see sea food, that's great. I can eat pretty much as much as I want of that. If I see vegetables, I'll eat as much as I want of those.
I bought a 2.5 lb. broccoflower at the market, which I'll probably eat for dinner. I'll steam it and put a little (and I do mean a little, like a teaspoon) of butter on it, and salt, and I'm good to go. A 2.5 lb. broccoflower beats a 2.5 lb. steak or meatloaf for low density, but put any one of them in front of me and it will be gone. So broccoflower it is.
This blog is starting to sound more like Jacqui Love Marshall' Epicure blog than the San Ramon Observer. Maybe Jacqui will whip up some recipes from the Farmers Markets, and I'll go back to whipping up political fervor for the upcoming elections. The filing period begins on July 18th. I'm already speculating on who the new candidates will be. Stay tuned.
