Dale City Winter Farmers Market

One of the things I love about our area is the Dale City Farmers Market that I posted about back in June.  It is large, and a great place to go with Theodore to pick out fruits and veggies.  During the summer and into the fall they have just about every kind of vegetable you can think of, and a lot of fruit too.  I definitely think it is easier to cajole Theodore into eating veggies if he helps pick them out and pays for them.

The market cuts back on it's hours in the winter, but does continue.  We recently checked it out (but it is hard to get there between 10-1 since church starts at 10:30).

Most of the vendors at the winter market looked familiar from the normal summer/fall market.  There was actually a lone produce stand still going, where Theo picked some Granny Smith apples he wanted.  Several bakeries had wares as well (scones!), and there were two meat stands (though we don't buy any of their's since we get free meat from my father's barn).   Pickles, pizza, herbs, and cheese were also available, as well as a small stall with one of my favorites types of food, Middle Eastern (we bought some Feta Bites).

Can you tell he's excited?

One vendor that really excited Theodore whom we haven't saw before was Cakes by Shelby, or The Gingerbread Cookie House as Theo named it.  It was at the opposite end of the stands and it immediately became Theodore's sole focus as we walked toward it.  I'm surprised we could even get him to stop and pick out apples with the gingerbread house looming in the distance.  When we finally got there he was so excited and they did have some tasty (though a bit pricey) cupcakes.

All in all, while it is not going to be a place we go every week to get fresh produce, I do think the winter market holds enough of a selection to make it worth your time to go pick up a tasty breakfast or lunch and support the vendors who are willing to brave the cold.  Even though it's not too cold here in Virginia.

A Taste of Our New Town: Dale City Farmers' Market

We are finally settled into Virgina, or NOVA (Northern Virginia) as everyone refers to it.  I have been here two weeks though, and still haven't quite figured out where we are.  Having one car is finally starting to become a problem, because we want to go explore!  There are some car pool options for Brian, and some train options for us, and we may have to start taking advantage of them now that the moving-in process is fairly complete.

One place we did get to on foot though, was the Dale City Farmers' Market.  We woke up on Sunday excited to forget about unpacking boxes for a while and head out for a market.  Theo wanted to find apples (he doesn't quite understand seasons yet), and I just wanted to get a feel for the area.  So even though it was drizzling rain most of the morning, we waited for a pause in the rain and headed out.  It turned out to be a little farther than we thought, and ended up being hot, humid, and sunny by the time we walked back, but it was still a memorable little trip.

The back aisle, there was another aisle this long on the other side.

The market is probably one of the bigger outdoor ones I've been to, and had basically any kind of spring fruit or vegetable you could possibly want.  I was pretty amazed at all the variety.  Throw in some cheese, bakery, kettle corn, and wood fired pizza options, and you could leave with most of your taste buds satisfied.

Theo chose yellow green beans.  And ate them.

I was very intrigued by the purple bell peppers... maybe next time.

Theo picked out and paid for most of the produce.  It's great to see him work with cash (though several did accept credit card).

I just drizzled some olive oil, salt, and black pepper on these to make a little salad.

Posing by the peach crates.  They had some samples Theo tried.

Nibbling on bread to hold us over on the walk back.

We enjoyed many meals out of our purchases, including: some great chicken sandwiches Brian made on the focaccia bread, tomato salad, leak and potato soup from my Julia Child's cookbook that I've always wanted to make (needed a quick youtube video on how to work with leaks), Theo's favorite strawberry shortcake, my favorite corn-on-the-cob, and even Eli got some fresh pureed peas out of it (he had the soup too).  We will definitely have to add the market into our Sunday morning routine for the next few months.