Back!

Hello all, I’m back at last. Did you miss me? I certainly missed you, and missed the market!

So many good things to come back to – MiniHubbard Squash at Evolutionary Organics and Japanese Turnips at Keith’s. I picked up Tamarack Hollow Bacon (I have missed you SO MUCH bacon!) and a scone for breakfast. I also got some aged sheep cheese with black truffles, and another with white pepper. Fantastic!

There is so much fruit at the market still – peaches at Keenan Farms, and berries at Berried Treasure. I even saw blueberries!

Sadly, no wild mushrooms today, but John Madura was there to make up the deficit.

As promised a picture of the entire cause for the interruption of this blog:

It’s good to be back.

~baconbit

Friday Market

Lots of beautiful farmed mushrooms at John Maduras today including two kinds of oyster mushroom. Lots of greens today from several vendors, and Yunnos had a few cukes up by the register. The Buffalo milk people had a huge stack of gorgeous cannolis! Go get one!

Looking for interesting meats? Grazin’ Angus Acres has marrow bones, Tamarack Hollow has pigs feet, and Bobolink has crusty bread to serve with both of them.

And tons of fresh plants and herbs everywhere.

Have a good weekend all.

~baconbit

Shift

A shift is taking place at the market! We think of Winter as a time of loss and quiet for the market – but this morning was busy as ever – wineries, cheese artisans, meat vendors, hydroponic tomatoes, mounds of potatoes and cauliflowers, all presided at market today – along with bread and apples. I did miss Tello’s but am trying Knoll Krest’s eggs this week instead.
As you know, the upper portion of the park has been under construction. Well, last week they put in the trees and took down the chainlink fence to reveal an excellent new EVEN paving surface. It’s a huge improvement on the old pothole ridden one that I found myself tripping over last year.

In addition – the booths for the yearly Winter Holiday Craft Market are all installed (though not yet stocked) on the southern portion of the Square. This means the farmer’s market has shifted north onto the newly paved area of the Square. Fine by me – it’s even closer to my office now! 🙂

It’s cold out today so one gets the oddity of walking around the market and seeing meat & cheese just sitting out, not on ice. Don’t worry though – it’s colder than your ‘fridge out there today.

Keep warm, all!

~baconbit

The Hunter’s Heart

Today I went to market and as usual, stopped off for my fill of wild mushrooms. Today our man at Honey Hollow had “Hunter’s Heart”, also known as “Totlcoxcatl” when in Mexico. I’ve never had these strange, lumpy, white mushrooms before, but when I am told they are delicious, I tend to believe it. I’ll be thoroughly cooking these over moderate heat tomorrow night, along with some fresh garlic, and steak from Acadian Pastures.

Speaking of meats, there were lovely sausages available everywhere today.

This past peach season has been incredible, and it’s my goal to can some peaches for the cold winter months ahead. To that end, I picked up 16 or so fat peaches today – a dozen for canning in spiced vinegar syrup, a few for making into honey compote to eat with breakfast, and one for snacking on this afternoon.

A lovely day indeed.

~baconbit

Moooooore Ovolos

Just a quick post today – I swept through the market this morning, grabbing this and that. I won’t be home for dinner tonight so I grabbed what could be stashed in the work mini-fridge without too much trouble. That meant no great big frothy bags of greens, or voluminous beans in their pods. Instead I stocked up on meat & eggs for the coming weekend when we have guests. Because I love mushrooms, I headed to Honey Hollow where I got a beautiful 1/2 pint of truffle-like black trumpet mushrooms. They had a basket of Ovolos again and I chatted up another customer encouraging him to try them. Just like I encourage you to!

There’s the maple breakfast sausage this week at Tamarack Hollow – and maple kielbasa! Go get yer sausage on!

I’m hoping we have another week or two of peaches. Peach season has been incredible this year. I’d like to can a few for the cold winter months ahead!

~baconbit

Fairytale Vegetables

It’s a gorgeous day today. Perfect for market. Fat lobster & chantarelle mushrooms graced Honey Hollow Farm’s table, along with an adorable little fruit called “the Mexican Sour Gherkin”. Our man says they are not in the cucumber family but they tasted like it to me. And so CUTE!

Speaking of cute, Cherry Lane Farms had the most beautiful tiny eggplants called “Fairytale”. If I were not allergic to them, I’d buy a couple of pounds, stuff them with whole cloves of garlic from Keith’s farm, and roast them, grill them, or pickle them. Mmm. Little bundles of goodness. Well, for you, not for me 🙂 They are beautiful though, and I loooooove to look even if I can’t eat.

As for me, I’ll have to suffer the lack of eggplant goodness in my life by eating Tamarack Hollow porkchops smothered in chantarelles & garlic. It’s a tough life! Speaking of Tamarack Hollow – they are carrying duck these days! Next week, I think I shall get one!

~baconbit

Meat!

I ran out to market to pick up some bread to round out my lunch, and found out two thing:

1) Today is the last day of fresh chicken at Tamarack Hollow. Go get one! After this they’ll all be frozen.

2) The NY Beef Co. is taking orders for beef quarters and sides. Now, I know most of us New Yorkers don’t have the storage capacity for a quarter of beef – but you can buy with a friend or two. I’m hoping that next year I’ll have a larger freezer, and can do exactly that. Quarters go for $8.50 a pound, and run between 80 and 100 lbs per quarter depending on the cow. They butcher for you, so don’t feel too intimidated!

~baconbit

The Heights

I know, I know, the Solstice is the Official First Day of Summer – but it never feels like that to me. It feels like midsummer. Maybe it’s because of the heat wave we had a few weeks back, or maybe it’s the appearance of raspberries at Phillips Farms. That’s right, RASPBERRIES.

Naturally, I got some of these plump delicacies. Since they are the first ones, they are kind of crazily priced at $6 a 1/2 pint, or 2 for $10, but it’s the harbringer of more to come, and that always bring joy to my heart.

More joy? Across from Yunnos I spied quarts of Mt.Ranier cherries – those are the gold ones that have a blush of red accross them like tiny peaches, to which they are (of course) related. Just gorgeous.

Speaking of Yunno, she says this is her last week of shell peas, and that the “avocado” squashes are the sweetest of the selection. Some Japanese eggplant too, for those who love such things. They were gorgeous – practically black they were so purple.

Plump and lovely chickens today at Arcadian Pastures for $6.95 a lb. They take cards which is a goodness as I didn’t have enough cash, and I have guests for dinner tomorrow!

A fine day at the market – I saw pretty much something of everything, from asparagus to raspberries. Truly, it’s Summer at now!
~baconbit

Summer at last

Something in the air has been making me awfully lax this past week – first I was traveling on Friday, and since I got back I’ve been having trouble stirring myself into action – or timeliness! I’m out again *this* Friday – but I hope to get back on track with you all on Monday morning.

As to the Market – this morning I did my usual circle round but did not see Honey Hollow at all – but I think he mentioned he’s taking two weeks off. Mid June is not an ideal time for mushrooms apparently – and even mushroom hunters need time to catch up on all the rest of the farming season!

I did see a new-to-me meat vendor, the Van Glad Family. I’ve forgotten the name of their farm – just their name is on the card but not the farm name. Whoops! However, they were on the West Side of the Market, near the garden and fountain, if that helps. They have a cute wood-burned sign and sell whole and half chickens at $4.50 a pound. They looked lovely, and Mr. Van Glad was friendly and chatty as I bought a chicken from him. Just now I was chatting with DQ, and she mentioned that she bought a half chicken as well. You can expect at least a couple of perspectives on it soon.

I really don’t have much to say except this: SUMMER has definitely arrived! I can’t even begin to describe the multitudes of produce I saw this morning – it was as though the perfect point between spring and summer had been reached: plump radishes of every color, bright red beets, gold chard, white sweet turnips, parsninps, carrots, tomatoes, lettuces of every description, a plethora of cooking greens, snap peas, shelling peas, sugar peas, baby potatoes, bright red tomatoes, wildly priced strawberries (from incredibly cheap to offensively expensive)…. Today was a harvest of perfect early summer bounty at the market.

That said, here’s a little something to dress all those fresh veggies with:

Strawberry Vinegarette
5 plump strawberries
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 a bulb of spring garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Put all your ingredients into a vessel and blend at high. I like to use a stick blender, but a food processor is fine as is an old fashioned blender. Blend at HIGH until everything emulsifies and you get a frothy, creamy, pink concoction. Serve with your fantabulous salad. I enjoyed it in a salad composed of shell peas, tender beet slices, poached shrimp, and crispy cucumber. Garnish with a strawberry on top

~baconbit

Patience is a Morel

Specifically a yellow morel – of which Honey Hollow Farms has more of! Today he has baskets full of great huge ones, and pre-weighed half pints in all shapes and sizes. I bought a full pint of them.

Last week I was asked about my favorite mushroom recipes – honestly when I get a special mushroom I just do my best to highlight them and not interfere too much. My first set of morels I put in the fantastic Korean pancake recipe. Tonight I think I shall make risotto – a perfect foil for highlighting these spring gems, and a perfect pairing with the last of my garlic scapes from Monday.

I had the names of additional two farms you should seek out today – one with lovely greens (pea tendrils! buckwheat sprouts!) and plants for sale (organic something, at $4 per 1/4 lb) and the other that has great big full quarts of strawberries ($7) that are so fragrant I could smell them from 8′ away…. but all that got erased from my mind (though not my totebag) during my conversation with Mike at Tamarack Hollow Farm. Some folks are partial to Flying Pigs Farm, and make no mistake, they make a good product. I, however, am an unabashed devotee of Tamarack Hollow. Something about Mike’s pigs make my heart and belly sing. It had been far too long since I had his bacon, so I stopped by to pick up a pack and was distracted by his pork confit! I have bought some, of course, and shall consume some as soon as this missive is finished.

By the way : if you are looking for some property in Vermont, Mike is looking to sell his current house. Stop by and chat if you might be interested!

~baconbit
(photo by beingreen)