This Week’s Market Email – 7/9/10

Dear Market Goers,

Remember how I started last week’s e-mail?

I know this is starting to sound old, but WHAT A GREAT MARKET AGAIN LAST WEEK! 

Well, this last market was even better!  It reminds me of the time I heard a comedian say, “I’m having deja vu all over again!”  The vendors were brilliant, the food was exquisite, the music was beautiful, and the customers were happy and content!  Check out the Purcellville Community Market Facebook Page for the great pictures.

Speaking of our Facebook page, I wrote this entry on Monday.

We had the rock star of Farmers Markets in the US and England at our humble little market this week! Our own home grown gal Nina Planck!!!! She has a new book out called “Real Food for Mother and Baby”, ..check it out on NinaPlanck.com, Realfood.info and realbabyfood.info.

Nina and her mom, the legendary Susan Planck of Wheatland Vegetable Farms, were at the market and if I’m not mistaken, they really enjoyed themselves! 

I took a trip out to Kilmer Orchards on Thursday morning to pick up some fruit for the Dynamic Duo Cooking Event on Saturday and while I was out there, I did a farm inspection.  Good golly.  THEY ARE THE REAL DEAL folks!  I toured acres upon acres of beautiful, rolling orchards of apples, cherries, plums, apricots, nectarines…you name it.  I also saw their rows and rows of berries, asparagus, squash, cabbage, I saw where Mom and Dad live, I saw it all!

Anyway, it was a beautiful way to spend an early morning in wild, wonderful, Inwood West Virginia; which, by the way, isn’t so very far away, especially with a speed limit of 70 mph on I81 in West Virginia(which means I drove at least 78)! I took lots of pictures which I will post on the Market’s Facebook page on SUNDAY.  I learned so much!  I’m going to try to put a Kilmer Orchard fact in each weekly e-mail.  I was truly impressed with their operation, their attention to quality, with Derek Kilmer’s kindness and his pride in his family’s Orchards.  Thanks Derek!  You are awesome! 

Speaking of awesome, Derek is speaking at a Twilight Tour seminar at Clyde’s which is sold out.  It is about how farmers can make the food to institution connection.  Got my tickets weeks ago!

Our beautiful celtic harp player, Ellen James, is taking a break this week.  Her music is so beautiful to open the market with so we’ll miss her.  And weren’t Gina and Mike outstanding last week?  Our Facebook page has pics of them playing their instruments; some with names I can’t recall.

Those two handsome college guys, Sean and Will, will be crooning their original tunes and covers this week.  I need to stop and listen to them!  The week after that will be Julia and Mike Kasdorf, and Janet Emma Garbe, all formerly of One Horse Town.  Pinch me…I’m dreaming!!!

STARTING AROUND 10 am, The Great Chef Mark Marrocco of Magnolias and our very own Lothar, will be performing for you at the Purcellville Community Market!  They will be using ingredients from the market to make a sausage (from Lothar), Steak (from Over the Grass Farm) and Couscous dish.  Then, they will make a market salad with tomatoes, cukes, onions, fresh herbs (from Gonzales, Community Gardens, Singing Frog Farm), cheese (from Oak Springs Dairy) and whatever else inspires them.  For dessert, there will be a delectable cobbler made from Kilmer Orchard’s peaches and red raspberries.  We will be handing out lots of samples!!!

Next week we will have Chris Burnham, aka “The Worm Man”, bringing his composting worms to market to tell people how you can use one of the most essential of God’s creatures to compost your vegetable waste and espouse the benefits of worm castings.  Somebody told me that these particular worms are a species that was brought over in the Pilgrim days on their ships:  Indigenous to England, not the US.  Don’t actually know if that’s true…need to ask Chris…but what a great story, dontcha think?  Those worms and Colston-Bassett Stilton Cheese are good enough reasons for me to love the Brits!

Has anybody noticed our beautiful ad in the Purcellville Gazette?  Please e-mail me if you have seen it  and I will have something special for you at the market.

North Gate Vineyard will be at the market this week with Loudoun County’s best wines! 

The amazingly lovely Pamela will be selling raw, whole milk cheeses at the Oak Springs Dairy tent this week.  Lots of samples at that booth!

1st Avenue Bakery will have Cherry, Blueberry, Key Lime, Lemon Chess, Peach, and Peanut Supreme Pies. They will also have some of their award-winning pie varieties in cool quarter pie containers for hot and hungry customers. I mean literally, they are on ice.  You can just eat your pie at the market!  Or if a whole pie is too much for you and would go to waste, these nifty quarter-pies are the answer to your prayers!  The will also have their To-Die-For-Dinner Rolls for sale.

 The beautiful and vivacious Erica of the Magnolia Girls will have a selection of Scones, Cookies, Pound Cakes, and Sweet Breads this week! Be sure to try their new Blueberry Pound Cake.  Something new for market this week is Oatmeal Coconut Cookies and Oatmeal Pecan Raisin Cookies.  Wow…can’t wait to try those!  What’s not to love?  Oatmeal, raisins, and pecans are three of my favorite things to eat.   So you say, “Yeah, she’s got 4,000 favorite things to eat.”  Hey, I love food, OK?  Be sure to stop by and try some samples; before I do!

Liberty Hill Farm will be back this week with their pastured whole chickens.  Sorry, I forgot that they told me they wouldn’t be here last week.  Their chicken is so darn fresh and good… MAKE SURE you follow my recipe for roasted chicken that I stole from Cook’s Illustrated’s “The Best Recipe”.  E-mail me if you need me to resend it to you.  The breast meat is guaranteed to stay moist and tender on any chicken if you follow this recipe.

 And now a word from the Lothar, the Master German Artisan Butcher:

Hello, it’s me, Lothar your Butcher and I would like to submit
my offers for the Market this week. First, we’d like to thank all
our customers who have braved high temperature to share the
celebration of 4th weekend and for the Gulf Donation ($36.50
and our match $36.50).

 So what we have in our Tresors (Coolers):

1. Bacon Tresor:  English, Canadian-Irish, American, and Black
   Forest Bacon also all with No Nitrate available.
2.  Meat Grill Tresor:  Schwenksteaks, Bavarian Ribs, Rib-Eye,
   N.Y. Strip, Marinated Chuck-Eye, Marinated Lamb Steaks,
   Non-Nitrate Ham: cold or warm delicious.
3.  Bratwurst Tresor:  Nuernberger, Bavarian Country Brats,
   Chorizo, Hot Mediterainian, Sweet VA, Thai style Brats,
   Korean Beef Griller,TEX-MEX, Cajun-Andouillie, Boerowers
   White Brats and  Lothars doppel smoked Farmers Brats.
4.  Weiner Tresor:  Lebrkaes, Muenchner, Weisswurst, Leberwurst.

 On the Grill:   Claro, Lothar’s Bacon-Lovers BLT and Lothar’s Big Brats. Come Hungry! We are prepared.

 Think Global Eat Local.

 King Regards….Lothar,June, and Jack Henry`

Gonzales Produce will have lots of produce from their farm on the Northern Neck where it is 6 degrees warmer, on average, than Purcellville and where they have greenhouses which gives them a head start on our growing season.  

Betty’s Foods will have their fantastic, home-made chips, black bean dip, gazpacho, enchiladas.  Are not those the best chips you have ever tasted?  And a friend pointed out to me that they don’t get stale like store-bought chips and I realized that they were absolutely right.  And if you haven’t tried their enchiladas, YOU ARE MISSING OUT!  They are unbelievably good and you just have to throw them in the oven to cook them.  Nirvana for the lazy!  That would be me sometimes!

The ethereal Meredith Kope and friends from Singing Frog Farms will have TONS of cut flowers, chard, heirloom summer squash, cucumbers, and herb bunches.  And there will be basil and heirloom tomato seedlings for you to plant in your pots or garden beds. 

Woodgrove Lavender Farm will be out of town this week but will be back next week.  Hope you lavendered up!  I put one of their sachets in my pillow case so I could smell lavender as I fall asleep.  Hmmm.   Is that weird?

Rob Young of Community Gardens will be back at the market with his fantastic greens, arugula, sugar snap pea shoots, and his glorious dressing.  He was describing to me a red pepper tahini dressing that he makes when his red peppers come in.  I can’t wait for that seasonal delight!

Message from Judy, maker of Liz Handcrafted Soaps:

Liz Handcrafted Soaps will be at the market with all of their usual scents except Renaissance Man and Bug-Me-Not. We are sold out of those for now. The kitchen has been running 90 degrees or higher, but we are thankful we are not baking all day and using the oven! These higher temperatures create interesting designs in our handcrafted soaps.

You may notice a bumpy texture and an opaque color on the surface of some of our bars. This is very normal and is indicative of higher temperatures during the incubation process (the 24 hours when the freshly-poured soap is
under cover.  Think beach towel cover, since that is what Judy uses to cover her soap molds in order to saponify and create soap). The opaque color you are seeing is actually the natural glycerin in the soap. We could scrape it off, but since it is so good for your skin, we choose not to!   Enjoy your Liz Handcrafted Soap in all of its natural glycerin-glory!

Manna Food For Life will be back this week with a variety of breads and regular and gluten-free baked goods.   

 The Payne Family will be back this week with more blackberries and black raspberries. 

The incredible Mike Schreiber will be there with his fresh fruit smoothies.  Ask for coconut sugar or Blue Agave nectar to make it the perfect health drink. You can also find them at the Purcellville Sports Pavillion, at Mike’s Juice Bar. So refreshing for the vendors and I after a hard day’s work.

Hardworking Hondo of Hondo’s Coffee will be there with free coffee for our customers, beans by the bag, and his pickles, pickled beets, and sauerkraut.  Hondo…please get to the market earlier.  Hey, we love you, but we NEED your coffee in the mornings.

The lovely Sandra of Chef Eloy’s Kickin’ Salsa will be back this week with salsas of many flavors! 

The young, , and handsome John Cockerill of Fort Bacon will be there with his incredible tasting pork and farm fresh eggs, grown on his family’s farm that they have owned since the 1700’s.

The amazing Vera Blethen of F&V Farms Shiitakes will be at the market this week.  Ask her about how she grows those little gems.

Linna the Locavore

Poor Linna has a summer cold this week!  She will be back next week with her gardening tips.  

Check out her sweet gardening blogs at:

http://123foodgardening.blogspot.com/ and

http://locavorechronicles.blogspot.com/ 

And don’t forget, we are on www.loudounfarms.org and we post pictures of happy customers and vendors each pics!  Check the market table for all kinds of info, Flavor Magazines..a great magazine about local foods in the Washington Capital Area Foodshed.  Also check out the flyer about helping OscarDeaver whose Eagle Scout project is a garden that supports Interfaith Relief.  He has a Facebook
page called “Food for the Hungry Purcellville VA”.  He needs volunteers to help him tend the garden.

So come out on Saturday and purchase some great food, have a chat with your vendors and neighbors, sip some fresh coffee, and/or drink a refreshing smoothie (I do both) and have a bite to eat. We will be there from 9 to 1 at the TownHall Parking lot at 130 E. Main Street in beautiful, downtown Purcellville. Look for the cannon…it’s point’n right at us!

Happy Eating and yes, I’M STILL LOATHING THOSE POWERLINES!

Juanita Tool
703.967.0431

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