Hello there! Sorry I've been gone for a few days, this week was just a bit crazy. As I said in my last update Logician's family was briefly affected by the storm, though for the moment things seem to be okay. Things have calmed down a bit this morning and we are returning to our regular schedule.
This post is going to be a bit long as I have several things I want to post. The first thing I must remind you of is that though I often link to a lot of things (I like to show the love) I am in no way compensated for my opinion and that it is just that - MY opinion. I can't even be entirely sure that Logician agrees with me on most things, so please take what you like and leave the rest.
One of the first things I want to do in this post is let anyone who is anyone who wants to eat something tasty in Gainesville know about Falafel King. This is a tiny restaurant/Middle Eastern Grocer that we must have passed every day for the entire time we've lived in Gainesville. We'd often discuss going in and then just drive on by to some other less delicious place before finally giving in just before we began our second Reboot. We were very sad we had waited so long. The couple that seem to run the restaurant are really friendly and seem to flow seamlessly around each other as they work. The food is always delicious, handmade, and even though it varies because it is handmade we have yet to be disappointed. They sell their own tahinni, tabbouleh, and hummus - as well as kosher meats, domestic and imported feta, olives, etc. It's an amazing little place and we love to eat there. Though we also like to watch what they do as they work and I worry we're starting to creep them out a bit! But seriously if you're looking for homemade authentic Middle Eastern food - go there. It's good.
Now to get to the main part of today's post - today is Saturday which means Farmer's Market! Currently due to our schedules we can go to only one of the in town market's a week, so we choose the Haile Plantation Farmer's Market. This is our first time going every week, so we don't have as much experience with the ebb and flow. But we have resolved to go each day and take time to walk the length before we purchase anything. We have come to know several of the families that bring their items and are always intrigued when a new stand pops up.
Today was one of those days. Today we met the family behind The Root Cellar. What initially intrigued us was their banner which spoke of jams with flowers involved. We see the words flowers, herbs, jams, jellies, or honey and immediately must investigate. We were astonished to be provided an excellent tour through the five offerings - A hibiscus with orange/raspberry flavors, Strawberry Basil, Strawberry Lavender, a blueberry with an anise back flavor, and a jalapeno (which I let Logician try). We ended up buying one of each and the promptly delegated two of them to breakfast duty.
We went to our local Earth Origin's market where we picked up some Gluten (and Dairy) Free Sourdough Bagels made by a relatively local company, Sami's Bakery, and some Vegan Cream Cheese Alternative (this was after a suggestion of eating some of these tasty jams on Sourdough bread). We then stopped by Gainesville's newest coffee shop (which - thank goodness - is on our side of town. FINALLY!) CYM Coffee Co. The name is from the Sister Hazel Song Change Your Mind. Sister Hazel is a Gainesville, Fl band and this coffee shop ties right into the idea of Cymplfy. Seriously - I am very much in love with this place right now.
In fact, with no offense meant to our other wonderful coffee establishments, this one is definitely becoming my favorite. It's got a nice cozy, curl up and read with a cup of coffee feel. The first day we went Tropical Storm Debby was drenching us and I could have sworn we some how teleported to the Pacific Northwest. It was amazing. So far I have tried their Mint Mocha Latte, an iced White Chocolate Mocha, and an iced Caramel Mocha. Logician has tried their Chai (which I just found out today is the powder form of my most favorite Chai ever) as an iced Latte, their Chemex blend, and really likes the way that the owner (Brad) and their awesome Barista (Tom) make their espresso.
They have so many great things going on that if I don't get to my point here I'll bore you to death. One of the cool things that we've found pulls us in each morning is that they sell travel mugs ($2.49 plus tax, their really decent mugs for being plastic) and a refill for the mug only costs $1.00. Logician likes to get a straight up espresso and add it to his mix. The coffee's have been really tasty and enjoyable.
So we stopped there and refilled our mugs. Then took our haul of jams, bagels, not cream cheese, and coffee and went to Logician's work where we had a breakfast picnic - and now for the best part, pictures.
So here's the spread. Each of us put each type of jam on one half of our bagel over the vegan cream cheese and then drank our coffee.
The names of everything aren't as clear as I would like them to be here but oh well. The Vegan cream cheese was not very good in my opinion as I didn't really like the heaviness from the oil. But it worked enough to provide a contrast in flavor and make the jams pop out more.
So after devouring all this tastiness we came to several conclusions:
1) The Hibiscus Jam could double as a tea concentrate - seriously. A cup of hot water, a dash more honey, and a spoon full of that deliciousness would make one heck of a cup of tea. An idea I got from the numerous Asian inspired tea concentrates we've seen at our local Asian markets.
2) The Hibiscus Jam is going to go into a tasty dinner I am making for tomorrow night (that Logician came up with on the spot as we drove from the market to the grocery). It is going to be a stuffed Zuccini/Courgette that is about as big as my forearm (we got it for $3.00!!! at the Farmer's Market, seriously... Insane). More on that when I post it's delicious pictures tomorrow!
3) We cannot wait to feature the Jalapeno Jelly on some delicious fish for our 4th of July dinner. Seriously - the very thought of it's deliciousness makes me want to just stay home a cook today.
4) Gluten Free and Dairy Free Sourdough bagels might just be one of the best inventions ever. I can't wait to learn to make them on my own.
5) Breakfast Picnics rock.
6) Our kitchen is about to see more cooking than it has in awhile.
And lastly we live in such an awesomely inspired local culture here. I am so glad we're exploring so many different things these days. I think that by sticking to the Farmer's Market each week we're going to find new and exciting things that will lead to all sorts of awesome adventures.
I promise the Reboot/Juicing Post has been started, and it will eventually make it up. I have a little more free time this week due to the holiday so I am hoping to get it up in the next few days. Tomorrow I will make myself take pictures of the process as we make the Stuffed Zucchini, and I will try to get it up ASAP. Until then, eat well!
This post is going to be a bit long as I have several things I want to post. The first thing I must remind you of is that though I often link to a lot of things (I like to show the love) I am in no way compensated for my opinion and that it is just that - MY opinion. I can't even be entirely sure that Logician agrees with me on most things, so please take what you like and leave the rest.
One of the first things I want to do in this post is let anyone who is anyone who wants to eat something tasty in Gainesville know about Falafel King. This is a tiny restaurant/Middle Eastern Grocer that we must have passed every day for the entire time we've lived in Gainesville. We'd often discuss going in and then just drive on by to some other less delicious place before finally giving in just before we began our second Reboot. We were very sad we had waited so long. The couple that seem to run the restaurant are really friendly and seem to flow seamlessly around each other as they work. The food is always delicious, handmade, and even though it varies because it is handmade we have yet to be disappointed. They sell their own tahinni, tabbouleh, and hummus - as well as kosher meats, domestic and imported feta, olives, etc. It's an amazing little place and we love to eat there. Though we also like to watch what they do as they work and I worry we're starting to creep them out a bit! But seriously if you're looking for homemade authentic Middle Eastern food - go there. It's good.
Now to get to the main part of today's post - today is Saturday which means Farmer's Market! Currently due to our schedules we can go to only one of the in town market's a week, so we choose the Haile Plantation Farmer's Market. This is our first time going every week, so we don't have as much experience with the ebb and flow. But we have resolved to go each day and take time to walk the length before we purchase anything. We have come to know several of the families that bring their items and are always intrigued when a new stand pops up.
Today was one of those days. Today we met the family behind The Root Cellar. What initially intrigued us was their banner which spoke of jams with flowers involved. We see the words flowers, herbs, jams, jellies, or honey and immediately must investigate. We were astonished to be provided an excellent tour through the five offerings - A hibiscus with orange/raspberry flavors, Strawberry Basil, Strawberry Lavender, a blueberry with an anise back flavor, and a jalapeno (which I let Logician try). We ended up buying one of each and the promptly delegated two of them to breakfast duty.
We went to our local Earth Origin's market where we picked up some Gluten (and Dairy) Free Sourdough Bagels made by a relatively local company, Sami's Bakery, and some Vegan Cream Cheese Alternative (this was after a suggestion of eating some of these tasty jams on Sourdough bread). We then stopped by Gainesville's newest coffee shop (which - thank goodness - is on our side of town. FINALLY!) CYM Coffee Co. The name is from the Sister Hazel Song Change Your Mind. Sister Hazel is a Gainesville, Fl band and this coffee shop ties right into the idea of Cymplfy. Seriously - I am very much in love with this place right now.
In fact, with no offense meant to our other wonderful coffee establishments, this one is definitely becoming my favorite. It's got a nice cozy, curl up and read with a cup of coffee feel. The first day we went Tropical Storm Debby was drenching us and I could have sworn we some how teleported to the Pacific Northwest. It was amazing. So far I have tried their Mint Mocha Latte, an iced White Chocolate Mocha, and an iced Caramel Mocha. Logician has tried their Chai (which I just found out today is the powder form of my most favorite Chai ever) as an iced Latte, their Chemex blend, and really likes the way that the owner (Brad) and their awesome Barista (Tom) make their espresso.
They have so many great things going on that if I don't get to my point here I'll bore you to death. One of the cool things that we've found pulls us in each morning is that they sell travel mugs ($2.49 plus tax, their really decent mugs for being plastic) and a refill for the mug only costs $1.00. Logician likes to get a straight up espresso and add it to his mix. The coffee's have been really tasty and enjoyable.
So we stopped there and refilled our mugs. Then took our haul of jams, bagels, not cream cheese, and coffee and went to Logician's work where we had a breakfast picnic - and now for the best part, pictures.
So here's the spread. Each of us put each type of jam on one half of our bagel over the vegan cream cheese and then drank our coffee.
So after devouring all this tastiness we came to several conclusions:
1) The Hibiscus Jam could double as a tea concentrate - seriously. A cup of hot water, a dash more honey, and a spoon full of that deliciousness would make one heck of a cup of tea. An idea I got from the numerous Asian inspired tea concentrates we've seen at our local Asian markets.
2) The Hibiscus Jam is going to go into a tasty dinner I am making for tomorrow night (that Logician came up with on the spot as we drove from the market to the grocery). It is going to be a stuffed Zuccini/Courgette that is about as big as my forearm (we got it for $3.00!!! at the Farmer's Market, seriously... Insane). More on that when I post it's delicious pictures tomorrow!
3) We cannot wait to feature the Jalapeno Jelly on some delicious fish for our 4th of July dinner. Seriously - the very thought of it's deliciousness makes me want to just stay home a cook today.
4) Gluten Free and Dairy Free Sourdough bagels might just be one of the best inventions ever. I can't wait to learn to make them on my own.
5) Breakfast Picnics rock.
6) Our kitchen is about to see more cooking than it has in awhile.
And lastly we live in such an awesomely inspired local culture here. I am so glad we're exploring so many different things these days. I think that by sticking to the Farmer's Market each week we're going to find new and exciting things that will lead to all sorts of awesome adventures.
I promise the Reboot/Juicing Post has been started, and it will eventually make it up. I have a little more free time this week due to the holiday so I am hoping to get it up in the next few days. Tomorrow I will make myself take pictures of the process as we make the Stuffed Zucchini, and I will try to get it up ASAP. Until then, eat well!
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