The last weekend of April (29th) I went into Bonn to do some produce shopping. The market in Bonn is much larger than in Siegburg, and competition means better prices.  Sorry for the blurry photos, I only had my ipod with me. But perhaps fun to see anyways.

Fennel! I didn’t get any this time, but I am really excited to try a fennel salad recipe from Alice Waters. If I remember correctly it is with fennel, orange sections, and black olives. Sounds a bit bizarre, but I trust Alice.

Asparagus invasion!

I do now REALLY appreciate the friendly and courteous Siegburg farmers, compared to the rude volume-pushers of Bonn, yelling their prices out constantly. I only wanted ONE bell pepper, but that was NOT allowed. One KILO was the minimum purchase…only one Euro, but come on, what does the average person do with a whole kilo of peppers? I also didn’t want to carry an whole bag around with me. So NO PEPPER FOR ME. I thought of the soup nazi in Seinfeld…and I thought this guy is the bell pepper nazi…and then I realized that was totally non-PC considering my circumstances.

Moving on to the citrus!

Then I strolled over to Münster Platz and there was a handi-crafts fair going on. The artisans were also demonstrating their skills: basket weaving, pottery, jewelry making, silk dying, felting…you know…the usual.

All that shopping was exhausting and required refreshment.

Although I didn’t take home a bell pepper, I did get quite a handful. Here is the price breakdown, for those of you curious: Pineapple 1€, Strawberries 1.50€, Avocado 3 for 2€, blood Oranges 2€, Parsley, Celery, Spring Onions, Artichokes, and Tomatoes 5.65€. It was Saturday at 2 pm, so the vendors were eager to sell the last of the strawberries and pineapple, thus I got a bit of a deal 😉

I used the celery, avocado, spring onions, and oranges in a quite interesting farro salad. Hope you are also enjoying the fresh markets!  Remember to stp and smell the flowers!

Recently we had the chance to hop the border and do some grocery shopping at the Super-U in Seltz. We love shopping in France. The selection of things we like to eat is simply better than in Germany.

Milo usually starts out in the wine section. Although we have cut back a lot on our wine consumption in the past year, it is difficult to leave france without a couple bottles. Mostly I think he just likes looking at the labels…or nevermind that’s what I like to do.

I did browse the cookie aisle while Milo was checking wine, but for the first time EVER I didn’t buy any cookies or pastries. Not even Little Lu Schoolboy cookies! I am not sure what I was thinking.

The cheese section is also a bit overwhelming, I really don’t know many names, but I am getting good at recognizing my favorites =)

Baguettes are a must. And as far as we are concerned a baguette with Brie consumed in the parking lot after shopping is perfectly acceptable, in fact recommended. Bon appetit!

We also stocked up on some fish for the freezer and some fresh mussels. A new sort of mussels this time, which were awesome!

And some shrimp.

And some shrimp pizza on Tarte-Flambe crust that we picked up as well.

Whenever we travel, one of the things we love to do is check the local markets. It is so fun to see what sort of strange food other people are eating for breakfast. And usually we leave with a full grocery bag!