For the price of that croissant......

.... I could have bought two pounds of just picked zucchini! At the farmer's market in SR this morning to get my weekly portion of zesty arugula and some nectarines, I passed by one of the bakery stands and realized I had not had a decent croissant since I was in France in December. Zut alors!  I knew the croissants from Costeaux bakery were terrible but I was interested in those from some woman's bakery (whose name I immediately forgot).  Croissants in France are ubiquitous, of course, but they are not all equal. Some are thin and very crispy on the outside, some are fat and less crispy and doughy inside, some taste like butter and some don't. I think the best one I had was from a tiny window-shop bakery in Marseilles. Perfect: barely warm, very flaky and crisp and the inside was tender but not doughy.  It cost one euro, about a dollar.

The croissant this morning was quite large. The outside was crisp but not enough for me and the inside was too doughy for me. Now, other people might LOVE this croissant and I am glad I bought it but the nameless woman baker will not be getting any more of my business. The cost?  FOUR DOLLARS!  Seriously!  Merde!

    

Another thing about the FM is the pricing of the wonderful produce. Zucchini range from $2 - $4 per pound!  That's a huge difference in price and come on, it is squash after all. $4 per pound seems way too high, especially since every single zucchini I saw looked exactly the same. None had gold leaf, none had jewels, they were all plain green zukes.  Needless to say, I got the ones that were $2 per pound.  Same thing on the nectarines. My favorite Mexican guys were selling them for $3.00 per pound, which is pricey but they are perfect! Other stands had them for $2.50 - $5.00 per pound. It boggles my mind.



See, they all look the same. They will all taste the same. Some just have a higher opinion of themselves, I suppose.