Pfun With Pflugerville Pfarmers

Last Tuesday evening (yes, I know, Gentle Reader, I'm a little behind) the husband and I decided to try something new. We headed out to the weekly farmers' market in Pflugerville.

Farmers' markets are quite the event here in Austin--at least for foodies, of which Austin has quite a few. Of course, the farmers' markets to hit are downtown and in far South Austin, respectively, and at times that don't mesh well with my gym schedule. Furthermore, because of their popularity with those of the foodie class, I've long suspected the prices reflect the ready liquidity of its shoppers.

Pflugerville's an interesting little spot on the map, Gentle Reader. It's official slogan, adopted two years ago, is "Stuck between a rock and a weird place," playing off its location between Round Rock and Austin, of "Keep Austin Weird" fame. At its heart, Pflugervile is pretty much a quintessential small Texas town, with its gaggle of churches, racial divides, struggling Mom-and-Pop shops, angst over growth and noticeably large elderly population. (Sure, Austin has its gaggle of churches, very prominent racial divides and angst over growth, which is why it really is pretty much a small town suffering an identity crisis, thus its unwieldy growth, but it is a largely young city, with the older folks having fled for various reasons.)

That said, P-ville is ringed by an unsightly sprawl of suburban development. As the husband and I were driving to the market, taking the back way to avoid the interstate, we had the displeasure of driving by those massive housing developments, with block after block after block after block after block after--well, you get the point, Gentle Reader--of the exact same friggin' house. It made me wonder how many times a person walked in to what he or she thought was home only to find he or she walked in to the wrong house--and no alcohol was involved. I wouldn't be surprise if the interiors were exactly the same, as some of the houses were built by a particular company that sells the entire house, appliances, furnishes and decor included.

I Drove All the Way to Pflugerville and All I Got Was....
I'll admit that I had somewhat high hopes for fun finds (pfun pfinds?) at the P-ville market, given the list of vendors. Even if I wasn't necessarily in the market for specific farm-fresh produce, I figured at least there'd be some interesting stuff to gawk at. And if the gawk-worthy booths were lacking, then the husband and I might be somewhat amused by the Fourth of July celebrations planned for that evening. In fact, I was somewhat hesitant to go on that particular Tuesday because of those festivities. After all, P-ville is a typical small town in Texas, inevitably with a large number of patriotic, community-oriented residents.

Hah! Was I ever wrong--on both counts!

Perhaps the heat (we were in the triple digits) of the day kept people away, or perhaps the list of vendors on the market's site wasn't terribly accurate. Whatever the reason, the husband and I arrived to find maybe eight vendors total and perhaps a little over a dozen shoppers, if that. Two vendors were selling plants, one or two were sellers of meat products, three were selling produce, one was selling bakery goods and one was offering--in a wonderful way of proving the town's slogan--Nepalese fusion cuisine items.

I was thrilled to see that Kala's Kuisine had set up her tent, for it was one of two vendors I was particularly interested in patronizing. Having perused her list of products online, I was salivating at the thought of scoring a roti wrap and perhaps some chole. Not only did the husband and I each get a roti wrap (one was consumed on site, and the other we brought home), but we each got a samosa. Later, we went back to buy a jar of the mango chutney we sampled during our first visit. Very, very tasty and worth the drive.

Since the yellow horn squash and zucchini are coming into season, I was hoping to find a bounty of them available. Alas, the bounty was rather paltry, with more yellows available than zucchs. I purchased probably two or three pounds (three horns total) for $2 from one vendor, which made me quite pleased. I've since sauted two of the three horns purchased, and their flavor was a good deal better than the ones I'd acquired from HEB.

Being no fan of vegetables, the husband had his eyes trained on the bakery tent. Feeling a bit bad for dragging him out to P-ville after a tedious day at work, I let him splurge at Lil' Mama's Delicious Desserts 'n More. He got himself a rather large lemon bar and a big chocolate chocolate-chip cookie for a few bucks. I sampled both and found the cookie quite tasty, but the lemon bar was somewhat commonplace. The husband, on the other hand, thought the bar was quite a tasty treat.

Our Pflugerville Pfarmer's Market Bounty

As for the festivities, there were none to be seen. No watermelon seed spitting contests, no sack races, no egg-on-a-spoon races, no decorated bikes queuing up for a parade. Not a big loss or disappointment by any measure, at least for me. Perhaps they were canceled considering the intense heat, or perhaps they were canceled for lack of participants. Neither scenario would surprise me.

Will the husband and I return to the market? Perhaps. Maybe later in the summer, some of the vendors might return, although the veggie selection will be different for sure. Or perhaps we'll go sooner, should we get a hankering for some Napalese from a small Texas town.