WE'LL BE SEEDING YOU
Hot days mean cool meals are just the ticket. Wouldn't it be handy to have tomatoes, onions, lettuce and cilantro growing on your patio, so you could toss together a Taco Salad for dinner tonight? Learn how to build your own deck garden this weekend at the Mercato. Join Tiger Palafox at 11 am at the Mission Hills Nursery booth for step by step instructions on planting your own recipe pots. He'll be handing out free seed packets to all attendees, and selling bedding plants for not-so-patient gardeners.

THIS WEEK'S LINEUP
Joining the Mercato starting this weekend, Little Italy's French Garden Shoppe will bring French mustards, pickles, jams, dried flowers, autumn candles and more to enhance your lifestyle. Sea Rocket Bistro is back this week with their grilled fresh sardines, and Springhill Farms has a fresh batch of cheese. With our burst of hot weather, shoppers will find it hard to resist Viva Pops' upscale popsicles (we're partial to the Chile Mango). And of course, Asian pears, apples, figs, brussels sprouts and heirloom tomatoes are among the many wonderful fruits and vegetables in season at the Mercato this week.

HOT HOLIDAY GIFTS
The holidays will soon be upon us, and the Mercato is a great place to shop for gifts. Artists at the Top of the Market offer fabulous jewelry, pashminas, sculpture, tablecloths, handmade soap, olive oil carafes and more. Our farm and food booths can help, too. Check out Suzanne Goins' wonderful Sunday Dinner at Lucques cookbook at Schaner Farms, artisanal salt and grinder sets at disegno Plus, and Burning Sensations' Sauce of the Month club for hot gift ideas.

MER-TACO SALAD RECIPE
With hot days lingering this month, meal size salads are just the thing for dinner.
Start with a big bowl of salad greens from Santiago Soto.  Slice red onion from Gama Farms into rings. Chop ripe tomatoes from Kawano Farms, avocados from Koral Tropicals, and tomatilloes from Sage mountain Farms into chunks. Dice red and green chiles from Sage Mountain Farms. Arrange on top of greens. Top with shredded cheddar from Springhill Farms and a sprinkling of ripe olives from Lisko Imports. Our favorite easy dressing? Diablo Salsa from Burning Sensations whisked with a bit of plain nonfat yogurt, with salt and pepper to taste.

Shop the Little Italy Mercato every Saturday from 9 am to 1:30 pm, year-round. Shop Date Street from Kettner to Union

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TINKU VERY MUCH
Well-loved International band Tinku will get you moving to the music at Date and India this week. At the top of the market, jazz and pop stylist Mike Case will entertain at Date and State.

Musicians interested in playing at the Mercato can contact mercato@littleitalysd.com for more info.

REACH MERCATO SHOPPERS
Mercato shoppers eat all week long! Advertise your restaurant or lifestyle items in the Mercato Monitor, the newspaper that covers the pulse of the Little Italy Mercato. Email mercato@littleitalysd.com or call 619.233.3769 now!