A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread, and Thou

That's amore. (Photo courtesy Sea Breeze website)

More new discoveries last week at the Bellevue Farmers Market! You and your true love (or devoted foodie friend) can put together the most delightful gourmet picnic with the help of Vashon Island's Sea Breeze Farm and Tefft Cellars.

Cody and I at Sea Breeze Farm had a great discussion and tasting session. First I sampled their Head Cheese, an item I remember from reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Big Woods:

Ma scraped and cleaned the head carefully, and then she boiled it until all the meat fell off the bones. She chopped the meat fine with her chopping knife in the wooden bowl, she seasoned it with pepper and salt and spices. Then she mixed the pot-liquor with it, and set it away in a pan to cool. When it was cool it would cut in slices, and that was head-cheese (p. 17).

Similarly, Sea Breeze braises and brines the pig's head for a day. Cody laughed about people hearing the name "Head Cheese" and being horrified of getting an eyeball or something, "but most of the meat is from the cheeks."  After tasting a slice, I could see why Wilder remembered it well enough to write about it fifty years later!

Also delicious was their classic French Country Pate with pistachios and onions and the soft, brie-like, raw-milk cheese they age sixty days and call "Vachonbert." I bought a hunk of each and served them the next day on slices of bread from Tall Grass Bakery. Had it not been midday and the kids coming home, our picnic would have been enhanced with a glass of wine from new vendor Tefft Cellars of the Yakima Valley! Paul Tollner and Rhonda Taylor grow many varietals, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Sangiovese, and Chenin Blanc, and, in 2009, they opened a tasting room this side of the mountains in Woodinville. Their motto is "il suo stile de vita"--"it's a lifestyle!"

So even though I bought cauliflower and asparagus last week, the Market is clearly about more than the vegetables! New up this week: Rome Doherty will be there this Thursday with his luscious jams, including Pear with Creme de Cassis and Rhubarb with Lavendar. Say the password "Megan's Visit" and receive $1 off your purchase!

See everyone Thursday.

New Things at the Market!

Wonderful, wonderful, to find ourselves at the start of another Market season! And although I could only grab half an hour between kids' sports and another kid's pick-up time, it was a half-hour well-spent.

There were plenty of familiar and new faces, as well as familiar faces with new offerings or ideas. A quick run-down:

• Hedlin Farms had whole wheat flour for sale. 2 lbs for $4 or 5 lbs for $9.25. Can't wait to try this, especially since I've discovered my kids will eat biscuits made with a mix of graham and whole-wheat flour. Kai also had brussels sprouts plant starts and says they grow pretty well here.

• Itala of Willie Green's  recommends pulsing some baby bok choy into your smoothies (!). A favorite combo of hers: frozen raspberries, baby bok choy, apple or pear, and fresh ginger. Somehow I see my children hesitating over this one, but I'm game to try.

•  New-to-us vendor Hooting Owl Granola sells a wide variety of tasty cereals, including gluten-free options. All fruit is either unsweetened or sweetened with apple juice, honey, or agave. Had to rip the second-grader away before she chowed down all the samples...
  
• Speaking of samples, we also hit up new House of the Sun "raw organic vegan cuisine." If you haven't worked up the energy to make your own kale chips, give theirs a try. Delish. Light and crunchy and perfectly seasoned. House makes entrees and sides and desserts. Have no idea what the "Incan-Goji Torte" tastes like, but it looks very tempting. Not only do they sell at the Market, but they also offer a raw food delivery service to home or office. Check out www.houseofthesunrawfood.com for more information.
  
• Finally, Philip Lee of mobile bookstore Readers to Eaters had a great table set up, including many books I've read and written about for this blog. He carries cookbooks, children's books, foodie-type memoirs. Good stuff. If you've got children's birthday parties up the ying-yang this time of year, think what a great gift a picture book and a food item would make. My second-grader, for example, got wildly excited by all the "baby" vegetables, with Willie Green's baby turnips sending her into squeals of delight. Move over, stuffed animals!

If you didn't make it opening day, plan on coming by this Thursday. Parking lot of the First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue (1717 Bellevue Way NE) from 3-7 p.m. The forecast is for sunshine!

Market Opens this Thurs!

The only hard part will be deciding on what to eat--thank heavens the Season runs through October. How else will I manage my usual pizza and crepes and soup and Mexican and then try the new Indian food? Add to that, Skagit River Ranch will be grilling up their delicious burgers on Opening Day.

Alas, it's too soon for berries, but there should be plentiful greens and fresh vegetables from the hothouses. My plan for Friday dinner is a Chef Salad, accompanied by a good sourdough loaf from one of our bakers. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it!


Bellevue Farmers Market Season Kick-Off Chef Salad

leftover ham from Easter OR Skagit's "ham nuggets" OR a can of F/V St. Jude Tuna, if you're pescatorian
boiled eggs from Skagit River Ranch
fresh lettuce of your choice
hothouse cucumber of your choice
hothouse tomato of your choice
chunked cheese of your choice (I'm thinking Golden Glen cheddar or Queso con Salsa)

Drizzle with dressing of your choice.

See you at the Market! 3-7 p.m., parking lot of the First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue.

Eat Local and Eat Smart

10 days till Bellevue Farmers Market's Opening Day! Join us Thursday, May 12, from 3-7 p.m. in the parking lot of the First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue (1717 Bellevue Way NE).

Low-Nutrient Mutant Carrot

It's been a long, gray, cold, rainy spring. After months of eating sad produce from far, far away, I'm eager to sink my teeth into something picked that very morning from the rich soils of Washington State. Speaking of rich soil, check out this article in Scientific American, which reports that, "Modern intensive agricultural methods have stripped increasing amounts of nutrients from the soil in which the food we eat grows. Sadly, each successive generation of fast-growing, pest-resistant carrot is truly less good for you than the one before." In just a little over twenty years, levels of various vitamins and minerals in popular vegetables like carrots have dropped from 21-37%! The study's recommendation? "Those who want to get the most nutritious fruits and vegetables should buy regularly from local organic farmers" (my emphasis). All the more reason to get your hands on those fresh spring greens, peas, beans, and carrots!

If you're pregnant or hoping to become pregnant, it's never too early to eat pesticide-free. Studies conducted by research teams at "Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the school of public health at the University of California, Berkeley, all conclude that pesticide exposure during pregnancy could negatively affect brain development." Children tested over a period of years showed a correlation between pre-natal pesticide exposure and IQ levels. Click here for the ABC video.When you buy at the Market, feel free to ask our farmers how they feel about pesticides! While not all farmers at the BFM are certified organic (it being a very expensive, involved process), many of them do not use pesticides.

Even we full-growns would do well to lower our toxin intake. For your reading pleasure, I leave you with this article from Glamour magazine relating the dangers of all the hormone-mimicking chemicals we find in our homes and diets. As the mother of a preadolescent girl, I agree wholeheartedly that women have enough going on with their hormones that the last thing they need is unwelcome hormonal boosts from their environment. And I'm sure men don't want the extra fake-estrogen coursing through their systems either...

So finish off those dried-up Cuties and mealy apples and low-nutrient carrots--clear the crisper for this season's bounty, local, nutrient-rich, and largely pesticide-free!