Handcrafted Happiness: A Superbowl Sort of Sunday

I love Sunday's in Campbell - the teeny little town that is technically not in San Jose, but, in reality, is very much a part of San Jose. A little more she-she than some parts of San Jose, it is a cute little downtown, consisting of about four blocks worth of restaurants, little stores, and coffee shops. It is home to my favorite knitting store in the area, and an awesome Farmer's Market. To which I am severely addicted. Rumor has it, that Campbell is the second best Farmer's Market in the South Bay, next to Mountain View's. First of all, it's incredible to go to a Farmer's Market in January, and buy fresh produce. This would just be laughed at in Colorado. Secondly, you can get everything there, from homemade sauerkraut to endless produce, twigs and lavender, (yes, one man has a stand of only twisty twigs, pussy willow branches, and dried lavender), and prepared foods. It's such a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning, wether sunny, or drizzly.

Every Sunday, I check out this stand. They only have outdoor plants, so I can't really buy anything from them yet. *sigh* But, it's still fun to look at all the gorgeous plants they have - and they have more and more each week.

Today, I got completely sucked in. I visit the same produce stand each week to get these Asian pears that I am obsessed with. But today, across from that stand, was a beautiful stand, selling bunches of little white flowers for only two dollars. How can you resist that?

They're so beautiful, so simple, and so fragrant!

They also happen to look very cute next to my latest deconstructed bouquet. About two weeks ago, I bought myself a really beautiful bouquet from Whole Foods, because they were on sale, I reacently got a job, and just wanted something really fresh and pretty in my little house. Today, the bouquet finally looked done, except a few flowers still looked pretty nice. So I took em out, and rearranged them in a little coffee mug, to situate next to my Farmer's Market flowers. Obsessed I tell you!

This Whole Foods Bouquet was full of twigs and branches and such, so I stuck those in the corners of my herb basket, between the pot, and the basket, so they can dry out and I will be able to use them all year.

Since it IS Superbowl Sunday, and I am in 49er Territory, I am headed off to a Superbowl party. Everyone was asked to bring a little something, so I picked up some Gruyere, and made the Gourgeres from class. Soon, I'll have my adapted version of the recipe converted back to home measurements (instead of all weights) and I'll put it online, so everyone can make these. Because everyone should. They're so yummy- crisp on the outside, soft and slightly eggy inside, with really intense cheesiness, and a bit of heat from some cayenne, chili powder, black pepper, and red pepper flakes...yum. But until I get the recipe up, pictures will have to suffice.

Check out this spicy cheesy deliciousness.