Our Mt. Olive Adventure...

 Do you have a favorite Farmer's Market booth on Thursday nights?  I've made it a point to visit the Mt. Olive booth for a few years now.  The produce is gorgeous, and delicious.  But they also make out-of-this-world jams, jellies, olive oil, fruit leathers, tea, and fresh-pressed juices.  Best of all, it's 100% organic.  I take that back... BEST of the best of all, they are unbelievably kind, incredibly knowledgeable and very very helpful.  While pregnant with Elliott and dealing with horrendous nausea- my friends at the Mt. Olive booth made great recommendations.  They were also kind enough to advise me of what NOT to eat or drink from their booth throughout the pregnancy.  That sort of endeared them to me for life.  

I mean, come on... that's just the coolest.

When I found their website and realized that their farm wasn't actually very far from Jeff's parents', I thought... YES!  Let's GO!  Alas, that was two years ago.  :(   Finally, FINALLY, on this last trip up to Paso, we made it.  So did it resemble the fantasy I had in my head?  No.  It totally surpassed my expectations.  We made it just in time for a late afternoon lunch, and had so much fun strolling around, petting bunnies and goats, peeking our heads into plants, and just generally being all kinds of nosey.  What I found really amazing about Mt. Olive Farm was the feeling of openness and welcome.  We just felt at ease.  It was quiet, but not uncomfortably so... and wow, SO gorgeous.

As soon as we walked in, we were delighted to find freshly baked coconut bread, and mini veggie pizzas for $1.50.  A DOLLAR FIFTY, YOU GUYS!  I'm not ashamed to admit that I bought all of the coconut bread.  Oh my gosh...  Y  U  M  M  M  M !  The food was the freshest food I've had (maybe ever but certainly) in a long time.  The tasting room was clean and well-stocked with dozens of olive oils and tapenades.  James and I went nuts.  We sat outside on the gigantic lanai, and drank ice cold, fresh strawberry juice.  At the risk of getting all verklempt on you, I would say it was heaven.  We didn't want to leave.

Yes, we went kind of photo-crazy.  But LOOK at these Fall colors!

Next time you're in Paso, do yourself a huge favor and visit Mt. Olive Farm.  And if you can't make it to the Farm, be sure to stop by their Farmer's Market booth on Thursdays.  It's the very best one.   :)

Farmer's Market fun...

Will you be at Farmer's Market tonight?  I love all the gorgeous Summer crops.  I love the crazy long lines and mega-crowds a lot less.  But the people-watching never disappoints.  

Lychee season!

At the insistence urging of fellow local blogger, Paradiso Per Due...  a note on lychees.

As I mentioned on instagram last week, lychees were a staple food in my life until I moved to California, and discovered that they don't grow here.  Between that and the cold weather, I was like...  Oh my gosh, what have I done?!  During lychee season back home, I was content to perch myself on a huge branch and gobble them down for an hour or so- or until I was completely sick and covered in sticky lychee juice.  Ohhh...  the bliss.  THANKFULLY, we make the occasional trip to L.A. where we find them in the Asian market.  And Trader Joes in San Luis has randomly sold them 3 times in 7 years.  I've yet to find them very fresh in California- but a lychee is a lychee is a lychee, right?  You get what you get...  and once you get a lychee, you will pine for them foorrevvverrrr.  *You've been warned.

 (James was thrilled to assist in this by the way)

1. Start by rinsing them, some people like to chill them too...  On my island, kids sell big, cold bags of them out of coolers on the side of the road- like lemonade stands.  :)

2. Gently crack the red, outer layer open with your teeth.  Don't worry, they're not hard.

3. Peel and discard the red skin.  You'll be left with just the little white fruit.  Eat that thing!

4. Watch out for the one big seed in the middle.  James is a master at sucking the fruit off of the seed.

5. Repeat until you feel totally full and sick.

 That's it!  ♥