Felicia Friesema

Whether in Pasadena, Carlsbad, Hollywood, or Torrance (or any of the dozens of markets open) this week, you will likely find many leeks and blood oranges to chose from on the market stalls. The leek, as its aroma so obviously suggests (hover over a pile the next time you go......

While it's been unseasonably warm this past week, make no mistake, we're actually in winter here. Though no one would blame you if you were confused after seeing heirloom tomatoes on the tables at the markets (yeah, they're from the hothouse). The seasonal clues are there though, specifically in the......

Whether it's doing the heavy lifting in a mirepoix or getting a casual chomp in hand, green fronds dangling cartoon-style, the common carrot is anything but these days. It's one of many market vegetables that we're lucky enough to see year round, but it really hits its stride in January......

It used to be that unless you knew someone with a Meyer lemon tree, your lemon options were limited to the standard and thicker skinned Eureka and Lisbon lemons. The Meyer's soft and pliant skin was too fragile for the packing and shipping standards of the day. But the flavor......

There isn't really a wrong time to eat an onion. You can eat them at the sprout stage as thin light green whisps with their black seeds still attached. And everyone knows the value of a young spring onion here--either green or red--with their bright and savory punch. Mid-summer we......

Wintertime in Southern California requires our farmers to dig a little deeper than usual. While carrots, beets, and other root veggies are available across multiple seasons, they reach their peak flavor when hit by a little colder weather. Carrots and root vegetables are especially sweeter now that we've had a......

In other parts of the country -- the parts with blustery, wintery, freezing weather -- the farmers markets are depressingly closed this time of year. Not so in LA, thanks to dozens of micro-climates that produce year-round artichokes (Suncoast Farms in Lompoc), asparagus (also Suncoast, plus a few others), and......

There are still a few tables of stone fruits hanging around (the September Yummy from Tenerelli pictured here is a new favorite of ours), but in general, the usual summer harvest is slowly making way for the big greens and starches of fall. If summer corn means that much to......

In a land that benefits from the tinkering of an ambitious UC Davis agricultural program, it's hardly surprising to discover that the varieties of persimmons available to the average consumer has nearly doubled in the past decade. But regardless, persimmons generally fall into two categories - fuyus and hachiyas. Fuyu-type......

Approximately nine out of ten wines made in the U.S. are grown, aged, and bottled here in California. We love our wine, and our local restaurants know this, often commanding their sommeliers to construct some of the finest wine lists in the country. For this, we are grateful. Mostly. The......