I present to you Hungry Bear's ginormous fruit salad. On Thanksgiving, we had the latest version of her giant fruit salad with cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon, pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, kiwis, persimmons and mandarin oranges. The fruit selection is usually seasonal, but we are fortunate to get good fruit year round in San Francisco.
Similar to Hungry Bear's Chinese sticky rice, the mega fruit salad is a featured item at our holiday feasts. You maybe asking, "Is it really that big?" Yes, the fruit salad is humongous. We actually weighed it this time and the fruit came in at 20 lbs! The bowl is 6.5 inches deep and has a diameter of 14 inches. That's a lot of fruit capacity... 3.1 gallons!
Why is there so much fruit salad? I often ask this question myself. It's not like she's feeding a football team. At most, there are 15 people at our largest gatherings, with plenty of other food and desserts. The reason why there is so much fruit starts with Hungry Bear's refusal to buy half a melon because it's not as fresh. She typically begins with a whole cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon and pineapple, which is a lot of fruit. Next, to balance the flavors (sweet versus tart) and colors, a lot of berries and tropical fruit are required, which yields a 20 lb fruit salad.
Hungry Bear's love for leftovers is the ultimate reason why all dishes are bear-sized, i.e. quadrupled. On Thanksgiving, the fruit salad was a huge hit as always. It was very refreshing after a heavy meal and a great interlude before the apple, pumpkin and pecan pies. We had a ton of leftover fruit and everyone was more than happy to take some home.
Now you have the story of Hungry Bear's ginormous fruit salad!
The Serramonte Farmers' Market in Daly City is one our favorite markets in the Bay Area. We like the Serramonte market because it's relatively small but has a good selection of vendors and plenty of parking. The market can get busy, but it's never a mob scene like other markets in the area. The farmers' market is not a tourist attraction and has a more homey feel, where the locals do their everyday shopping. That's the primary reason Hungry Bear goes there on a regular basis.
We took a trip down to the market this past Thursday and returned with a bounty of fruit and food. Hungry Bear has had a regular strawberry vendor for the last several years, but tried a new one several weeks ago. After tasting the strawberries from several vendors, we have decided to switch to the new one, Rodriguez Farms, for the foreseeable future. Their organic strawberries were the sweetest and juiciest.
This past Thursday, the mountain grown blueberries from Rainbow Orchard were very delicious. Likewise, the apricots from CMC Farms were quite good. We also picked up some chicken and beef piroshkies. We enjoyed the piroshkies (Russian meat filled pastries) but since this was our first time trying piroshkies, we have no basis for comparison. Another new find was the purple Thai chili peppers. I've had red and green chilies, but I had never seen purple ones.
A popular vendor at the Serramonte market is Roli Roti Gourmet Rotisserie. You can't miss this stall. Just follow the wonderful aroma of rotisserie chicken to his stand. He also had rotisserie pork knuckles on Thursday. It looked really good with sizzling pork fat dripping down from each knuckle. I had to pass on getting it because we just had BBQ flank steak the previous day... next time!
Another busy vendor is Gold Rush Kettle Korn, which is next to Roli Roti. We have never tried his kettle corn but there's always a line of people waiting. If nothing else, it's interesting to watch the kettle corn making process.
No shopping trip is complete until something chocolate is purchased. We achieved this goal by getting a big chocolate brownie that was shaped like a muffin. The brownie was good, but I could have used a little more chocolate flavor. As always, it was another successful shopping trip at the Serramonte Farmers' Market.
Location & Hours:
Serramonte Mall Parking Lot
3 Serramonte Center
Daly City, CA 94016
Thursdays & Saturdays 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
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