Siskiyou Crest Goat Dairy, Pholia Farm, Wood I Kid You? and Romano beans

The big market news of the week concerns Siskiyou Crest Goat Dairy. Actually, it was pretty big news all over the state - on the evening news, in the MT, and even on OPB. After working very hard to become licensed as an Oregon Grade A dairy, they have decided to give up that license since it makes it more difficult for them to sell the raw products that many of their loyal customers desire. They will continue in operation using a “herd share” model in which each customer is part owner of the herd and therefore entitled to the raw milk products. There will be convenient locations for each customer/owner to pick up their weekly milk and cheese, perhaps even at the Growers Market(s). Stay tuned or contact them at 541-899-1694 or siskiyoucrestgoatdairy@gmail.com. You can read more at http://sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2010/08/oregon_farmer_renounces_dairy_license_to_support_raw_milk.html or see a short video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T9kAr__mIc or listen here http://news.opb.org/article/11874-q-goat-farmer-adopts-herd-sharing-arrangement/

And speaking of goat cheese, it’s time to speak of Pholia Farm. Although this is their first year at the Growers Market and many local people are not yet aware of them, they are no strangers in the world of fine cheese. Previously their limited amounts of aged cheeses were only available in select cheese shops in New York and Chicago and at the Rogue Creamery in Central Point but they decided to drop Artisan Cheese in NY in favor of local community distribution. It’s a family operation named after daughters Phoebe and Amelia and Amelia remains at home helping Vern and Gianaclis Caldwell in all aspects of production.

And what a production it is! My daughter and I were honored to join Gianaclis for a day of cheesemaking last year. Clad in special white sanitary garments, we watched as Gianaclis made the fresh curds and then were given the task of rubbing the “Hillis Peak” with oil and Spanish smoked paprika (one of my all time favorite ingredients!) being careful to turn each cheese as we did before putting them back in the cave for further ripening. I don’t know how she ever found the time, but Gianaclis has written The Farmstead Creamery Advisor to share her expertise with others plus she teaches classes to small groups.

After our time in the dairy it was out to meet the goats and go for a walk with them into the woods to forage. They are Dwarf Nigerians and though they don’t produce a great quantity of milk it is of high quality and dense with nutrients yielding wonderfully complex cheese. It’s a small herd and every member of the family knows each goat by name. Three livestock dogs live with them and protect the herd at night from predators. When the kids are born the Caldwells set up the “goat cam” so you can watch them frolic on line.

Another interesting aspect of the farm is the technology that runs it. It is completely off the grid though not lacking in any of the amenities. Vern gave us a tour of the powerhouse and the solar and hydro arrays that provide all the power they need for this first class operation. A large earthen cheese cave was also in the works.

You can learn more about this amazing family and place on their website http://www.pholiafarm.com/home.htm but better yet stop by and sample and purchase their wonderful cheese at the Tuesday market. Amelia’s first cheese of her own creation will be available soon and I can’t wait to try it!

Tuesday I stopped at a craft booth that had always intrigued me and was not disappointed with the items I found there. Wood I Kid You? Is the home to all kinds of hand crafted wooden objects, all of them beautiful and unique – honey dippers, mirrors, boxes, rolling pins, bottle stoppers, barrettes, desk clocks…well, you can just about name something and find it there! And you can find things you hadn’t ever heard of before. How about a spurtle? Made of myrtle? Sounds a little Seussish but it is actually a traditional Scottish tool for stirring porridge. I bet my Kilmarnock grandmother had one! And then there was the perfume pen, a charming item with a tight fitting lid and a hollow shaft with a wick for adding just that little dab when you are out and about. Pretty cool if you are into aromatherapy. If you are shopping for that difficult someone who has everything or just loves charming handmade items from a skilled craftsman, stop by and chat with Tim Cebulla and he will find you, or make you, just the right thing! Tim brings his wares to all three markets.

Romano Beans! One of my favorite summer vegetables and I found them this week at the Upper Rogue Ranch stand. I was particularly glad since the pole crop I planted with my sunflowers to serve as the “poles” has not done very well, although the bush type I planted later is doing beautifully and is now in full delicate flower. If you are not familiar with this variety I really suggest you give them a try. They are quite long, about 8 inches, and flat ,and are best with the tiny bulges of the bean just showing. You can cook them as you would any green bean but my favorite way is slow cooked. The secret is to not add water, and you need patience and a fair amount of intuition. Here is my recipe adapted from the Zuni Café Cookbook by Judi Rodgers, one of America’s most talented chefs.

Check the beans for dirt and wash or wipe off if necessary, patting off any excess water. Remove the stem end but the tails will be ok. Cut them into 2 inch lengths and toss them with good olive oil (Rogue Valley Brambles of course!) using 2 tablespoons per pound and ½ t salt per pound. Add a couple cloves of smashed garlic and a pinch or two of red pepper flakes if you’d like.  Place them in a heavy casserole with a tight fitting lid on the lowest heat. If you hear them sizzling after 10 minutes, put a heat diffuser under the pan to lower the heat a bit more. You only want to hear the barest sizzle. After ½ an hour, lift the lid and quickly stir and replace. The trick is to retain the small amount of moisture in the bean pods to interact with the oil. Stir every half hour. It takes about 2 hours and you will know when they are done when the beans are just melted into the oil at the bottom of the pan and the bottom beans have begun to color. If some moisture remains simply remove the lid and let it cook off. Cooked this way they are meltingly tender and delicious. Unctuous come to mind.

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It may feel like summer is winding down but the harvest is really just beginning - tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant, beets, greens, and garlic and onions and corn and peaches and so much more. If you like to put some summer away for the winter in jars or the freezer now is not too soon to load up. And it’s not too late to get some winter vegetables in the ground. I stopped by and got lovely little cauliflower, Romanesco broccoli, and kale at Wagon Trail Gardens. Vicki plants in little soil cubes that are really easy to pop into your prepared holes and to fill in those little nooks and crannies where something just came out. There are no plastic pots to recycle and a couple of mine even came with red wigglers eager to get in the dirt. She has herbs and lettuce and other things as well.

Located in the Thompson Creek watershed of the Applegate Valley for the past four seasons, Barking Moon Farm always arrives at market with a lovely variety of perfect produce. But this year they have added something new to the mix – value added products. First off the line is kimchi made with their vegetables and produced in the certified kitchen of neighboring  Mellonia Farm. Ingredients are napa cabbage, carrot, mustard greens, green onion, ginger, and red pepper flakes – all certified organic of course! – sold in ½ pints and pints. Other fermented jarred products will be coming soon. AND if you are one of those who suffers separation anxiety when the market closes for the winter, fear not! For the second year running Barking Moon is offering winter CSA shares. Between December and February you can receive 6 boxes of supplemental produce (salad mix, spinach, potatoes,onions, leeks, rutabaga, kale, carrots) to see you through the dark days. There are only 40 shares available so ask about it soon at the booth or check out their great website for more details http://barkingmoonfarm.com/ The website also features some really good recipes for all their market bounty. Barking Moon comes to the Tuesday and Saturday markets.

Since I have a new garden this year and some weeds and pests that are also new to me I have been making use of another “vendor” at the market – The Master Gardeners Booth. Operated by volunteers from the Southern Oregon Research and Extension Service of OSU, these knowledgeable folks come to market with their expertise and the guidebooks to answer your gardening questions about plant disease, insects, varieties, planting times, soils, etc. to help you help your garden thrive. Just bring your problem in a baggy to the market and they will happily help you identify and treat. They are a tremendous resource and the facility on Hanley Road in Medford is also there with a plant clinic, horticultural library, classes, and advice for home gardeners as well as commercial growers. Here’s the website http://extension.oregonstate.edu/sorec/home Volunteers are at the Tuesday and Thursday market.

Do you like to gamble? Then you might be interested in a delicious game I call pepper roulette. The game pieces are padron peppers from Abbie Lane Farm located in Gold Hill. One in ten of these tasty bite size beauties is supposed to be hot so there’s an extra element of surprise when snacking on them. (They will give you an easy recipe for preparing them as done in Spain for a tapas offering.) Another interesting vegetable they offer is Piracicaba, a broccoli variety originally selectively bred in Brazil for heat resistance which, as you have probably noticed, makes it particularly useful for the Rogue Valley. I’m a broccoli lover but this variety tops my list for taste. In fact, one of the hallmarks of Abbie Lane is the wide selection of unusual produce and plants that they offer - gooseberries, ground cherries, jujubes, antique apples, heirloom vegetables, bitter melon, kaffir lime and other citrus, available as plants and harvested produce. The last time I visited I was introduced to a remarkable herb called spilanthes (toothache plant) which research shows has powerful antibacterial properties. They have lots of standard produce as well at their double wide booth, all certified organic, and I just about guarantee you will find something new and interesting on their tables!

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Hello everyone! I fell behind in my blogging so this may be a long one! Summer gets so busy for us all but just imagine if you were one of our farmers or other vendors! Last week I did two demos and believe me the hauling, early arrival, and packing up gave me a greater appreciation of what our market people do to bring their wares to us! Not to mention their production time…

Kristen Lyon, personal chef and one of the chefs at Farm to Fork, made delicious wild mushroom bruschetta with produce from Mushrooms All Year at the Tuesday market and then, inspired by wonderful tomatoes donated by Nolte Farms, followed that up with tomato crostini using Deux Chats bread. Due to electrical needs this demo was in the armory but hopefully we will be able to squeeze in future events on the beaten path where more people can enjoy them.

Then on Thursday I manned the kitchen and featured a little known vegetable grown by one of our founding farms. Whistling Duck has been growing in our region for almost 20 years and for the last few Vince and Mary Alionis have included edible “weeds” in their broad array of vegetable and herb offerings. Since they propagate themselves freely and often begin growing where we don’t want them the virtues of these healthful plants are often overlooked. Lamb’s Quarters are a mineral rich member of the spinach family, higher in nutrients than their domesticated cousin, which is no slouch itself, and have a lovely purple blush on the undersides of their leaves. They also have domesticated dandelion leaves, another nutritional powerhouse.

 The “weed” I featured is called purslane in English but is known for its value by many names worldwide. It is called verdolaga in Spanish from its botanical name portulaca . It is actually higher in Omega 3 fatty acids than some fish oils and is also loaded with anti-oxidants as well. Commonly added to salads for its lemony crispness or used in green smoothies, it is also good cooked and I chose a simple recipe from the southwest. Coarsely chop the leaves and stems and sauté them lightly. Add gently beaten eggs and cook until they set. Add grated cheese. Simple, delicious, nutritious! Eat as is or add a little salsa and fold it into a tortilla! If you add it to a soup or stew it brings thickening power along with its nutrients. For the demo I used Rogue Creamery Touvelle which is a young  cheese that melts beautifully and some of their butter with a bit of Rogue Valley Brambles olive oil. The eggs were from Runnymede Farm and were enormous with bright golden orange yolks. I served samples folded into Katrina’s tortillas. As always, it’s all about ingredients.

Speaking of tortillas and salsa, be sure to stop by Katrina’s booth for some of the best of both, and tamales too, and an agua fresca to revive you on a hot market day. If you are used to store tortillas you must try some of hers fresh from the grill. They are soft and pliable and full of good corn flavor.

What would summer be without strawberries? Some of the tastiest I’ve found this year come from Joshua Farms. Produce manager Antonio Ruiz brings the berries from the farm in Sam’s Valley to the Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday markets and their farmstand is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 4366 Old Sams Valley Rd. By mid-August they will also have melons and okra so be sure to watch for that!

Don’t forget the Tomato Taste-off! This is one of the most popular market events of the year for gardeners and tomato connoisseurs as well and takes place at all three markets beginning with Saturday the 14^th. Bring your garden’s best or just come to taste the wonderful variety!

The Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market invites you to its very popular annual tomato taste-off. Bring in the biggest, tastiest and strangest  tomatoes you can find and see how they compare to other tomatoes from our area. Local farmers will also have their tomatoes on hand to be judged and sampled as well. Rogue Valley Growers will give away market bucks to the tomato taste-off winners. The annual tomato taste-off starts on August 14th at the Ashland Saturday Market, August 17^th at the Ashland Tuesday Market, and August 19^th at the Medford Thursday Market.   

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We were all saddened by the sudden death last winter of one of the market’s favorite vendors, Pasta Dave. Although his cheerful face and gentle humor are still missed, we are fortunate that the pasta niche has been filled.

Sarah Wallace has a booth offering fresh linguini, fettucine, and pasta sheets. Pine Knob Pasta takes its name from the hill where she lives and produces although the name may change due to some customer confusion about pine as an ingredient! Her booth is located at the crux of the Tuesday market and is easy to miss since that is a place where people stop and chat with friends as their paths cross. Keep an eye out for her and her delicious wares. I am particularly happy that the sheets are available since they are perfect for lasagna and cannelloni – no need to precook since they soften and absorb the filling while baking. Coming soon! Rotini, elbow macaroni, and rigatoni!

And since it's good to have choices, you can also check out Sherry's Pasta. Sherry Henney comes to market from Jacksonville and started her business as therapy while recovering from that scourge of women, breast cancer. She offers an assortment of all organic flavors and cuts, including an egg free semolina and a gluten free made with brown rice and quinoa flours. I cooked up her herb pasta the other night and it was delicious tossed with some parmesan. One bag served four comfortably as a side dish.

In the realm of things ready to pop into your mouth right on the spot be sure to stop by Turkish Delight. Yasem (aka Sam) Altunel, his wife June, and children Murphy and Troy offer up excellent authentic food from apple iced tea to baklava but the specialty is doner kebab, most frequently known as gyros in this country. Just follow your nose and you will find yourself in front of the special vertical grill used to prepare the enormous lamb/beef kebab and smiling Sam carving incredibly thin slices to heap on a grilled pita topped with fresh vegetables, yogurt, and hot sauce if you wish. Oh my! Seriously tasty…

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Steel My Art & Frolic ‘n Fibers, Mushrooms All Year, Pickled Planet, and Kids Day

My first visit was to an intriguing crafts booth – Steel my Art & Frolic ‘n Fibers. Husband and wife Les and Diana Rasmussen are the creative partners here; Les does the charming metal cutwork designs and Diana spins the wool from their Angorra goats and llamas. I learned that Angorra goats have more hair than other breeds and that it is known as mohair. (You can remember that they have “mo” hair.) When we chatted on Thursday, Diana was carding and spinning the beautiful soft and fluffy strands and she also had a lovely display of died yarns for sale. Yes, yes, it’s summer time but true market people know the cycle of the seasons and if you get started now you could have a lovely warm hat with market memories when those chilly winds inevitably blow.

I was charmed by the cut steel art. The plucky little chicken particularly caught my eye but if you have a different barnyard favorite you are likely to find it. I didn’t ask, but I’d bet a custom order could be placed if you wanted your critter to have hooks for hanging hats, etc. The hats you’ve knitted of course! There are also nice garden sayings, UofO Ducks signs, owls, and eagles, etc. Everything is suitable for outdoor or indoor  use.

Then I paid a visit to Louis Jeandin at Mushrooms All Year. Louis is a knowledgeable mycologist and offers fresh and dried wild foraged and cultivated mushrooms. He is also a source for good recipes using them! I particularly love the porcini (“little pigs") and there are few simple dishes quite so good as pasta tossed with some sliced and sautéed in butter and good olive oil and a grating of parmesan cheese, maybe some fresh parsley as well. A touch of cream? Perhaps.  Louis also has huckleberries, that particularly Northwest cousin of the blueberry. Huckleberries are smaller and sweeter even than the blues and he will have them fresh in August but also sells them frozen now. For a great easy seasonal dessert check out this recipe inspired by Elizabeth David’s 1955 book Summer Cooking. It’s make-ahead and absolutely delicious. I plan to use Louis’ huckleberries in the next one I prepare. http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/2006/07/recipe-for-summer-pudding.html Louis is at the Tuesday and Thursday markets. If you are looking for a gift to send away, think about a bag of his dried morels!

I also stopped by to say howdy to my friend Courtlandt Jennings at his booth, Pickled Planet. “Co” specializes in live, organic, naturally fermented sauerkraut. Suffice it to say if you think you don’t care for kraut the chances are you have only experienced the commercially produced and heat treated stuff. Pickled Planet uses the natural lacto-fermentation process that preserves the vitamin C content and creates the natural lactic acid bacteria essential for healthy digestion.

This process also enhances the natural flavor of the vegetables and Co offers several unique flavors and vegetable combinations. The beet kraut might just be my favorite and the color on the plate is stunning. But if you’re a garlic and heat fan the kimchee could be right up your alley. Or there’s the one with a Moroccan flavor profile and of course Great Plain, and Dill E Gent. And, oh, there’s a new Mexican one with plenty of jalapenos. Well, you’ll just have to stop by and try a sample. And then there are the pickles – full sour, half sour, garlic dills. What’s a summer picnic without a nice crunchy pickle? Or a sandwich with some tangy sauerkraut? Really, check it out. Co will be very happy to tell you more. http://www.pickledplanet.com/

I want to remind everyone that the Tuesday and Thursday Markets will be having Kids Day next week, the 6^th and 8^th of July.  There will be fun events for the kid contingent (donut eating contest, cherry pit spitting contest, spinning demo by Frolic ‘n Fibers, clowns, balloons, face painting, etc.) You can contact manager Mary Ellen for more info at 541-261-5045. This is a great way to introduce your children (and grandchildren) to the joys of local eating and community so we hope to see lots of little ones there for the fun!

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The week of June 20 ~ 24

Here’s another smiling face for you to meet. It’s Heidi Dawn, the manager of the Saturday Market and she’s there to help you with any questions you might have. Stop by the market booth and say “hi”. Heidi is working hard to make it possible for people who can’t make it to the Tuesday or Thursday markets to have access to all the wonderful fresh local produce our farmers provide. At the risk of repeating myself I’ll suggest again that if you regularly go one of the other markets you will find some other vendors there who make Saturday their one day to bring their offerings to you.

One such is Summer Jo’s from Grants Pass. Besides being an organic farm, Summer Jo’s is also a  restaurant and artisan bakery. Nancy Groth, the woman behind all this remarkable enterprise, will be there with a variety of items to put in your basket and to tell you about the menu there as well. This farm/restaurant combo is well worth a visit, either as a destination or when en route to or from the coast. An alfresco meal on the lawn (breakfast, lunch, and dinner Thursday – Sunday) is delicious and reminds me of Midwestern farm picnics of my youth (minus the pickled water melon rind!). And you can stroll through the herb and flower gardens as well. All in all it’s very relaxing and enjoyable and the food is always superb. If you can’t make it to the farm, you can get their wonderful baked goods, beautiful eggs, and fresh produce at the market – Saturdays only!

The Saturday market has some restrictions imposed by the city so you will find fewer craft booths and no prepared food but a great concentration of farm products. Shopping there is a great way to have the absolutely freshest for your weekend meals! Plus it’s just a hop and a skip to the Coop for your other needs.

On Tuesday I stopped by the Navickas Bros Upper Rogue Organic farm booth for a chat and a snap. They still had some of those great fleurs de shallot and some beautiful delphiniums. They are raising chickens this year although the girls aren’t quite laying yet. Ask them for a chicken trading card!

I also spotted some gorgeous new potatoes at a booth I didn’t recognize. It turned out to be Bigham Farms, one of the longtime market stalwarts, but their sign was not up. I met 14 year old Brandon who helps with both the farming and the market booth.  And I discovered something that I hadn’t known – their produce is organic. I followed up with his dad at the Thursday market and he informed me that they haven’t gone for organic certification since his sales are so good without it that he doesn’t see the need to incur the expense and of course without the certification he can’t say it is organic. I bought some of those potatoes and if you read on you will see what I did with them.

Then it was on to The Asparagus Guy. I never quite get his name but he raises 8 acres of the lovely spears in the Applegate Valley. He uses nitrogen fertilizer, but no pesticide sprays. You will see a picture of them further down the page. I frequently say that it is a shame the local movement came along after the organic movement. I feel it is better to buy local than corporately farmed produce, even if it is organic, that has traveled many miles at great carbon expense. And that goes along with eating seasonally. Fortunately for asparagus lovers like me, this has been a great season!

These two crops illustrate another issue. The Environmental Working Group has created a list of 49 fruits and vegetables ranked in order of their pesticide residues. Asparagus is #7 at the top (best/cleanest) of the list and potatoes are near the bottom (worst) of the list at #39. It’s a handy guide if the price differential between conventional and organic is significant in your budget. You can see the list here http://www.foodnews.org/fulllist.php  Since I love the spuds and eat them frequently I always buy them organic.

Then it was on to Whistling Duck for some certified organic beets. Oddly, they aren’t even on the list. Perhaps not enough people eat them? Well they should! Not only are they delicious, they are low in calories, heart healthy, and loaded with antioxidants . But mostly, they are delicious! And easy to prepare.  Usually I simply simmer them, with their tops and roots still on, until tender when pierced with a skewer or thin knife, anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes depending on the strength of the simmer and size of the beets. Then rinse them under cold running water and slip off the tops, skins, and roots. Sliced, diced, or grated and tossed with a little rice vinegar and some agave syrup they make a great side dish, hot or cold. For a little extra work, try roasting them, which really intensifies their natural sweetness. Scrub them and toss them whole (again with tops and roots) with some olive oil and salt, and wrap them in foil. This time I added a couple slices of lemon as well and put them on the grill with the heat turned down to low. They took about 40 minutes to be tender and as soon as they were cool enough I used a small knife to pare off the coarse tops, skins, and roots. And don’t forget about the greens. It’s like getting two vegetables for the price of one! Rinse them well and steam them or wilt them in a pan with a touch of oil.

Since I was grilling, I continued that way with the potatoes. The tender peels rubbed off easily, I quartered them, drizzled with the last of my Brambles olive oil (better remember to take my jar next week!), and stuck sprigs of thyme and rosemary between the quarters. Reassembled and wrapped, they went on the grill with the beets and were done in a half an hour and were deliciously scented with the herbs when their little packets were unwrapped.

Then it was on to asparagus; pretty much the same treatment with a sprinkle of oil and salt and then directly onto the grill for a little char before grilling some lamb round steaks to go along with the vegetable feast.

I’d also gotten some fresh fava beans at Whistling Duck. This is another of those strictly short season delights which is somewhat unknown in this country. They are commonly planted as a cover crop since they are cold hardy and of course capture atmospheric nitrogen and bring it to their roots and hence to the soil. The fava is an Old World bean and has been cultivated in the Mediterranean world since 6000 BC. There are several varieties grown and the dried beans are the base of the dish ful medames known as “breakfast for a rich man, lunch for a laborer, and dinner for a pauper”.  Although the very young beans can be eaten pod and all the more mature beans are eaten shelled. You will find them encased in the cottony bed of the pod and then each individual bean, unlike New World beans, is encased in an outer shell. If they are sweet and fresh this can also be eaten (what’s the harm in a little extra fiber?) or the bright green inner bean can be slipped from the skin.

To simplify the preparation, I immerse the pods in boiling salted water and cook them for 7 or 8 minutes and rinse them under cold water. The beans slip right out and are ready to eat and at this point you can add them to a pilaf as they do in Iran or simply toss them with a marinade and eat them as a snack. If you don’t care for the grayish outer shell, simply squeeze the bean and eat the tender green heart edamame style.

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Hello, and welcome to the Rogue Valley Growers & Crafters Market blog for 2010! I’m Susan Powell and I’ll be blogging here weekly throughout the season to share what I find with you and some ideas of what to do with all the abundance available at our three markets. I’ve been shopping at the market since there were just a handful of growers under the Water St bridge in Ashland and I never cease to be amazed at all the new and delicious offerings our local farmers, food producers,  and creative crafts people have to offer. There’s always something new and exciting to discover as our regional economy continues to blossom and I am looking forward to visiting all the vendors and learning more about them – their farms and kitchens, growing tips and recipes, artistic endeavors – all the things that give our valley its unique character. If you usually attend only one of the two Ashland markets or only the Medford I suggest you shake it up a bit and go to one of the others and discover some vendors who may be new to you.

Some website updating and the general busy-ness of people’s lives have somewhat delayed putting the blog online so this will be a long one!

Tuesday 6/15

The first person I met at market today was Mary Ellen De Luca, the market manager for the Tuesday and Thursday markets. If you have a question, look for her smiling face. Or stop her to say thanks for working so hard to make our great markets happen!

My next stop was at Deason Peonies to admire the beautiful display of these seasonal perennials. You can buy just a single flower, or a potted plant, or order roots for Fall planting. The variety is amazing. I fell for Krinkled White. Ginnie only comes to the market while the peonies are in bloom but if you miss her you can find them here http://www.deasonpeonies.com/ Even a single flower is a joy and they last well in a vase.

Then I stopped by the Recession Candy Company for a sample of their exquisite toffee. My favorite is the coffee toffee made with Peet’s Sumatran beans. Oh boy, what a treat! Kay Cutter and Jean Bakewell started the company when hard times hit us all hard last year and their candy is a silver lining in that dark cloud. You can get a 4 oz bag to munch on or better yet get the bag in a delightful little black box decorated with Jean’s whimsical art. It makes a great gift and when the toffee is gone the box remains for all those little treasures and necessities…

My last visit was at a booth I’ve always been intrigued by but passed in my hurried quest for vegetables or plants – the Japanese Thread Balls! These beautiful decorations are made by three generations of women, led by the 88 year old matriarch Asae Speer. She comes to market with her daughter Hannah Christel and the supply is augmented by granddaughter Michelle in Arizona. The balls are an ancient craft originally from China but adopted and refined in the 700’s by the Japanese. They are not associated with any particular holiday but are traditionally given as gifts to mark special passages in life - marriage, birth, anniversaries, friendships, graduations, etc. Each one takes at least 10 hours to make and the core is bound with 1000 feet of thread even before the exquisite decoration is applied. Check them out! Really. They are amazing, and if you can’t choose, Asae will take a custom order. It’s great to see such time honored craft practiced today, and here in the Rogue Valley.

The week of 6/8

One of the best things about the market is finding something you never even knew about; something whose season is brief and of the moment.

This week for me it was fleur de shallot. Don’t you just love the way that rolls off the tongue? And even better is the way it rolls on the tongue. These are the flower stalks of the shallot, similar to garlic scapes but not curly and with a taste on the oniony side. I found them at the Navickas Brothers but it was rainy so I didn’t take a pic. (I’ll get one another time guys!) They’re so lovely I just enjoyed them in a vase for a few days before I got around to cooking them. I added some to a pesto and sliced the rest into lengths to match the wonderful peas I got from Runnymede Farm –peas that are just the essence of Spring, peas that love the rainy cool weather we’ve been having, peas whose pods are so tender they are practically translucent. I dressed them lightly with some Rogue Valley Brambles extra virgin olive oil and tossed them into a hot wok – first the shallot flowers to give them a bit of a head start and then the peas just to get them hot but still stay crisp.

The week of 6/1

This week I am helping a friend with a party for 20 of her closest friends, soon to mine as well! Here’s a picture of my market haul. 

The menu will include grilled flatbread with green garlic pesto and wilted spinach and pa amb tomaquet with grilled vegetable toppings. Don’t let the name throw you! It rhymes with “come to market” and is simply thickly sliced hearty bread, toasted or grilled, then rubbed with cut tomato and drizzled with a tasty olive oil, a specialty of the Catalan region of Spain. Think bruschetta (we all know what that is by now, but maybe more about that later…) It’s perfect for those first tomatoes and Rogue Valley Brambles extra virgin olive oil just like that or with a choice of market vegetables to place on top – grilled Spring onions, peapods, asparagus, garlic scapes, and cheeses from one of our fine local makers. This is a delicious quick snack or potluck offering. I forgot my camera but the next night I went to a potluck so I’m including a picture of that platter here where you will see grilled garlic scapes. These were from Rogue Valley Brambles and were just lightly tossed with their olive oil and thrown on the grill. I served them with scissors to cut them into serving size bites…

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