Showing posts with label market. Show all posts
Showing posts with label market. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Eat Local: Rosemary Potato Wheat Bread



I walked into the Oberlin market this afternoon to buy my daily serving of "local" fruit, since I'm taking the Eat Local Challenge seriously. I found the little pears and apples easily, but I can't just run in and out of a store efficiently. I like to meander and rifle through the product, making myself want more things than I need. This time it wasn't just product that kept me looking; no, the most gorgeous, earthy, pizza-like, bread-y aroma filled the room. I stepped into the little bakery next to the cash register and was pointed toward lovely, freshly-baked loaves of rosemary potato bread.

It was still warm and, thankfully, the flavor matched the promising aroma. My roommate and I walked around Oberlin finishing our errands while eating large chunks of the loaf. Half of it was gone twenty minutes after buying it. Do you see those weird muffins under the rich loaves? Those are garam masala muffins. The bread was so good that I'm willing to try the garam masala muffins next time I'm there.

Next up: a review of old school milk. You know, the kind that was taken from a cow just down the road and presented in a glass jar. Wish me luck!

Friday, July 2, 2010

Vermilion Farmers' Markets




Vermilion's blue skies


I moved into my little apartment in Oberlin last Monday. Three days have passed and I'm still surrounded by boxes and bags thanks to a lovely friend native to the area. She's been introducing me to Amherst and Vermilion's many family-owned farms along Baumhart Road.

Miss K knew I wanted to pick my own strawberries, so she took me to the Aufdenkamp Family Farm yesterday. I found out that strawberry season lasts exactly one month up here. I assumed that I had plenty of time to pick them because I was used to Florida strawberry season, which lasts roughly from December to April. Silly me. So much for carpe fragaria- I'll have to pick the damn things next year.

The absence of strawberries at this particular farm was remedied by these yummy red raspberries, which I devoured the same day:





They were way better than the black raspberries we found. I also bought sweet purple onions, but they didn't look as nice in the photos.

I don't like to function without a daily intake of strawberries, so we drove twenty feet down the road to Krieg's Strawberry Farm and Market in the hopes of finding a field for pickin'. No luck there either! I resorted to strawberries in a cute wooden basket to make myself feel better, and bought a week's worth of produce for $9.00, which is comparable to what I'd spend at Wal Mart. That's quite an accomplishment, by the way. Organic, locally-grown produce typically costs way more than good ol' corporate-grown veggies.





Bonus: I actually received instruction for boiling corn properly from Mrs. Krieg, which I will share with you: bring salted water to a boil, pop the husked corn in the boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes, and then take it out. Add salt and butter to taste, and devour.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Oberlin | Farmers' Market






A year ago today (okay, give or take a couple of weeks), I was getting ready to move from West Palm Beach, FL to Oberlin, OH. Moving was quite a stressful "life event", and like every good American, I comforted myself with shopping while under duress.

I arrived in June, right in time to alleviate the he(ck) out of my stress at the Oberlin Farmers' Market. A motley group of farmer-hippies congregated under white tents in the middle of downtown Oberlin, a five minute walk from my apartment.

That was the first bonus; I'd never experienced a market within walking distance from my home either in Miami or West Palm, where one needs a car to do anything worthwhile.

The clean white tents and beautiful produce made me giddy, so I may have scared the gentle hippie farmers a bit with my enthusiasm. Our interactions consisted of me saying "I'll take this one and that one," and me snatching things from tables.

See those carrots and that parsley up there? Those were mine, as were those chives.



At $12 a pop, you bet I de-stressed.


The second bonus? The pies pictured here. Amazing. I don't have a shot of the strawberry-rhubarb pie, and I wish I had bought it. I did go for the goat cheeses, of course, as well as lavender room spray, lavender honey, and a couple of spinach quiches.

Summer has strolled around, and the Oberlin Farmers' Market is open again every Saturday through October, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. I'm working up the courage to buy some of the grass-fed lamb or beef I was too cowardly to buy last year, but really, I'm going back for the strawberry-rhubarb pie. I'll be forced to bake my own if there is none, which may not end well (watch out, future roommates!).

Oberlin Farmers' Market:
85 S. Main St.
Oberlin, Oh 44074
440.774.2906
Saturdays 10am-1pm
May - October