The Gauntlet was thrown, and I accepted {Farmer's Market Friday}

It will come as no surprise to those of you who know me, or who have come to a cooking class, or who have just followed along on this blog or perhaps on facebook, that I try my darndest to buy as much seasonal, local produce as I can. Does that mean that our family never eats a pineapple or a banana because those just don't grow in Central Texas? No. I mean, I try to follow a path of moderation, but  whenever possible, if an item that you can find in the grocery store is available at the Farmers' Market from a local grower/producer  I'll put my dollar in the hand of the farmer. 

As I've mentioned on this blog, and also on the facebook page, Wolf Ranch Farmers' Market, a new local farmers' market, opened up very recently. Come to find out, it was started by folks who live in my neighborhood. John and Yen Selking, the owners Two Happy Children farm, have joined forces with another small business owner, Stormy Stouder of  Stouder House Soaps. They've started this Saturday market with the hope that the local community will consider it to be the source for the highest quality produce, meats, dairy and other various specialty pantry items including, but certainly not limited to, honey, olive oil etc. Currently, they have about 25+ vendors and they expect to grow to about 35 or so. To me, this is an optimal market size. When I've gone to the larger markets, I have often felt overwhelmed by the amount of items presented and on more than one occasion walked away from the market with very little actually purchased because of that overwhelming variety and/or saying, "oh, that such and such looks good, but I want to walk around and see what else there is" and then never making it back to the vendor to get the item.

One of the things that I've observed in the past year and a half or so of teaching cooking classes is that many people have limited information about how to use ingredients/produce. They like the idea of fresh local produce and many times will actually go so far as to actually purchase it. Only to then have it rot in their fridge because they don't really know how or what to do with it. It seems as though, I'm not the only one who has noticed this, as I've been approached by the Wolf Ranch Farmers' Market to partner with them to help showcase and highlight a variety of products available at the market. Here's the plan. I will shop the market and then come home and "play around" with what was purchased and then share the results and recipes here on what will be called "Farmers' Market Friday" The hope is that you'll be inspired to make the recipe; to get out to the Saturday market to get the necessary ingredients; to know your farmer, know your food. 

Happy Cooking!
sld

Disclosure: I was invited by Wolf Ranch Farmer's Market to visit and meet the vendors and was provided Market Money with which to purchase ingredients for use in the Farmers' Market Friday posts.  I was not compensated to write this article and all opinions are my own. 

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