Delicious!

The summer market is in full swing and I can only think of one word to describe it....delicious! Everything that I bring home each week is so good. If you love fresh salads you need to get to the market. There is a wide variety of lettuces and cabbages that make great salads. I love to top my salads with fruit and feta cheese, but you could also make it a meal by topping your salad with grilled chicken or steak. This morning I have enjoyed three seed bread from Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm and blueberries from Sandy Creek Farm! Yum! You can also find great things at the market like jewelry, soaps, plants, and so much more!!!! I love the soap from both Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm and PureTouch Essentials Soap. These are great for everyday use or make excellent gifts!

Come take a look at Elmtree Farm...

I was very excited to visit Elmtree Farm and get to spend some time with Gene and Janet Nuse. They started off the visit by showing me their beautiful home and visiting about their farm. I know this was a farm visit but I have to take a minute to tell you about their home. First it is gorgeous inside and out, but more important it is very environmentally friendly from its mud and straw filled walls to the natural flooring and its all around construction. They also have solar panels and geothermal heating! I will get back to talking about the farm but visit with Gene and Janet about some of the techniques they used at the next market. I know I got some ideas for when we build!

Elmtree Farm is designed to be a demonstration farm to showcase a variety of farming techniques. Gene is the gardener of the family and has a lot of great ideas and plans for the farm. I am excited to see it grow. This year you will find a wide variety at their table during market. Elmtree Farm features farm fresh free range brown eggs, cut flowers, vegetables including; chinese cabbage, squash, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, turnips, beets, variety of lettuces, potatoes and sweet potatoes. They are also raising American Milking Devon Cattle and potentially will have beef to sell in a couple years at the market. They discussed making herbal vinegars and bring those to market, too! I really enjoy all of their cabbages, eggs and lettuce. I am looking forward to trying out all the other yummy vegies as the summer season progresses!!!! 

After checking out the produce we went into the barn to take a peek at the baby chicks! These little guys were a little camera shy when I went back to snap some photos, but I got a few of them! 

I learned so much on my visit to Elmtree Farm. I love getting to know the vendors better and seeing where my food is coming from on each visit.

The variety at market is amazing...

This summer market is off to a very hot start and I am not talking temperatures folks! The vendors are amazing and have booths full of delicious foods. Here is what I came home with tonight: 

• Canna Lily bulbs and Soap from SunStew 
• Lettuce and Endive from Elmtree Farm
• Lettuce and Jalapeno jelly from Sullivan Farm 
• Chicken from Country Neighbors Farm (I got two last week so I am listing one here!) 
• Broccoli from Shelly Appel
• Soaps from PureTouch Essentials Soap
• Feta and Osage Orange cheese from With The Wild Farm 
• Rainier and Lapins Cherries and Blueberries from Sandy Creek Farm 
• Peas and Eggs from Blue Bell Farm
• Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm sold out of Three Seed Bread before I could get some to add to my basket! 

Whew! And that is just a sampling of what the vendors have weekly at our market. I know I just brought it all home tonight, but I have already enjoyed a salad with my lettuces (I mixed them together), snacked on my peas during the market and enjoyed cherries and blueberries for dessert! Oh, I also had to have a little taste of the Osage Orange cheese....delicious!!!!! Our farmers are amazing growers and amazing people! I promise to post pictures of the markets later this week! 

Look what I brought home from last weeks market...

Since it is already Tuesday and I have pictures of this weeks market to post soon, I am keeping this blog simple! Check out all of the yummy foods we have been eating this past week. As you will notice someone got into the cinnamon rolls from Tea Time Bakery before I could even take a picture! 

I will share one quick recipe. I didn't know what the best way to cook Bok Choy was when I brought it home so I did a quick google search and found out that it can be cooked on the grill. It sounded delicious and so I took their idea and ran with it! Check out the end of this blog for the recipe! 

Grilled Bok Choy: 

1 head of bok choy (Elmtree Farm)

1/4 cup melted butter

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Clean the bok choy and section it. Lay the sections flat on a pan. Mix the butter with salt and pepper. Use a brush to apply the butter to the entire piece of bok choy. Then place buttered side on the grill. Butter the other side and let cook on low/med heat for about 3 minutes per side. The leaves get crispy and the stem stays nice a crunchy! This is a perfect side dish for any dinner with your family! 

Life happens.....

I was so excited to tell you all about all the yummy food we were going to enjoy from the Farmers Market this past Tuesday, but then my refrigerator decided this past week would be a good time to break down. So all my delicious cabbages, lettuces, and cheeses were ruined. We were able to enjoy some tortilla chips from Sullivan Farms and eggs from Elmtree and Blue Bell Farm! Here is what I was going to make with my chinese cabbages from Elmtree Farm:

Homemade eggrolls

1 lb pork burger or sausage
2 heads of cabbage (any variety)
shredded carrots to taste
garlic to taste
soy sauce to taste

1 package of eggroll wrappers
1 egg

Brown your burger or sausage and drain. Add shredded cabbage, carrots and garlic and cook until cabbage and carrot have cooked down and are just slightly crunchy. Add soy sauce to taste as it is cooking down.

Whisk one egg with a little water. Using your finger line the outside of the eggroll wrapper with the egg mixture and then place 2 tbsp of pork mixture into eggroll and wrap it up. (Instructions for wrapping are on the package)

Note: I take the leftover pork mixture, add the egg and 1 serving of cooked rice to make fried rice to go with our eggrolls.

I know this is not the healthiest choice for dinner, but every once in awhile my family enjoys homemade chinese takeout. It usually only costs around $15-$20 to feed our family of four!

The good news is the fridge is fixed, spotlessly clean and after it finishes defrosting completely we will be good to go for this week at the market. Come out and see all of our vendors tomorrow night!