Canino Market

I ventured out of the house on Sunday morning to meet up with my friend L and family to go explore Canino Produce Market, which is north of the city.  Despite the crappy weather here in Houston, the trip was wonderful!  It's an open air market, but there was s a metal roof overhead to protect us from the inclement weather (however, it also made it practically impossible to hear anything when the rain started coming down in sheets).  Everything was super affordable so I stocked up on a handful of things I don't buy on a regular basis like dragon fruit, pre-opened fresh coconut pieces, a delicious looking locally grown eggplant and spaghetti squash, red lentils, and my favorite - sqaush blossoms!  I've read about squash blossoms in my foodie blogs before, and I'd seen them in specialty markets in tiny little plastic containers for about $8, but here, at Canino Market, I got a huge half pound bag of about 75 blossoms for only $5!!!  More to come on them later this week!  After we explored the produce, I made L and family slosh through the rain to the back of the market to hit up a food truck called Taqueria Tacambro for sweetbread tacos which, if you didn't look too closely at some of the pieces of meat product, were actually absolutely delicious! (ignorance is bliss)  The meat was all browned up and crispy pieces were mixed in with tender ones and topped with lettuce, cilantro, avocado, and lime juice on corn tortillas.  Yum!

Next we headed across the street to the Lone Star Culinary Spice Market.  I had just recently stocked up on spices at the bulk bins in Central Market so I didn't make any purchases, but I loved looking around at all of the spices, dried fruits, herbs, and teas that they offered.  My favorite discovery was this little display pictured above with pretty jordan almonds and brightly colored multi-colored sprinkles next to a jar of, of all things, ground shrimp powder....  so random!  We finished up our trip at Bolillo Bakery right next door.  I WISH I'd remembered to take pictures in there, but I was so transfixed by all of the brightly colored trays of deliciousness that I completely slacked off.  I stocked up on some of their delicious egg-free rice pudding, some egg-free puff pastries spread with jams and fruit fillings, and a couple of their signature bolillo rolls.  Overall it was a fantastic trip and with all of the yummy stuff I bought, the grand total came in at only about $25!!