This Week’s Market E-mail 11.13.10

Dear Market Goers,

Dancing at Bush Tabernacle Dedication

As I sit at my computer, sipping some steaming brown rice green tea, steeped in chunks of ginger, lots of lemon and honey, trying to get over this danged virus, I am warmed by sweet thoughts of my small town, Purcellville…..

It was a chilly fall evening and I put on my coat and gloves, wrapped a scarf around my neck, and headed out for the dedication of Bush Tabernacle, previously known as “The Skating Rink”.  It’s only a few blocks away so I cut through my neighbor’s backyards using my cell phone to light the way (you see, in Purcellville, most people don’t get all crazy when you cut through their backyard to get somewhere).  I walked in and there were quite a few people there.  The setup seemed a little stuffy, lots and lots of chairs in rows in front of the stage, and people just sitting.  It was nicely decorated with party lights draped on the beams and walls, giving the room just the right amount of mood lighting.  I stood at the back and chatted with people I knew…you couldn’t get a seat near the stage where “The Fabulous Hubcaps” were going to perform.

Mayor Bob got up to speak, kept it short and then the Hubcaps started playing.  Everybody seemed a little stiff and uptight but I’ve noticed that audiences around this area silently watch performers and don’t really give them any encouragement until they have made a decision as to whether or not they like the act.  Then, if they do, embrace the musicians wholeheartedly during the second half of their performance and demand encores (tough crowds)!  A few songs in, some brave souls got up and danced, mostly women of course, dancing with each other or by themselves.  People with music in their souls don’t need anyone else to accompany them.

After the first break, people started loosening up.  Lots of women got up and danced, husbands and wives that obviously had some practice graced the dance floor.  Couples that hadn’t had a lot of practice together danced just as well.  Meredith, of Singing Frog Farm and her friend John Brown danced so sweetly together , as well as Mayor Lazaro and his lovely wife Carolyn…Judy Stearns and her husband, Candy Hayes and her friend.  At one point, a conga line formed and traveled the perimeter of the rink.  By the end of the evening, the mood had shifted considerably to one of pure joyfulness.  Nary a person was seen without a smile on their face and a kind word to say to friends or strangers.

After the encore, people streamed out of the building into the cool fall air, bundled up against the night’s chill, with smiles on their faces.  I happened to walk out the door with a group of women in their 50’s, a couple of them with men friends;  the women I had seen dancing, eyes shining with dreamy looks on their faces as they swayed to the music.  They suddenly burst into the band’s parting song.  “Goodnight sweetheart, well it’s time to go.  Goodnight Sweetheart, well it’s time to go.  I hate to leave you, but we really must say, Goodnight sweetheart, goodnight.”

They kept singing until we hit the middle of the parking lot where they all went their separate directions to find their cars.   Their voices rang out as they threaded their way through the parking lot, “Bye Candy”, “Bye Linda”, “Bye Amy”……I smiled in the dark and a good, warm, earthy feeling settled in my soul despite the temperature.  And I thought about how women are really the anchor of the earth….how they thrive on their connectedness with their friends and their community and how they drag their men around to functions like this to keep them civilized and connected, and how important that is to the quality of life in our communities.

What great people, what a great town.

Here’s a video of an acapella group doing two songs, the second of which is Goodnight Sweetheart.  It will make you smile!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tqPQGL2aE0&feature=related

If the weather holds up and their fingers don’t freeze, Sam and Tabitha of “Mucho Gusto” will be back this week!  MUCHO BUENO!!!!!!  Love their music…check out their cd on http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/muchogusto.

Ellen James, our fab Celtic Harpist will be there for the last hour of the market.

KNITTER ALERT!!!! We’ve only got three hats in our HATS FOR HAITI DROP BOX – Soulstitch, a local community group, would like to send 400 hand knitted or crocheted hats to the St. Helen’s orphanage in Haiti for Christmas.  The orphans (between 7-18 years old) live in the mountains and actually don hats when the temperature dips below 70 degrees.  Our deadline for mailing is early December.  Use acrylic or cotton yarn (no wool yarn – too warm) and for free patterns go to www.knittingpatterncentral.com.   We need approximately 133 youth small hats, 133 youth large hats and 133 adult size hats.  Please consider making a hat and spreading the word to any group or anyone you know who knits or crochets or would like to learn.  Bring your finished hats to this market each week.  If you have any questions or would like to pick up yarn, please contact Monica Deaver at 540-338-6057 or mojoknits@comcast.net.  For information about Friends of the Orphans in Haiti (the organization we are working with) or to make a contribution go to www.friendsoftheorphans.org.  Thank you!

Here’s who is at the Market this week:

Last week was it for Gonzales’ Produce as they had a severe frost and they don’t do winter growing.  We really enjoyed their great veggies and those sweet guys Juan and Luis!  So this week we have a local purveyor of greens and butternut squash.  David Giusti, who rents land from Wheatland Farms, just down the road, will have have Tatsoi, Tuscan Kale, Dinosaur Kale, mustard greens, turnips and Butternut Squash for sale this week.

Lothar, the WORLD’S BEST German Master Artisan Butcher will be at the market this week with his incredible sausages, meats and Market BLT!

Message from 1st AVE Bakery:

This week we will be at the Market with offerings of our Peanut Supreme Pie, Apple Pie, Coconut Cream Pie, Pecan Pie, and Pumpkin Pie. Don’t forget to put in your order for your holiday pies. Treat your family and friends to the finest home-made pies in Virginia.

Thanks for visiting our website. We look forward to seeing you at the Purcellville Community Market on Saturday November 13th, 2010.

Thanks,

Violet & Bob LaBrecque

1ST AVE Bakery, LLC

The Magnolia Girls will be there this week with all the flavors of the fall! Stop by and try some samples!

Chef Christopher Carey, of Harvest Market, DC, will be back this week with incredible prepared foods made with fresh, local ingredients.  This week’s menu:

Shredded Beef “Carnitas”
Carrot Hummus Dip
Grilled Sweet Potato Salad
Root Vegetable Bisque
Bordelaise Sauce

Harvestmarket will also be offering pre-orders on Thanksgiving sides:

Cranberry – Ginger Sauce – $15/qt
Wild Rice with Dried Cranberries and Pecans – $16/ 2lbs
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Savory – $15/ 2lbs
Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Fall Spices – $10/ 2lbs
Glazed Root Vegetables with Honey and Thyme- $16/ 2lbs

Rob Young of Community Gardens will be at market this week with the his incredible greens mixes and arugula.

Liz Handcrafted Soaps will be at the market this week!  Here’s a message from Judy, the Soapmaker

This week Liz Handcrafted Soaps will have fresh batches of Satsuma Orange w/Vanilla Specks, Plan B, Bayberry, Amy’s Vanilla, Lemon Poppy Seed, Red Clover Tea, Sea Fresh, and Orange & Clove for your bathing pleasure. We still have a few bars of Autumn Afternoon, and we also have the following holiday scents: Berries & Twigs, Cinnamon Bear, Myrrh, Spiced Fig, Red Currant, Mistletoe, Gift of the Magi, and Chocolate.  Just stop by, pick up your favorite bar of soap or gift bar, and say hello to Ken. He’ll be happy to see you at the market!

You might have noticed that last week we had a new beef vendor called What’s for Dinner Now? (www.whatsfordinnernow.com.  What a nice family and great addition to our market!  They raise all natural pasture raised, grain finished beef.

Joey Coburn, owner of Cornerstone Bakery is bringing her fantastic tasting cupcakes and “Pupcakes” week. Here is a message from Joey:

With the change of weather I definitely appreciate customers coming to the market to buy cupcakes.  We will have the same great flavors this week which include Pumpkin, Maple, Gingersnap, Chock Full of  Nuts, Carrot Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese, Vanilla, Espresso, and  Mexican Chocolate.  These flavors will be around until Thanksgiving and then almost all the flavors will change.

Are you a fan of our delicious cake donuts?  We were thinking with the Thanksgiving holiday coming up and most of us having family visiting it would be nice to have breakfast taken care of.  Think about ordering donuts for your family and guests.  If you pre-order you can be assured of the flavors you want and I will box them up in a bakery box ready for your morning guests.  I will take pre-orders through the end of the year for all your holiday needs.  Just e-mail me at joey@cornerstonebakedgoods.com by 5 pm on Thursday and let me know what you would like and I will have your box reserved at the market.  You can also order them at the market for the next week, whatever works for you.  The donut flavors are vanilla, cinnamon sugar, chocolate coated vanilla, chocolate, chocolate glazed and chocolate coated chocolate.

We will have Doggie Delicious Cookies and Pup Cakes at the market.  Look for upcoming yogurt glazed Doggie Delicious Cookies coming soon.

If you like one-stop-shopping look no further.  We will be offering the perfect holiday gift.  A bakery box filled with delicious cupcakes.  Each box will have three each of Chocolate, Peppermint Stick, and Eggnog cupcakes.  The cost will be $15 which is a great deal!  This gift is perfect for teachers, bus drivers, hair dressers, house cleaners, co-workers, clients or anyone else on your list.  The good news is that you can get the same gift for everyone and they will all love it.  Get lots of your gift giving done at one time.  To discuss pre-ordering, just come see me at the market or e-mail me at joey@cornerstonebakedgoods.com and let me know what your needs are.

Liberty Hill Farm will have their fantastic, pastured chicken, fresh eggs, and whole wheat bread and pizza dough this week.

Hondo will be there this week with all of his excellent homemade products as well as his non-local products… He makes Red Hot, Horseradish, Garlic, and Half-Sour pickles as well as pickled beets, pickled okra, pickled green tomatoes, pickled garlic, and a spicy hot pepper mélange.   He will also have his non-local products:  three NY Style pickles (Kosher Dill, Full Sour and Half Sour) and sauerkraut.

Kilmer Orchards regrets they were unable to make the market last week due to illness.  But they will be here this week.  Don’t forget to pick up fruit for your kid’s lunchbox and pack their lunch!!!!

We are so happy to have a “Local Artist’s Tent” at the market.  Dave Levinson of Loudoun Landscape Photos (www.LoudounLandscapes.com) and Deborah Morrow of Cowgirl Smiles (www.cowgirlsmiles.com) will be in the tent this week.  Stop by and see their beautiful work.

The “Smoothie Guy”, Mike Schreiber, will not be at the market until the weather gets warm again.  We miss him but if you have a hankerin’ for a fresh fruit smoothie, you can find him at the Purcellville Sports Pavilion Juice Bar.

Oak Spring Dairy will not be at market this week.

Chicama Run will be back next spring.

Linna the Locavore

Part of gardening is enjoying what you sow- so I am diverting from ‘garden talk’ to food talk this week!  With the cold weather setting in, root vegetables like carrots,turnips, and beets are easy ‘go to veggies’ because they are great in soups, roasted, and in stews!  Now turnips don’t get a lot of attention, and honestly I don’t enjoy eating them raw, but when I found this recipe, I became a believer! Similar to ‘potato pancakes’, these Turnip Pancakes are so very tasty.  Check out more on turnips and to see the TURNIP RICOTTA PANCAKE recipe!  (http://www.examiner.com/food-gardening-in-washington-dc/getting-to-know-the-turnip)

Be vocal.  Eat, think, and buy local!

And don’t forget, we are on www.loudounfarms.org and on Facebook, where we post pictures of happy customers and vendors each week!  Check the market table for all kinds of info, cookbooks, recipes,community events, local businesses, health information and my favorite magazine, Flavor!

Don’t forget to RECYCLE YOUR EGG CARTONS, berry containers and WINE BAGS.  Thanks to all of you that do.  There’s a basket in the middle of the market where you can put those items and we willgive them back to vendors.

So come out on Saturday, purchase some GREAT food, have a chat with your faithful vendors, happy neighbors, and enlightened folks from other communities and sip some fresh coffee and have a bite to eat.  We will be there from 9 to 1 at the Town Hall Parking lot at 130 E. Main Street in beautiful, downtown Purcellville, VA.  Look for the cannon…it’s point’n right at us!!

Enjoy!

Juanita Tool

703.967.0431

Marna’s Chili Recipe

Ingredients

Serves 4

*   2 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces (I actually used 1 Tbsp of Bacon Bacon from Tastefully Simple)

* 1 onion, coarsely chopped

* 3 cloves garlic, chopped (1 1/2 tablespoons)

* 2 tablespoons paprika

* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

* 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

* 1 small, green chile     * 2 chipotle peppers in adobo (approx. 1 1/2 Tbsp)

* 1 1/4 teaspoons salt

* 1/2 teaspoon pepper

* 1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck (I just used regular ground beef, though)

*   1 can beans

* 1 15 oz can of tomatoes (diced, pureed, or whole stewed tomatoes that I cut up — whatever you have)

* 1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar

* 1 cup water

* Beef stock (add until you get the consistency you like)

* Chopped jalapeno, chopped onion or scallion, grated cheddar cheese, lime wedges, and sour cream

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until just beginning to brown, about 4 minutes.

Add onion and garlic, and cook for 30 seconds. Add spices, chiles, salt, pepper, and ground beef.

Cook, stirring occasionally, and breaking up the meat with the side of the spoon, until the beef is cooked through, about 10 minutes.

  1. Stir in water, tomatoesl, and vinegar, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid thickens, about 20 minutes. It may be necessary to add beef stock to thin the chili. Serve hot, garnished with desired toppings.

White Chicken Chile with Poblanos

6 cans chicken broth

2 lbs chicken breast

2 cans navy beans

6-8 poblanos

1 sweet onion

1 yellow onion

couple cloves garlic

Adobo seasoning

black pepper

1 sweet red pepper

Roux

Boil chicken for 20 min in chicken broth and water.  I didn’t use 6 cans…I just used whatever I had and used water to make up the difference…I figured the chicken itself would make the missing broth!  While chicken is boiling, dice ingredients. Remove chicken, cool and shred with a fork.

Add to chicken stock:  garlic, Adobo to taste, poblanos, navy beans, onions, and red pepper.  Cook for at leastanother 1/2 hour, along with the shredded chicken…

When you are happy with the flavor, make a roux with 1/4 to 1/2 stick of butter and 4 tbsp or so of flour and add to chili to thicken.

If you have time, sauté the garlic and onions in olive oil, then add the poblanos, red peppers and Adobo seasoning, sauté longer, then add to broth along with chicken.

One Response So Far... Leave a Reply:

  1. Bonnie Deahl says:
    December 4, 2010 at 8:18 am

    Hi Juanita,
    I am happy to see your newsletters being online! I have enjoyed reading the past issues for this season thinking about how much this market has grown. You promote the market and raise all the vendors to the high pedestal they deserve. Thank you so much for the white chicken poblano recipe. I have wanted to make it ever since you made and brought it to the Wednesday market. I can’t wait to make a batch..
    Bonnie