So Pithy

A couple weeks ago I stopped buying frozen vegetables (California blend) in favor of fresh carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower. I’ve since switched back. The reason? Price and ease of preparation. And to tell the truth, when I do a good job steaming the frozen veggies they don’t taste that much worse. Although that may be because I’ve done a consistently bad job of steaming the fresh ones.

Fruit is different, though. Fresh strawberries are so much better than frozen. Same for blueberries, though at this point fresh are too expensive. Of course, when I blend them all together in a smoothie it’s kind of a moot point.

So I approached the opening of the farmers’ market season here with mixed feelings: excited at the prospect of fresh fruit, but unsure of whether or not I wanted to bother with the vegetables. Unfortunately, I didn’t really get a chance to make a choice, because the vendor turnout was rather limited. I was tempted by some lettuce, though.

Shopping local is great and all, but I also don’t want to spend a whole lot. Seems to me the stuff the farmers actually grow is priced competitively, but the baked goods we spotted seemed a little overpriced. I think that’s just the difference between cutting out the middle man (fruits, vegetables, meats) and reselling store-bought ingredients in prepared form (baked goods).