Farmers Market Delights
Farmer's Market Loot
This past week I was on vacation in the lovely state of Maine. I ate so much Lobster drenched in butter my skin turned bright, cherry red... well, not really... but it should have. Given my excessive eating over this past week, I plan to gorge on fresh fruits and vegetables for the next 7 days and revitalize my system. To get started I went to the St. Matthews Farmers Market this morning (a quick 3 block walk from my house) and bought a plethora of fresh, local, in-season produce.I started out my morning with a Market Crepe from Pigalle Crepes filled with Heirloom Tomatoes, Basil, Sweet Corn and Farmer's Cheese - divine! Luckily, I was there early enough to miss the long line that forms for this perfectly textured French necessity. To wash it down I ordered a cup of freshly brewed Tanzanian Peaberry coffee from the tent next door, Sunergos Coffee, a tasty local Louisville coffee roaster. Once I had a little breakfast to get me moving it was time to peruse the vegetables and make some tough decisions. How to narrow down all those summer gifts from the earth to a few select choices?
Market Crepe
Sunergos Coffee
Luckily, I was quickly sidetracked from decision making by the beautiful, handmade, Kentucky wood crafts from The GreenHouse Wood & Fiber. I ended up purchasing a lovely Maple Muddler and a Cherry wood cutting board. The cutting board is only finished with a Bees Wax rub, and they give you a jar of it to buff it yourself to repair any scratches or cuts in the wood after use. The Bees Wax also acts as a natural antibacterial agent and helps keep the surface healthy for food preparation. After my unexpected kitchen gadget purchase, I made my way back into the people swirling amongst the booths.
See how happy that little girl is? It is because her Mom owns BabyCakes!
The baked goods from Cake Flour called my name, as they often do. I can't go to the market without making a visit to this booth - today my baked good of choice was a Rosemary Cheddar Scone. I often frequent their store front on Market in the NuLu Arts District in downtown. I have yet to have a sweet or savory good from this Organic and Natural baked goods company that hasn't delighted my taste buds. While I'm on the subject of baked goods, I'd like to make a shout out to BabyCakes Cupcakery. They have yum, yumminess cupcakes. I mean really, you can't go wrong.
Heirloom Tomatoes
Now to get to the true star of the farmers market, the produce. The tomatoes this time of year tumble off the tables at the market. Bright shades of red, orange, yellow and even purple brighten the tables of almost every farmers booth. It took me a while to make some decisions - for larger tomatoes a Cherokee Purple and Stuffer variety (the latter being hollowed out like a pepper inside and perfect for stuffing), for the smaller variety an Heirloom assortment of Yellow Pear, Sun Gold, Chocolate Cherry and Lemon. The Squash variety this time of year is equally amazing - Spaghetti, 8 Balls, Ghost and Multi-Colored Zucchini to name a few. Then there were the peppers - I picked up all varieties of hot and sweet peppers, Jalapenos, Banana. So good. Eggplants, Sweet Corn and Red Okra. Peaches and Watermelon are in season all over the South so I made sure to grab both. I'll have sliced Watermelon all week and Peach Cobbler next weekend. I saw an amazing variety of fingerling potato called Rose Finn. It has the shape and coloring of Ginger Root. Oh, and I bought the cutest little honey bear you've ever seen, only about 2 inches tall.
I am so excited for the goodies I brought home and I'll be sharing my culinary creations with you this week. In the meantime I wish you a lovely weekend full of good eats.
Oh, did I mention the flowers? They're lovely.
Zinnias
