The Farmer's Market

Saturday we got up early and Peter prepared a great omelet full of veggies. We then went to the Calgary Farmer's Market. It is a building on the outskirts of town that is filled with local goods. The parking lot was full and the building was teaming with all kinds of people. The vendors sold everything from locally made cheeses, jams and jellies, honey, Alberta beef, and local produce to craft items. We had a great time wandering through the isles and checking out samples here and there. Peter knew of a place that sold little frozen pies so that was our first stop. They are little individual sized frozen pies with filled with everything from potatoes, onions, and cheese to spicy chicken. We picked out several and they kept them until we were ready to leave. I quickly found a little coffee shop and Peter found some cookies that we had never seen before. They were little light cookies with a Saskatoon filling. That is apparently a small blueberry. We will look for them again. We bought some Alberta beef, locally made cheese, local raspberries, jam, strawberries and assorted other vegetables. We also bought some sliced meat to enjoy with the cheese and a little wine for time on the patio later. I think that we will see the Farmer's Market again before I leave!

Alberta beef is a big deal around here. It is obviously locally raised beef with a little higher price than other beef. We talked to one of the vendors and he told us that he had a small farm, they don't call them ranches up here, and that the reason it is so good is that the cattle are fed on barley not corn like in the United States. We picked out a small steak and grilled it later in the evening. It was good but nothing outstanding.

In the afternoon, we did what Peter would normally do, take a walk. We walked several miles throughout the area. We ended up at a Safeway and picked up a few things. To try something a little different, we road the train part of the way back to the condo. It was just like the trains in Europe, easy to figure out and a little crowded.

After grilling the steak and the local corn on the cob, the evening ended at a local restaurant sharing a blueberry tart with cinnamon ice cream and a coffee with a little extra flavoring, if you can read between the lines. We sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful evening. No one fell asleep in the bathtub but we were glad to call it a day.