Butter Lettuce & Beets

Farmer’s Market is on Fridays around here.  Inconvenient for our family (we gear up for the weekend, not down), I nevertheless make the trek.  A whole 15 minute drive, each way.  This is Southern California sacrifice, where I have three grocery stores within five minutes, to choose to drive six miles down the freeway.  Oooh.

This week, lettuces were the stars of the show.  Like gorgeous, big, blooming flowers.  Especially the butter lettuce, shown above.  At least, I think it’s butter lettuce.

That lettuce was so tender, my great grandma would have said “it’s as tender as a woman’s breast.” So tender, I couldn’t bear to take a knife to it, and actually tore the leaves by hand for our lunch salad, something I usually disdain when chopping the ubiquitous romaine or iceberg.

I also picked up:

• a bar of natural soap, kumquat scent
• kumquats
• butter, red leaf, green leaf, and endive lettuces
• two kinds of kale, one of which I’ve never tried before
• a cabbage so heavy my arm was hurting from carrying it in its bag
• lemons
• sweet limes, something similar tasting to kaffir lime, but mild and sweet
• leeks (are they really worth the money at $1/leek?  I don’t know.)
• cilantro
• yellow and red onions
• more of those tart tomatoes
• farm fresh organic eggs

And, lastly, beets.  Because last week Amelie said she wanted to eat beets.  Even though she’s never had a beet, and I despise them as a matter of course.  But I’m game if she’s game.