saturday morning at the little italy farmers market

Last weekend while Jake was coaching his little league game, I decided to go and finally check out the Little Italy Farmers Market. I got there about 9AM, before the crowds (and the heat!) arrived. I was able to mill about, eat lots of samples, and finally get a little taste of breakfast at Monello.

This juicing booth was one of the first places I passed by. I’ve been drinking a lot of veggie juices in the morning so I was immediately interested. I paused to look at the menu and a lady who was already getting a juice stopped to tell me how great they were. The lady making the juices asked what I was interested in and I said I wanted something that wasn’t too sweet and she recommended the Go Green juice.

[go green juice / $5]

The Go Green juice has a mixture of kale, spinach, broccoli, apple, ginger, cucumber, banana, apple juice, and organic flax seed oil. It was actually quite pleasant and had a pretty “earthy” flavor with a tiny touch of sweetness. I drank this during my whole jaunt up and down the market and liked it quite a bit. 

There was so much to see at the Little Italy Farmers Market! I saw more than one cheese booth…

And my very favorite flowers.

Lots of farms were present offering all kinds of fruits and veggies. The best part of the market is the free samples you get to taste! These blood oranges and tangelos were so bright and delicious.

There was another cheese booth I stopped at specializing in goat cheeses called Nicolau Farms. I sampled three different goat cheeses: the honey lavender, garlic & chive and a really interesting chocolate goat cheese! I ended up getting the honey lavender for it’s light sweetness and floral notes that I really enjoyed though I was also tempted to get that flavorful garlic and chive (maybe next time). The chocolate goat cheese tasted like a smooth creamy chocolate dessert spread, it was so good! 

A place I’ve been wanting to check out for quite some is Salt Farm. They didn’t have quite all of the salts I wanted to try but I did sample the Blackberry Salt, the Applewood Smoked Bacon Salt (which actually has no bacon in it) and the Murray River flake sea salt. I purchased three tiny vials for $10 and can’t wait to try them out on a few more things. I’m planning to sprinkle the bacon salt over some avocado on toast very, very soon.

The Meatmen have some killer salami and it’s hard to not pass by and try a few samples. I mean… look at these! 

They also have sausages you can buy and cook at home and I was tempted to get a package but saved it for another time.

I had no idea fava bean pods were so LARGE. They look like green beans on steroids. To this day I can’t say “fava bean” without thinking of Hannibal Lecter and chianti. 

I was so very very close to buying a few of these adorable little succulents to adorn my desk at work. Perhaps next time the temptation will be too great and I’ll get a few of these.

Oh, more samples of cheese? Don’t mind if I do. 

I spied tiny, cute, little Easter notecards for $2 each from Some of Me Cards. 

Colorful flour sack towels. Wanna spoon?

The Cravory was present with quite a few St. Patrick’s Day cookies. The Irish Caramel Coffee had a really good punch of coffee flavor.

I didn’t partake of these delicious looking treats but was happy to see something for all kinds of diets from the Olive Oil Cafe. The treats are all organic and gluten free and the straws you see stuck in all the desserts indicate it’s free from other allergens as well. There are sugar free, vegan, corn free, soy free and nut free treats.

It got hotter and more crowded as the morning wore on and I made my exit from the farmers market to get a little treat from Monello. I’ve been wanted to try out their breakfast/bunch for awhile now and it was finally my chance! 

I was already slightly full from my veggie juice and all the samples I tried so I only had a few bites of each item. 

I started with a little panini bite ($5) which came with san daniele prosciutto and mozzarella cheese. I wished the mozzarella was slightly melted a tiny bit more but the prosciutto was simply delectable. I only had a few bites and finished it off the next day for breakfast.

I wanted something a little sweet as well and choose a croissant with pistachio custard.

I was given the choice of the croissant or the bomboloni (an Italian donut) but choose the croissant this time around. The pistachio custard was incredible… smooth, creamy, nutty. I think I might be in love with it.

I’ll definitely have to stop by the market again and try all the things I missed the first time around and of course get some more of that pistachio custard.