Love the angles and the landscaping.

Today’s shopper is Lauren Johanson, co-founder of YourDailyThread.com. (She and co-founder Tracy Hepler were also the guests at the Green Booth today.)

Lauren is going to make Tuscan Winter Tomato Soup. She starts by blanching the tomatoes, peeling them, and then coarsely chopping them. Then she sautes chopped garlic (onions are optional) in a generous amount of olive oil. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper, and cook down a little.  To serve, Lauren takes toasted bread and breaks it up on top of the soup (think large croutons), plus shredded basil, and if you like, some grated parmesan or red pepper flakes. Sounds delish!

New at the market this week: Cali Farms Gourmet Meats with grass-fed beef, lamb and goat. This is Timothy Martin and Ibrahim Mesallem, who’ll be here selling in Mar Vista. The farm is outside of Stockton, CA, and I am very excited to have them here in our market. I bought some lamb chops and grilled them very simply, based on something I saw Mario Batali do on TV, and they were fantastic. I highly recommend them.

This is an original post by Sarah Auerswald for MarVistaMom.com.

Sunday at the MV Farmer’s Market, The Green booth will host the founders of Your Daily Thread, an online magazine for the eco-curious, and I totally recommend coming out to meet them.

Oh, and I understand there’s some sort of sporting event on Sunday as well.

Hosted by the West LA Democratic Club, Ted Lieu will moderate this forum presenting all the candidates vying for his seat in the State Assembly. All candidates listed on the Club’s site.

Not happening in Mar Vista, although it’s close by, and we are located in the 53rd District. So if you’d care to see all the candidates hoping for your votes in the primary in June, here’s your chance to see them all in one place.

7pm – 9:15pm (doors open at 6:30) at the Venice Center for Peace with Justice and The Arts, 2210 Lincoln Blvd @Victoria, Venice 90291. Free street and lot parking.

This is sweet.

Today’s shopper is Elise Derby, who writes Elise’s Ramblings, and she’s going to make Potato Leek Soup. Start with leeks — clean them and separate the white parts from the green. Boil the green parts with chicken stock (or vegetable stock if you prefer) for about 20 minutes, then remove the green leeks from the broth. Meanwhile, saute the white parts of the leeks with chopped onion, a little garlic, a little thyme and diced potatoes until soft. Add the leek and potato mixture to the chicken stock and boil down for another 15 -20 minutes until the potatoes are super soft, then blend it all up and serve with a lovely baguette. Today at the Green Booth, Sherri Akers and Jeanne Kuntz were spreading the word about the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase, coming up on April 25th. There’s more information about adding your garden to the tour on their website.

New at the market today — raw cane juice. And just in case you have some knives or scissors that are in need of sharpening, Gary’s Knife Sharpening service is at the market each week and they do a great job. Here’s Mike sharpening my knife today!

LA Bureau of Street Services was hard at work this week trimming the enormous trees in front of the Mar Vista Post Office and all around the neighborhood.

Here’s their before: And after:

Saturday 9am – 3pm Walgrove Elementary is holding an electronics recycling event. 1630 Walgrove Ave.

Saturday 10am – 12pm Kate Anderson needs precinct walkers. Ms. Anderson is running for State Assembly in the 53rd District and needs volunteers to walk the precinct with her. Call John Montgomerie at 310-391-2689 for more information or email info@kateanderson.org.

Saturday Night at the Fanatic Salon see The Trans4merz with WaterBrains and The TuskegeExperiment 8pm. $10 admission.

Sunday at the Mar Vista Farmer’s Market the County Dept. of Health will again offer free h1n1 vaccinations + the MVCC Green Committee booth will be promoting it’s Green Garden Tour coming up in April for Earth Day. 9am – 2pm, at the corner of Venice and Grand View.

And I applaud the decision.

Mar Vista has its share of medical marijuana shops already — in my opinion, more than its share. So, many are welcoming this action by the Council. I know I am. I hope it will mean closing some of these stores, one of which just opened recently 2 blocks from 2 schools. Please understand that I believe marijuana can be used medically — and that it should be available for those who need it. I just don’t like seeing a pot dispensary on every corner. Having a Starbucks everywhere is bad enough. I would feel the same way if there were liquor stores cropping up all over my neighborhood. The market is saturated, people. Find another way to do business: form co-ops and collectives with each other.

Mark your calendars and get ready to see green! The 2nd annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase will take place on Sunday, April 25th all over Mar Vista. Hosted and organized by the Mar Vista Community Council Green Committee, the Green Garden Showcase is a chance for homeowners to display their drought-tolerant, California native, eco-friendly landscaping. If you’d like your home’s green garden to be on this year’s tour, please contact Sherri Akers at Sherri (at) MarVista (dot) org. Or just stop by the Green Committee’s booth at the Mar Vista Farmer’s Market on Sundays and they’ll help you get signed up.

*Photo courtesy of Sherri Akers