Beautiful orchids

 I found a real treat this morning at the downtown Farmer's Market.  We try to go every Saturday morning for the beautiful lettuce that is available. 

This morning, a new booth had opened and it was filled with orchids...lots of orchids.  Plants to buy and they lovely stems of orchids.  Eight long stems of perfect orchids for........$3.

I will enjoy these for a long time. 

Cathy's Strawberry Cake Roll

Since last October when I saw this on Cathy's blog, I have been waiting for the Florida strawberries to ripen.

This morning as we were at the very crowded farmer's market, the strawberries were screaming my name and I knew just what to do. Cathy said the recipe was easy and it certainly was. But, I have much more than this household can ever eat, so I have a few neighbors who might be singing praises to Cathy also.

This is just the beginning of the strawberries and we live in the center of the strawberries here in Florida. I have a feeling that this Strawberry Cake Roll might be making another appearance. Thanks, Cathy!

The Pluot

The Pluot is a new fruit to me. I found it at the Farmer's Market last weekend and it is now looking very ripe. It is a cross between a plum and an apricot. I have never been a fan of plums unless they are in a tart or kuchen, and apricots are kind of bland to me unless they are dried. However, this combination was a real delight. Very juicy and they are so large, they must be shared which was not a problem around here. If you have a chance to see this fruit, give it a try. A very nice change.

So bountiful

We always look forward to the weekend. We have a Farmer's Market nearby and we always try to go and stock up on some fresh fruit and vegetables for the week. I see this morning, the strawberries are ready. They just might be from elsewhere because we live near the Florida strawberry capital and they are usually ready starting in January. Of course, always oranges and it looks to me like this morning I was hooked on the fruit and did not show you the beautiful green peppers we got (4 for $1) a large eggplant for grilling .

We find it is easy to eat healthy when these markets are available, but they certainly cannot compare to the OUTSTANDING markets in Europe. There, we just go crazy. They even have meats and fresh seafood and cheeses and breads. Yes, we do miss it.