Butter, Jelly, and Hot Links!

If you dropped by last week's Saturday Market, you noticed the bumper crop of new farmers and vendors, migrating from the now-finished Thursday Bellevue Farmers Market. Enjoying my slice of Veraci's special-of-the-day while I bought my eggs and produce was quite the bonus, except that it led to much juggling when I visited the neighboring stall, Handmade in Seattle by Rome. Handmade features luscious fruit butters and jellies, including a Pear Butter (with or without ginger) to die for. So far I've enjoyed it on cornbread and swirled into old-fashioned oatmeal. More unusual and also worth a taste is Handmade's Sangria Jelly. If you wonder, like I did, what you would do with sangria jelly, imagine spooning it over baked brie and loading the whole thing on a cracker. Uh-huh. That suggestion sounded good to me--I got a jar to share at my next book club meeting. For a complete run-down of flavors and some recipe ideas, check out Handmade's blog.

Speaking of blogs, a friend of mine recently dropped out of the Microsoft grind and has been experimenting with and posting about putting food by, sustainability, and other Pioneer-woman-type activities. She's clever and creative, so check out ContemporaryInsanity.

Eating well doesn't necessarily have to break the bank. Check this link from Eating Well Magazine, temptingly titled, "How to Save $2,997 a Year on Food Without Even Noticing." Thrifty practices include packing lunch and eating leftovers, which you probably will notice, but it's fun to see how many of the suggestions you already implement, so you can feel smug about it. With a score of 5/6, the UrbanFarmJunkie achieved an 83% on the Self-Righteousness Scale. Of course, I could conversely feel depressed by this article. After all, I'm already saving the $3,000, which means this is as wealthy as I get...

And lastly, speaking of depressing and in honor of Halloween, I bring you this article from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, via @unhealthytruth, on Why American Kids Are So Danged Fat (not the exact title). Something to keep in mind as we cast our November ballots, except--oh, wait, that's right--neither political party will touch farm subsidies, no matter how fat and unhealthy we get. All the more reason to vote at the Market with our dollars. Happy Halloween!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Celery

Lemony Snicket

This picture reminds me of the About the Author photos in Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events books--elusive, mysterious. These girls have nothing to hide, but when a stalk of celery is this huge, it has a way of taking over the frame. I found this puppy at Hedlin Farms. And let me tell you--celery this big makes a lot of Ants on a Log. Not to mention soup base, which is more what I had in mind.

All of which is to say, there's still plenty of good food to be found at our Saturday Bellevue Farmers Market, and lots of it. Last weekend I picked up Asian pears, apples, salmon jerky, eggs, green beans, apple cider, danishes, and--yes--giant mutant celery. For a birthday party on Friday I'm coming prepared with my Jonboy caramels, loath as I am to part with them.

Keep the Market in mind for any Halloween parties. I've seen pumpkins--both for carving and for cooking into pies--caramel sauce, and even some bitty-sized apples from Tiny's Organic for you old-fashioned types that still remember how to bob for them.

And for the night when you're not cooking, don't forget it's Seattle Restaurant Week! If you've been a fan of chef demos at the Market, you'll be glad to know several of their restaurants are participating in the fixed-price extravaganza. Check out emmer&rye or Monsoon East or Seastar and let them know you appreciate them supporting local farmers!

First the Bad News

Okay, I've just polished off lunch, my favorite-sandwich-du-jour (roast beef with cucumbers and Ladysmith with Chives on whole wheat) and a Bosc pear, and it's time to deliver the bad news: this is the last Thursday Market of the Season! Who knows where the time went, but it's true. This Thursday, October 14, from 3-7. Don't miss it!

In the balance, I also have good news for you this week:

1. Saturday Bellevue Farmers Markets continue until the Saturday before Thanksgiving. That means you can still stock your feast with local potatoes, carrots, brussels sprouts, and so on. And your Skagit River Ranch turkey, if you remembered to pre-order.
   
2. We'll still have meat, chicken, and eggs on Saturday. Sky Valley pastures their Rhode Island Reds, White Barred Rocks, and various cross-breeds on organic pasture where possible--clovers, dandelions and glorious bugs! They supplement this diet with organic local grains, depending on availability. Good stuff.
   
3. If you haven't tasted the fresh cider from Johnson Orchards, now is the time. Their apple mixture varies by week, but it's always guaranteed delicious. Last Saturday's offering blended Jonathan, Jonagold, Elstar, Empire, and Standard Delicious apples, and around my house we've been portioning it out in precious sips because I came too late to buy the bigger bottle.
   
4. Autumn Martin of Hotcakes has added apple-cardamom-ginger pocket pies to the range of offerings. If you were lucky (and informed) enough to attend the recent "Mobile Chowdown" at Quest Field, you know these pocket pies went like--well--hotcakes at the event, as did the ever-popular molten-chocolate cakes regularly available.
   
5. And my final bit of exciting news, Elizabeth Tasche of Blé not only makes a mean loaf of whole-wheat bread that goes wonderfully with Golden Glen's butter-garlic-sea-salt-parsley spread, but she's also a children's book author! Her work Mimi's Shoes is available exclusively at J. Crew's Crew Cuts store and online. Food for the body and food for thought. Enjoy.

See everyone on this last Thursday and then on Saturdays thereafter!

Season of Mellow Fruitfulness

Check out these beautiful pears I got at the Bellevue Farmers Market on Saturday--the baby ones from Johnson Orchards were too adorable to pass up, and  we almost can't bear to eat them because they're too cute. Apparently there are some folks out there who buy the itty bitty ones and use them in handmade wreaths, but since I can hardly use a glue stick without adhering every stray piece of paper and lint in arm's reach to my "artwork," these pears are in no danger of being merely decorative.

Ah, yes, all that pear and apple abundance at the Market means fall is upon us. Which means the Thursday market has only two more weeks to go. If you've been a Thursday goer, remember that several of our farmers offer CSAs in the off-season (Tiny's and Alm Hill come to mind) and Skagit River Ranch runs a Bellevue Buyers Club for monthly delivery November through April. And, of course, the Saturday market continues through November 20 in its location by Top Pot Donuts.

Speaking of sweets, let me put in a plug for Little Prague Bakery's pinwheel-shaped danishes. I don't actually remember what they were called, but I picked up blueberry-custard and apricot-custard ones before my son's soccer game, and my youngest daughter and I wolfed them both down on the sidelines, while he ran around like a madman and received only a couple orange slices. Good teaching moment about how life is not fair.

While Little Prague danishes and Jonboy caramels might not always be on the menu, our farmers have plenty of nature's guilt-free sweets available. Try the gorgeous and amazing yellow watermelon at Billy's--this variety still has seeds, and I had to explain to my children what to do with them, for Pete's sake. And there were even still raspberries at Canales Produce. Not to mention all those apples, pears, Asian pears, and pluots coming into their own.

Hope to see you these last couple Thursdays!

P.S. For you literary types, the post title is from Keats' "To Autumn." Not my favoritest poet, but I did get a chance to hang out in the house where he died this June, and that kind of thing creates a lasting bond.