Food Goodness

One of my favorite places to shop for produce and cheese is the Milk Pail. It's sort of reminds me of the European open markets with rows and rows of glorious and sometimes mysterious fruits and vegetables bursting with color, radiating what I like to call "food goodness".

Customers carefully select each piece of produce out of large bins, deciding which one they'll take home as they lovingly place their newly chosen item into their basket. Ah, it all feels so very European...

Except that the Milk Pail is cluttered and tiny, the walkways are narrow and always crowded with shoppers. Eeks! I have to do a little yoga inspired breathing before entering because people will run you over with their carts for the last basket of strawberries. I restate my mantra throughout my weekly visit, "Breathe. Do not kill anyone during this visit. Breathe".

And that's when I know I'm definitely not in Europe. I'm in Mountain View, CA.

In spite of all the craziness, it's totally worth the trip. The prices are unreal, the produce is fresh, and they have best cheese selection in town (OK, maybe Whole Foods is larger but that doesn't necessarily mean better). They are extremely knowledgeable about their cheeses (well, to be fair, they are knowledgeable about everything in the store) and are always readily available to answer questions or help pair up cheeses to accompany your menu.

Eureka!

I recently discovered that if I arrive right when they open, I only have to wiggle my way through the staff unloading fresh produce for the day. Crates of vine ripened tomatoes are rolled out, Corn is shucked to expose their tasty yellow or red kernels (red corn - have you tried it? It's interesting...), the smell of freshly baked bread hits my olfactory system as the delivery person brings in the daily shipment from the local bakery, individual baskets of strawberries are being stacked on their stand, cheeses are being loaded into the refrigerators, the smell of purple onions loft through the air, a few steps later it's now it's the smell of tart apples, then lemons, limes, lettuces, peppers... Oh! I can go on and on...

Okay, maybe it does still feel a little European...