Hard at work at the Austin Farmers’ Market

Until the space opens at 800 Brazos, we LaunchPad Coworkers cowork at Julie’s place. So a couple of times a week, I pop by and we brainstorm and Julie says words that are really powerful to my ears like, “Want to try some of this cheese? It’s incredible.”Then she hands me a piece of incredible cheese and I want to eat the whole wedge.

The nice part about the cheese eating is that it’s along the lines of being able to write off a five star vacation on your taxes because you figured out how to make Hawaii work-related. For us, tracking down excellent local food for the café is part of our job, so we aren’t just eating cheese for fun — this is very serious business. (And it is such a long, long way from another food related job I had, back in college, when I worked in the cafeteria and had to rip fat off of chickens.)

Upon noting the tears of joy welling up in my eyes at the taste of the cheese sample, Julie and Tina, who was also there as witness, informed me I would be going to the next Farmer’s Market at the Triangle, which is where the cheese came from. This particular Farmer’s Market happens on Wednesday nights starting at 3 p.m. (soon that will shift to 4 p.m., when the weather gets warmer.)

The market is adorable, so small you could practically put it in your pocket and carry it around with you. And the great thing about it is that every single vendor has something really excellent to offer. We made the rounds — it took roughly fifteen minutes — and a lot of the farmers already knew Julie.

We made a beeline for Marc Kuehl’s stand, where he sells that cheese, oh that cheese! It’s made at Brazos Valley Cheese from raw milk and there are a few different varieties. I picked up some Roasted Garlic Montasio and some Colby with veggies mixed in.

Then we scooted over to chat up the Tomato Lady and I bought her display tomatoes, which looked to me like very shapely buttocks. Being from Jersey, I’m a fan of tomatoes and shapely buttocks which is why I had to have this pair. But before I absconded with her best offering, we had her pose for a picture. Hot tomatoes, right?

Next we met Sylvana, who makes flan and homemade yogurt. I am a total yogurt whore, even sometimes foolishly attempting to make some myself, usually with runny disastrous results. Sylvana’s full fat yogurt had a really lovely consistency and a certain tartness but I have to say, if she had looked the other way for a moment, I might’ve stolen her flan sample – not the yogurt — because that flan was unbelievable.

Julie also scored some shrimp the size of watermelons. And I scooped up some of Jake’s Natural Fine Foods Granola. I usually pick this up at Farm to Market Grocery on South Congress. But here was Jake, the man himself, offering a great deal on outrageously addictive granola and also his biscotti. I got the Lemon Currant Granola (I usually go with the Cranberry Pistachio) and the Cranberry Pistachio biscotti, which I am trying to save for this weekend (but that seems highly doubtful).

We wrapped up the tour at the Texas French Bread booth where I was recognized. Here’s what happened. A little dog was wandering past and I squatted down and I said, “Little dog, come closer so I can pet you and move closer toward my goal of petting every dog on the planet.”

A woman was standing nearby and she said, “Do you go to Hill Country Weavers?” I said yes, I do, because I do, because I am a knitting addict.

“I thought so,” she said, “Because one time I was there and I heard that expression, ‘Pet every dog on the planet,’ and I didn’t think two people could have that same goal.”

The Texas French Bread vendor, duly impressed, offered me the celebrity discount on my rosemary ciabatta. And then I headed on home, sliced up the bread, layered it with tomatoes and that cheese (that cheese!), sprinkled a little salt and pepper on top, and had me the best dinner I’ve had in a long time, finished off with some of Jake’s granola for dessert. All in the interest of testing out the local goods.

So taxing, this job of mine.