If you're a regular reader of Like to Cook or my blog, Chez Loulou, you will know by now that I love a good outdoor market.

We have our little Tuesday morning market just down the road in Olonzac and the bustling Saturday morning food market in Carcassonne is a wonderful, lively place to get some shopping done.



Most of our fruit and vegetable shopping is done at the market. I also purchase goat cheese made a few villages away, eggs from a local farmer, our neighbor's honey, local olives, olive oil, fish from the Mediterranean and succulent, juicy roast chicken and potatoes to take home for lunch. At the other end I can buy kitchen utensils, purses, clothes, shoes, scarves and jewelry, and buy or trade used books.

You can find me almost every week, in almost any weather, sauntering through a local market with my basket loaded down with the week's purchases.

Some of December's offerings at the markets here in France:
cabbage
leeks
jerusalem artichokes
turnips
endive
carrots
swiss chard
clementines
pears
apples
bananas
pineapple
scallops
oysters
lobster
turkey
capons
foie gras

In the States, Amanda at Figs Olives Wine has a mouth-watering list of what's on offer at the markets in the New York area.