Boulder Farmers' Market Opens Saturday

We've been looking forward to it for weeks, but here's another reminder that the first Boulder Farmers' Market of the season will be this Saturday, from 8 to 2. I assume there won't be a whole lot to choose from this early in the year, but that's what makes it interesting. Perhaps we'll see some winter squash lingering from the last crop, and maybe the start of the spring greens if we're lucky. Can't wait to see.

A Fun April Fool's Dessert

Here's a fun idea from Bon Appetit for an April Fool's dessert tomorrow, rhubarb fool. I like their idea of using vanilla yogurt instead of the whipped cream. Since the first leaves of the rhubarb in my yard are just beginning to pop out, I'm afraid the rhubarb wouldn't be a local variety quite yet, but it's a great idea.

Good Deals At Lucky's This Week

I rarely check out Lucky's Market since their north Boulder location rarely works for me, which is too bad, since whenever I do get there, they have some great stuff. This week, through April 6th, you can get an organic pineapple for just $1.50! At 77 cents each, they also have one of the better prices in town for any type of avocado, but those are organic also! Other items looking good to me include organic Valencia oranges or yellow onions for 99 cents a pound, organic leaf lettuce or chard at $1.50 a bunch, and organic grapefruit or green onions at 99 cents each. Lots of other interesting possibilities outside of produce, too, like fresh jumbo sea scallops for $10.99 a pound and Niman Ranch New York strip steaks for $11.99 a pound. Lucky people frequenting north Boulder are lucky to have Lucky's.

This Week's Hot Deals (IMHO)

Trying to get around the bizarre lack of spacing that's cropped up to the left, here's an alternate presentation of those good deals that start today.

Wild caught salmon fillet wars thru 4/6: $9.99/lb at both Sprouts (sockeye) and Sunflower (king). Also $9.99/lb on 3/30 only, for certified sustainable sockeye at Whole Foods.

Wild caught cod fillet wars thru 4/6: $7.99/lb at Sprouts, $6.99/lb at Sunflower.

Stew beef wars thru 4/6: $3.99/lb at both Sprouts and Sunflower.

Organic romaine heart wars thru 4/6: $2.50 at Sprouts, $2.99 at Sunflower, each for a 3 pack.

At Sprouts thru 4/6, other deals that look good to me include a "chicken breast bonanza" with all sorts of cuts (including stuffed and ground) at 40% off, stuffed clams or shrimp skewers at 99 cents each, chicken parmesan sausage for $2.99/lb, and Alaskan whole Dungeness crab for $4.99/lb. In organic produce, Cameo or gala apples, or red or jewel yams are all 99 cents/lb, cherry tomatoes are $2.50 a dry pint, and yellow onions are $2.50 for a 3 lb bag. Tillamook sharp or medium cheddar is $4.99/lb, and lots of items in Sprouts' own line are on sale too.

Through 4/6 at Sunflower, in addition to the above wars, they're doing an "ultimate steak sale," with 8 varieties 40% off. Conventional asparagus looks good at $1.77/lb, and in organic produce, strawberries are $2.50 for 8 oz (catch twice that much at Whole Foods on 3/30 only), baby peeled carrots are good at $1.50 for a 1 lb bag, and Gala apples are $1.77/lb. Also looking good are bulk roasted almonds for $3.99/lb, select Ezekiel breads at $3 a loaf, select Near East pilafs and couscous for $1.50 a package, and select Kashi cereals for $2.99 a box (Whole Foods also doing select Go Lean for $3).

Thru 4/12 at Whole Foods, I'm excited about select Stonyfield yogurts at 50 cents each, organic baby carrots at $2.50 for a 2 lb bag ($1.50 for a 1 lb at Sunflower thru 4/6), my very fave WFM seeduction breads for $3 a loaf, and Seventh Generation laundry detergent at $11.99 for the big size. Also looking good are a large spinach and mushroom pizza for $8.99, Cotswold cheese for $9.99/lb, organic navel oranges for $1.25/lb, select Kashi Go Lean cereals at $3 a box (Sunflower doing similar thru 4/6), Annie's mac and cheese at 4 for $3, and yummy Market Made shrimp skewers for $1.50 each (although we've seen those lower than that).

A Blogging Mystery

Highlights of this week's new natural grocery sales are up on the left, but for some reason, Blogspot is suddenly refusing to recognize any line breaks, without my having changed a thing. I've tried all sorts of options, but I can't get it to separate into paragraphs over there. Bear with me, and meanwhile, read through that big block of sales, including asparagus $1.77/lb, steak and chicken breast sales, stuffed clams for 99 cents each, Stonyfield yogurts for 50 cents each, and much more.

Events at Sunflower

The Boulder Sunflower calendar says they'll be doing "local product sampling" from noon to 2 tomorrow, and "simple suppers" from 4 to 6 on Thursday, fyi.

One-Day Sale at Whole Foods Tomorrow

Tomorrow, our local Whole Foods stores will hold another one-day sale, and it's a good two-part one. A one pound package of organic strawberries will be great at $2.50, an excellent price for organic (and not something I'd want to eat in conventional). Also, MSC certified sustainable sockeye salmon will be $9.99 a pound, $5 off their usual price. Good stuff.

Free Compost At Whole Foods

Put it on your calendar. In honor of Earth Month, the Pearl Street Whole Foods plans to give away free bags of compost starting at 10 am on April 14th until they're gone. Here's what they say:

"Thursday, April 14th
Compost Give-A-Way
10 am-till it is gone! FREE
Happy Earth Month Boulder Community!
We will be giving away Free bags of compost starting at 10 am till it is gone.
We hope it inspires you to grow an amazing home garden this year!"

Also, start thinking about Earth Day proper, which will be coming up on April 22nd.

Weekday Dinner Ideas

To get the weekday cooking started, we haven't had anything with rice for awhile, so I'm thinking spring with shrimp risotto with baby spinach and basil from Bon Appetit. It's jumping the gun a bit in terms of local produce, but spinach and basil from the store will be just fine. I might add some asparagus pieces to the risotto while they have some time to cook, or steam it on the side, since the asparagus sales at Sprouts (for conventional) and King Soopers (for organic) are calling me.

Then as usual, we have something big made over the weekend that will serve as an easy midweek reheat, and in this week's case, it's the New England seafood chowder. All you have to do is make a salad for the side.

For Wednesday, we'll go easy again, sauteing some chicken breasts, since Sunflower is doing a 50% off all chicken sale. Breading the boneless, skinless ones with a little panko and herbs dresses them up a bit. Sunflower also has organic russet potatoes for 99 cents a pound, so those will go in the microwave for a "baked" potato side, plus something green, like sauteed chard.

To round out this week's planning, there hasn't been any pasta yet, so I'm in the mood to swing back into spring with pasta with peas, prosciutto and lettuce from the New York Times, possibly adding more asparagus caught before this week's sales end on Tuesday (King Soopers) or Wednesday (Sprouts). Peas from the freezer will be just fine, although Sunflower actually has organic English peas on sale through Wednesday. For the Parmesan, don't forget to stock up by Wednesday at Sprouts, where all bulk cheese is 30% off.

And that will get us through to next Friday's planning.

Fresh Asparagus Price Smackdown

Here's the lowdown on prices I'm aware of for asparagus around Boulder. All were seen yesterday, with the exception of King Soopers, which I still need to get to. In alphabetical order, as always:

King Soopers: organic asparagus advertised at $2.50 a pound with card (don't know their conventional price),

Sprouts: conventional asparagus $1.88 a pound,

Sunflower: conventional asparagus $1.99 a pound,

Whole Foods (seen at Pearl Street store): conventional asparagus $3.99 a pound, organic asparagus $4.99 a pound.

Although I don't get there often, you can see from these prices what a stunning deal King Soopers has on organic asparagus through Tuesday.