I love the Farmer's Market

Since the summer is here I am trying to think of various ways to keep the kids busy and the house clean. I am succeeding at the first half rather well. One thing I decided to do was to take the kids to story time at the library and then to the Framer's Market where they play music. It was my first experience. I met my Grandma, my sister Katie, and her daughter Alani. It was fun to walk through the booths and sample fresh fruit. I found that the twins will eat about anything and so will Logan. Miranda on the other hand just likes to sample it then tell me she doesn't like it. We got to try white nectarines, peaches, apricots, blueberries, strawberries, and Bing cherries (I think that is what they are called). I had never tried a nectarine before and it was delicious. For $2 I got 2 nectarines, 2 peaches and 3 apricots. I also got some Mexican zucchini to make zucchini bread. The kids also got some flavored honey straws. My recommendation would be try the sour watermelon flavor and steer clear of the lime flavored ones YUCK! To top it all off Katie bought us some tamales and my Grandma treated us to some Kettle corn. It is so much better than the kind you pop in your microwave. Sorry Mr. Orville. As we were packing it in the cherry lady had three bags of cherries left selling them for $1/pound originally going for $3.25/pound. The only catch was you had to either buy 3 or 5 pounds. So I told my grandma they were $5 for 5 pounds of cherries, she told me I should get them, but I wanted to save my money to get $1 scoops at Baskin Robbins. So she said Here's $5 go get them, as I walk away she says here's another $5. So we ended up with 10 pounds of cherries. She took half to my uncle and Katie took about a third of the other bag and I got the rest. I felt like I got the best deal ever.

So know here's the treat for all you who are still reading. I made Cherry Pie filling. I didn't have a cherry pitter so someone suggested using a straw to push the pits out. It worked fabulous. I am not sure who to credit with this recipe I got at www.allrecipes.com. I then changed it a tad.

Cherry Pie Filling

4 c. Cherries, pitted

1 c. sugar (1 1/4 c. if using sour cherries)

1/4 c. brown sugar (I thought this sounded good so I added it, but it wasn't in the recipe I found)

1/4 c. flour

1/2 t. cinnamon

With some of the pie filling I made Cream Cheese Filled Coffeecake With Fruit Preserves and Crumble Topping. Of course substituting the preserves with my homemade pie filling. I also used the Bisquick coffee cake recipe for the cake part adding a little less milk and a little sour cream along with some cinnamon and again a tablespoon of brown sugar.

Then I made my very first fruit pie. I used Greta Cousins Recipe for the crust. I am not a crust fan but it turned out pretty good.

Pie Crust from Greta Cousins

2 c. flour

1 t. salt

2/3 c shortening

5 T. cold water

Cut together the first three ingredients, sprinkle water on top. Mix together wih fork until it forms a ball. Cut in half. Roll into ball and flatten on floured pastry sheet. Roll out into a circle to fit pie plate.

Having never made a pie before it was very easy and it turned out good enough to take a picture and post it here.

I look forward to getting some new fruit next week and trying something new. It is a wonder I have a hard time loosing weight. I wished exercising was as much fun and tasted just as good. Oh and thank you Grandma for the cherries, sorry I didn't bake the pie before you left. At least I know I can make crust so I will bake one when you come in the fall but with APPLES!