Meilani takes Papa to Fig Fest

Today we indulged in one of Fresno's features: fresh produce from local farms. Meilani and I took my dad to the Fig Fest, an annual event at our neighborhood farmer's market. This festival showcases the valley's fresh figs. About 15 local restaurants showed off their best fig recipes, including everything from melt-in-your-mouth chocolate fig truffles to chicken wings with tangy fig barbeque sauce. Tasters get to vote on their favorites and then enter to win gift certificates at local restaurants. They even had a live jazz band.
After our fig extravaganza, we headed to the farmer's market right next to the big tent to stock up on some of the local produce we missed so much when we were in Virginia. We stopped by to see our friend Rebecca from Torosian Farms. She gave us a bag of gi-normous peaches, nectarines and champagne grapes for Meilani.
We also scored some poblano peppers for this week's enchiladas, heirloom tomatoes for BLT sandwiches and some red onions for broccoli salad. The find of the day was raw milk, which was on Ericlee's list. He's been reading a book about healthy living and raw milk (unhomogenized and unpasteurized) is packed with important nutrients our bodies need. This milk is safe for lactose intolerant folks (like me) and helps combat allergies and asthma for kids Meilani's age. Meilani loved the lady wearing the cow costume who was helping promote the milk.

Overall, we had a fabulous Fresno outing. And the real goal was keeping Meilani and Papa busy while Ericlee and Nana were home working on their teacher preparations for school starting next week.