I have a crush on Okinawa.

I think it's the little things that make you fall in love. I wouldn't say I HEART Okinawa as so many bumper stickers on island proclaim. Not yet anyway. But falling in love sometimes takes time.

Today we went to the farmer's market after I picked Oliver up from school. I usually do this during the day so this was Oliver's first time to go. Since moving here & seeing the sad produce offered by the commissary, the ridiculous prices & wilting veg, I had heard of others going local to by their produce & this idea I liked. Very much. I have been trying to find, for some time, a nice place to buy local & or organic, but mostly local.

Here's a great Time article I read a couple of years ago about local vs organic. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1595245,00.htmll

But I must be honest, convenience plays a BIG part in how likely I am to buy local. We have moved around a lot in the past couple of years even tho our house stayed in KS. We spent time w Ryan in Alabama, Washington & Wichita. Two of those places barley had kitchens & one didn't even have an oven! I would find an odd farmer's market in most places but the demand was low so it would be like, once a week, on a Tuesday night, from 4-8. And about half an hour away. Thinking back to why I had grown so accustom to cans & frozen bags I remembered, it was out of pure convenience not really choice. Then I found a farmers market. About 5 minutes from my house. Open 7 days a week. From 9-7pm. Could this be fate??

Ok, I could go on forever about why I HEART the farmer's market but I'll spare you. Or either devote a whole entire blog to eating local & cool recipes I am trying. But I would like to say that I do heart the fact that my kids use words like, local & natural. And see the importance of food even if they don't know why it's important. But don't get me wrong, I am still likely to throw a Red Baron pizza in on nights I am just too tired to care.

So, tonight we went to the market & it was packed. Let me tell you, I have heard in Japan they love American kids, but here on Okinawa, they really do HEART American kids. Especially mine w their blond hair & blue eyes. Speaking of, where did that come from anyway??

We made our way thru the tiny aisles of the market w our tiny cart. I tried to keep the kids in line. Out of the way. Sumimasen I say, Excuse me. I lock cart wheels a w an older woman, Gomennasai! I'm sorry! The locals, mainly older people for some reason (did you know Okinawa is famous for it's older generation?? There are seriously studies on why people live so long here) love the kids. They stop & stare, They smile. Say Konnichiwa, hello, I tell the kids. Kawai, kawai, which means cute, they say as the pass, patting each on one the head. One older women, who was actually walking in front of her oxygen tank stops to see the kids. Konnichiwa, hello, I tell Mimi to say. Actually I was calling for Mimi & it got this woman's attention bc in Japanese, mi mi means ear! The woman says Konnichiwa & then continues to talk to Mimi in Japanese. Mimi looks a little nervously at her, wondering why she has the oxygen hose attached to her nose. I sense the delay in Mimi's reaction & scared of what she might say (even in English) I continue to move her along the aisle. Next thing I know, the woman is back (pretty spritely, I might add) & drops 100 yen coin in each of the kids hands! That's about a dollar! Oh, Arigato, thank you, thank you, I say to the woman. Feeling a little guilty & embarrased & not sure why.

We continue to peruse the happy looking produce. The lettuces are green & smiling. The herbs are fragrant. Being here always makes me happy. I see lemons, each one wrapped in cellophane & tied w twine. I think I bought it because it was tied w a twine bow. That's marketing for you! Who could resist a happy, little yellow lemon, tied sweetly w a twine bow??? You'd have to be crazy to pass that up! I also grab some gorgeous tiny tomatoes, red & yellow to go w my fresh basil. I have been making bruscetta topping once a week since I started getting these tomatoes. I find the elusive Okinawan strawberry! And I discover why they are so hard to get & expensive. They are possibly the sweetest strawberry I have ever tasted. Like they are wrapped in pure sugar. Each one is a little bite of heaven. I tried one, then had to taste another. Then carefully placed them to the side of the fridge hoping no one would notice them. I let Ryan try one & when his eyebrows raised I quickly clutched them to my chest! NO, only one, I said. I have been rationing them out to the kids, one at each meal...

The beginnings of my bruscetta topping. No, I don't live in a high school cafeteria, I just have stainless steel countertops.

We pass the baked goods section & Oliver spies a pink & white mochi trangle wrapped in cellophane. He insists he has to have it, even tho I know he doesn't love mochi. He may like it, but I'm pretty sure he isn't going to eat the whole thing. I buy it anyway.

At the checkout the woman senses Oliver's urgency to eat the mochi triangle, as he hops up & down, rubbing his palms together. She motions something to me, I nod & then she hands it to Oliver. She has a second thought & then requests it back. I say, She's going to open it for you.

She shows Oliver how to carefully unwrap the cellophane, which is wrapped around it about 1oo times, I might add, then she hands him some chopsticks. She motions to break them but instead he drops them on the floor. She quickly picks up another pair & breaks them in half. She shows Oliver she is going to use the chopsticks to cut the mochi in half & Oliver starts to protest to me. No, I don't want that! he begins but I tell him to wait, be patient, she is splitting it for both of the kids. Mind you, there is a small line beginning to form behind us at the register. I stop looking behind me bc obviously she doesn't mind to be taking all this time w us. I just hope no one else does. She cuts it in half & then skewers each half, producing for each kid a sort of mochi pop. Luckily, Oliver & Mimi both accept. Oyshi! Oliver says, which is yummy. He tells the lady again, Oyshi! She repeats it, Oyshi, arigato!

Oliver & his mochi pop.