I'm going to be in trainings for the next 4 days straight, and after that I'll just be insanely running around. So today was my last chance to play for a while. I entertained myself by going to Smart & Final and the Old Oakland Farmers Market and wandering around Chinatown.
I have never been in the Smart & Final, and I found it immensely entertaining. "Wow, look at that, a quart of yellow egg dye! A container of cumin that would last a lifetime! A five-pound bag of Good and Plenty candy!" But I also found useful items, such as a mophead, stain remover, black peppercorns, and chiles in adobo sauce. Yes, I am easily entertained. What of it?
The farmers market yielded excellent finds as well. A baker's dozen of All Star tamales, organic tomatoes, pesticide free peaches, plus dried purple posole from Ratto's. The real prizes, though, were a bouquet of peppers and a mint bush. Here's a picture of what was left of the mint after I made a double batch of mint simple syrup.
I scored a couple colanders and a bag of lychees in my wanderings through the shops. No trip to Chinatown is complete without a Vietnamese roasted pork sandwich, and after a few false moves I finally found my favorite shop again. A trip to a bakery for almond cookies tempted me into trying a lotus seed cake and this almond sponge muffin:
The "muffin" was kind of strange, honestly. I'm hoping the cookies are better.
Finally home, I was immensely grateful for the foresight I exhibited when I got this started in the crockpot:
Chicken in mandarin orange sauce from Trader Joe's over rice with sauteed kale.
And the mint bush? Well,in addition to the simple syrup, 3 cups more went into red quinoa tabouleh with some of those tomatoes, all the bruised leaves and stems went into mint water. And there was still some left over for garnish.
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