Friday, January 16, 2015 Soup Artist

Today we drove north approximately 13 miles to the community of Cambria because the area Farmers Market is held there on Friday afternoons. After purchasing homemade soup yesterday in Morro Bay from Stephanie at "Farmers Markets Soups," we knew we wanted to go again today to the "market" to purchase more. 

Yesterday she told us that she starts taking orders Friday at 2:00 and that by 3:00 she is often sold out. We didn't know what she meant by "taking orders," but we found out today. The Farmers Market is open from 2:30-5:00. 

We were at her booth at 2:00. We had brought back the tall "canning" jar that she sold us yesterday full of soup. We had the soup for dinner last night and it was absolutely delicious. She explained that she could take our order, but that she could not take our money until the "market" was officially open at 2:30. 

So we ordered two jars of soup and we also asked about a bowl of soup for each of us (we were hungry). She wrote our name on the lid of each  jar and she gave us the two cardboard bowls of soup and two plastic spoons and told us to pay for them at 2:30. We stepped over to a little table with chairs and quickly gobbled the soup -- minestrone -- it was immensely delicious and full of every kind of vegetable imaginable.

At 2:30, Mr. Fun was back at her booth paying for our soup and adding another jar to our order. We plan to eat soup for the next three evenings, mostly because it is so delicious, but also because preparing dinner each evening is not a task that either one of us takes to naturally. What we need in our lives is a "mom." So we are delighted. Dinner is made now for the entire weekend. 

We also got a copy of Stephanie's cookbook "Central Coast Farmers Markets Soups" at the local library so hopefully we can begin to learn how to make the delicious soup. On Stephanie's business card her title is "Soup Artist." She makes her living by selliing at three "markets" each week: at Los Osos on Monday; at Spencer's Market parking lot in Morro Bay on Thursdays; and at Cambria on Fridays. 

Before her career as the "soup artist," Stephanie owned the "Shine Cafe" in Morro Bay. It is the vegan cafe that I mentioned several days ago. 

We have been on a vegan diet since December 4th because Mr. Fun's doctor told him he needed to eat vegan if he wanted to live to enjoy "his retirement home at the beach and his bride." This past Monday, Mr. Fun had more blood work done before we left SoCal to come back here to the coast. We now have the results: he has better numbers on several of the tests (more about this in the future). We are thrilled. 

Good night from California's Central Coast,
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol