Friday night in Clovis

Last Friday I had the opportunity to check out another farmer's market: Old Town Clovis Farmers' Market

Our first stop (oh wait, after the tri-tip sandwiches - which I didn't get a picture of because my hands were drippy) was the corn! Oh - did we search out the corn...





And wow - this is some special corn! It's fire-roasted in the husks, then stripped and cleaned. Next, the corn starts to receive layer after layer of tasty-goodness: starting with butter, followed by mayonnaise, followed by parmesan cheese and lastly followed by cayenne pepper!

Exchange it for a few dollars and you're off to enjoy the rest of the farmers' market...

Let me introduce you to my friend Heather - she likes the corn! (And that's an understatement!)



Take a walk with us... see what we saw!























If you haven't had the chance yet... find a farmers' market near you! They are full of people-watching opportunities, yummy fresh produce and some really great times!


But don't take my word for it... check it out for yourself...

And if you want to read more about some of the other farmer's markets I've visited, go to my food blog: http://lorijeancooks.blogspot.com/



enjoy your time in the kitchen...

May '10 road trip - leg 1

May road trip, leg 1... San Diego to Clovis, CA. It's time to hit the open road...



I love this view... 5 freeway, headed north. Blue skies, whispy clouds... and the music is cranked up! Let's get this show on the road. I'm headed north to meet some family for our annual time share week. The 2010 vacation will eventually take me to Lake Tahoe. But tonight? I'm crashing on the couch of a friend from junior high... thank you Heather! You're the best!

The car was packed the night before. First, a half-day at work and then I got on the road about 10 am. Not bad...



Driving north on 5 from San Diego you'll go through Camp Pendleton and then past San Onofre nuclear power plant (seen above - although our family has many other names for this landmark), then through the beautiful San Juan Capistrano and up into Los Angeles. Just north of Los Angeles you'll head into the hills... oh, I can't wait to drive through those rolling hills.



But first, you can count on me running into some major traffic through L.A... even at 11:30 am. Grrr...





This is the approximate location I vowed to NEVER EVER again take the 5 freeway through L.A. There are so many other freeways to go norh on - WHY, oh why, did I insist on this parking lot?!



Never again will I have to see this truck... may as well take a picture of it...



Now, THIS is more like it... let's get a move on...





And, yes, everytime I drive these parts I ALWAYS stop at the In 'N Out in Santa Clarita. No question about it. It's what you do on road trips!



And here is where the rolling hills start... up, up, up... (or is THIS considered a mountain?!)





wow... the beauty... what a beautiful day...





... and then we descend to head into the southwest portion of the Central Valley. This is a part of California that is near and dear to my heart. Sometime in the early '70s I was born in Fresno, Ca. (My apologies - I will not disclose the year in such a public location.)









There are fields and fields of all sorts of livelihoods...







Driving through this part of California makes me proud to have learned the importance of hard-work and an honest days' wage. And yet, my hard work is NOTHING like what these ranchers and farmers and growers experience every day... I'm so thankful for living in California, for being an American citizen... and for being allowed the freedom to take a drive like this.

It's such a rush...



And then I see the signs for Fresno/Clovis and get off of the freeway... time to roll the windows down again and enjoy the fresh air.



So looking forward to catching up with my friend Heather... seeing how her 3 kids have grown and spending family time with them.







I just wish my hubby could have come along on this trip with me... he had to stay home at work. But that wasn't going to prevent me from this long awaited trip. Thanks honey - for understanding. (Plus, you'll appreciate my cooking all the more when I come back. Until then, the mexican food joint down the street is appreciating your business, I'm sure!)



life is good...

more family time ...

We recently got together with some of the relatives... the crazy ones. And oh how we love our time with them...

My Aunt Sooz was in town... and she couldn't wait to get her hands on little boy London!



So we met up at Uncle Paul's house... and what did we do? We ate... and talked... and laughed... told stories... watched the kids play... laughed some more...



And we took pictures...



And more pictures...



This is my Gramps. He's "The Big Man!"



London loves kicking the soccer ball...





And this is Brooklyne and her mom, Sarah (my cousin)...



How I love hanging out with these people...



I wish we had more time together...







Gramps has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's... in my opinion it's rather advanced. For the first time, he didn't recognize me. And even when told my name I don't think he clued in that I was his granddaughter. It was a bittersweet visit...



But I still love my Gramps. My heart is broken ever so slightly though...











And in true form we continued to sit around and laugh a while... told jokes... caught up...


And then this happened... we got the hint and took off...




Until next time...