at the pop-up...

last week, we went to this new little thing that's been popping up. the idea is certainly intriguing--artisan foods (local, sustainable, organic and prepared by well-regarded chefs) usually found only in the very best restaurants, available directly for the consumer to heat & eat at home. pizza doughs, sausages, jams, english muffins, soups, pastas, cookies and other things of the like. it sounded like a good time, and so we made the trek out to grace street catering. there we found a bunch of tables, vendors offering up delicious looking stuff--at pretty steep prices. not much of a surprise there, right?

of course, i can make my own pizza doughs and cookies. jam and pasta are on my to-do list. i assume english muffins wouldn't be all that difficult (anyone done it?). i just couldn't drop $14 on a pound of sausages when i can get comparable, local meat at the farmers market for half the cost. and the becker lane pork ribs--of which michael pollan has said "whenever i hear that becker lane pork is available anywhere in the bay area, i go out of my way to get some if it"-- well, i didn't have $45 in my pocket, so we skipped those, too.

but we still had a nice time as a family, checking out the scene. we didn't go home empty-handed, either--i got a quart of summer squash soup ($10) and 8 madagascar vanilla beans (for making extract, $12 for all). we also had a nice pre-dinner pizza (mushrooms, red onion and fontina) before heading home to dig into our soup. not a bad outing!

look at the girl with the fast feet!bare-chested at the pop-up. supposedly there's no better way to do it.

i was amazed that the jam vendor (blue chair) uses real, metal spoons for their tastings instead of plastic throwaways. that's a LOT of spoons.

pizza and people-watching. hudson was a happy guy!

the soup was excellent and i'm sure i'll have plenty of opportunity to try making my own soon--our squash plants are kicking into gear.

ALSO! i got spotted by a reader (and her sweet little daughter). i must admit, i walked around for a moment feeling a little bit famous. until hudson spit up on me. and then i just went back to being my regular self.

:)