Since we figured out farmer's market are great, we've been going to them regularly, which has become our new habit. Even so, we still don't know which market is the closest or best, so we've been exploring different markets. A couple of days ago, we visited two different markets in Kyoto.

The picture below shows the first market where we stopped by.

Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as we had expected, so probably we won't go there again.

There was another market nearby, so we went there as well.

This one was much better than the first one, and we really enjoyed shopping there.

We saw lots of customers buying fresh crops, which means the shop was running fast, so everything is fresh all the time.

For example, it was my first time seeing such a large しめじ mushroom ( shimeji, a type of Japanese mushroom). Since I'm a huge fan of mushrooms, it was hard for me to ignore.

I also found another mushroom I'd never seen before, so I bought that too.

The picture below shows my homemade meals I cooked with the ingredients I bought that day. Most of them are called おばんざい (obanzai, a traditional Kyoto home cooking), and I'll write more about them some time soon. Since my husband loves those dishes, we are planning on going to another farmer's market again soon!

(4974)