Meet, Eat, and Art

Saturday was very close to a perfect day, great weather, great company, and fun places to go.  We started out at the Waco Downtown Farmers Market.  I got some grape tomatoes, gorgeous eggplant, more country pork ribs (pastured pork, and they’re always good), dog bones, non-GMO blue cornmeal, beef fat, and Caprino Royale feta.  Caprino Royale was our first stop, because they always sell out, and we scored the last 3 containers of feta!  Beef fat is really the reason I wanted to go this week, because I’m rendering it to cook with.  I already rendered pork fat (lard) about a month ago, so I’ll be set for a while.  That’s right, I know longer suffer from lipidphobia, if it comes from grass-fed, pastured, or free range animals, because it’s actually good for you.  Oh, and I forgot the best thing, Nina and I ordered a free range turkey to split!  They’re about 20 lbs and that’s more bird than either of us wants.

We left the market and headed to Clifton for the art show at Bosque Arts Center.  But first, we stopped at the Clifton farmers market.  That’s an interesting little market.  There were only a few vendors left when we got there, but had things like handmade soaps, creams, and flavored salts.  Also, there were plant vendors, homemade jams, and homemade yogurt.  The market is right next to Red Caboose Winery, but the winery wasn’t open.

The next stop was lunch in downtown Clifton at Somethin’s Brewing.  It was as good as the last time we were there.  Finally, we made it to Bosque Arts Center.  This is their annual juried art show, and it’s fabulous, and well worth the time.  The show is free and once again, we had the place to ourselves.  Here’s a sample of some of my favorites.  Even though some of the pieces look like photos, all of the art is oil, acrylic, pencil, etc.  If you click on any picture, it will enlarge for you.

When we left the arts center, we started heading home, but had to go back by the winery because we’d left one car there.  Well, the winery was open, so of course, we had to go in (because we believe all things happen for a reason)!  After 15 seconds of careful consideration, we decided on a $10 tasting of 8 wines.  They were all good, except for one, and the best news is, we found the perfect wine for the free range turkey we ordered – Hooch.  It has a kind of cranberry flavor, so I’m opting for it instead of cranberry sauce.  The winery gave us all a wine glass to take home, and I couldn’t leave without buying some awesome hazelnut (dark chocolate) toffee, made by a doctor in the Ft. Worth area.  Red Caboose Winery has new fall hours that may not be on their website yet – Thurs, Fri, Sat from12-8 and Sun from 12-5.