Market Mondays

We now actually get two fills of market tastiness. The mister goes out to the Clinton market to vend on Thursdays and brings home some yumminess, then of course we both go on Saturdays and bring home even more goodness.

Here is the loot from this past week

Cinnamon raisin bread, garlic, peppers, onions, basil, cucumber, zucchini, squash, and minute steaks. (some of this was bartered for!)

Then the weekend loot: Corn, pork chops, hamburg, gouda cheese, red potatoes, peaches, squash, zucchini, bread, croissants, and (bartered) cookies.

So yummy. The mister has been making up little red potatoes that are to die for. Next time he makes them I'll have to watch closely and maybe post the recipe because they are AMAZING. Nothing like eating all fresh, all local ingredients on a daily basis. So, so tasty.

In other news, derby news that is..our bout is this weekend.

Sooooo much left to do - so there will be a little mini hiatus here until after the bout. I'm really excited, but super anxious and nervous at the same time! Wish us luck. If you are local we are still looking for sponsorships and NSO volunteers for the bout. 

the return of Market Mondays!!

We couldn't ask for a more gorgeous, perfect Saturday to kick off the season. We got up super early, packed the car and off we went. We were up and all set up prior to 8am. This picture is so funny - the sun is coming through so you can see right through our table cloth, it looks so bizarre!

This is our mock setup. We have big plans for what it will look like over the next few weeks. We borrowed the tent from my sister until I can get one of my own and the table was borrowed from our friend Erick. It's awesome having family and friends that have random things to help setup a booth at a craft event!

Setting up we realized we had forgotten an entire stack of soaps at home - my dog soaps, a few clay soaps and the sea kelp. But we still had plenty to pick from. Those are also the last of my wash cloths, then they are being discontinued. I just bought some amazing organic cotton to crochet up all new wash cloths - it is sooooo soft, plus organic. Yes, a much better fit for our shop.

We had a great day. I wish every Saturday could have the same weather. in the 70's, slight breeze, sunny. Like I said, you couldn't have asked for a better day to kick things off. 

The customers seemed to love our packaging, lots of positive comments and lots of "this smells amazing!" 

I'm happy with the kickoff. The mister and I sat joking and laughing the entire day. It really was the perfect Saturday. Here's to six months more!

I didn't really walk around, only went over to see our friends, Kelly and Adam and their new peanut. They had their first child, Silas, on April 15th. Holy moly he is so teeny tiny! It's still super early so not much to report in the way of "buys" - But those yummy posts will be coming back too. 

Hope you all had amazing weekends. 

Market Monday!

Ahhhhhhhhhh....finally...FOOD!

 

It felt like forever since the last market way back in December. Look at all the gorgeous food that is now in our fridge!

Here is the list of goodness: eggs, butter, carrots, variegated beets, tomatoes, swiss chard, white potatoes, french baguette, top round, hamburg, sausage, bacon, pork chops and bratwurst. 

So good. Thank you Farmer's Market. Please never take another full month off!

market mondays..

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I realized that I never shared with you all my market experience a couple weeks ago when I was a vendor at the Farmer's Market. It was a warm day and everyone was out to the market. I wasn't in the best of spirits due to some personal downturns that happened the day prior, but I bundled up all my goods and headed out.

When I arrived I found my little table - a 3x3 rickety card table. We made the best of the teeny space and created a cute display with what we had. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my phone so I don't have any pictures of the day. 

The market started with a bang, it was busy from start to finish. I sold lots of goodies and everyone had great comments about my packaging and products. I even had a woman inquire if I had any interest in selling in a gift shop at the Mansion House, she is the executive director of the building. In two hours I made two hundred dollars. Not bad seeing my price points are low! Can you imagine if I could do that every day?! I'd be done with my current day job in a jiffy. It gave me high hopes for when I participate weekly in the spring/summer/fall market. Things are looking up for my little soap shop.

I'll post updates soon as I've created a few new scents that I'm sure will become top sellers- they are amazing!! Just still curing and not ready for sale yet.

We shopped at the market this weekend, but its on hiatus until February 9th. We tried to stock up on meats - but I'm sure we'll run out and have to get in touch with some farmers personally. I love this aspect of my life, supporting and eating the good stuff =)

Market Mondays

Eggs, carrots, eggplant, onions, butter, french bread (two different types), BUTTER!, bacon, ground beef, pork chops, top round and a pork shoulder. 

We had our first snow of the season here in Oneida. It's just a dusting on the ground, but was crazy to go from over 60 degrees on Thanksgiving to in the 20's and snowy white-outs on Saturday. We still ventured out to the market (like we would miss it!) It was so much quieter this weekend than the first weekend. Much more peaceful and we could actually stand around and talk for a little bit instead of being so rushed.

I took about half of Kelly's carrots, but here was her booth. We of course got some good meats from them too.

Action shot! I love this woman's display. We sadly didn't buy anything from her because we already had many of her yummies already at our house that she had for sale. 

Our butter guy was there so we were able to get our delicious butter and more french bread which is so amazing I can't even express how good it is!

The next market on the 8th, I'm actually going to be vending at! I'm really excited. For my sake - I hope that weekend is back to how it was the first opening weekend!! I'm working on a few more new scents - but they won't be ready until after the holiday for sale. I'll keep you all posted on  them =)

And now to share with you my amazing apple pie. Remember I told you I was going to use an entire peck of apples for ONE pie?! Well I did! And here it is..

That pie dish is ginormous, I believe it makes a 14" pie? I made a 14" HEAPING pie..and it was amazing! Sadly, because I had baked it just before going to my parents it hadn't had time to set. so it was a little messy! But the second day it was fully set and easy to cut and take out in a slice instead of a pile of pie. Yum...I must say, I do make one mean apple pie!

Happy Monday..

Market Mondays

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The indoor farmer's market was amazing. I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures but I did get this picture off their website. (It didn't snow this weekend - it was actually gorgeous and in the mid 60's here!) It was such an adorable space. We got there right as they were opening and it was already buzzing with people. Inside is tiny, so it was semi chaos of people bumping into one another, hence me not taking pictures! But everyone's tables and displays were gorgeous. I promise to take pictures the next time its open, which will be the Saturday following Thanksgiving. 

This weeks haul; chicken, t-bones, hamburg, pork shoulder, spaghetti squash, eggplant, apples (for a crazy enormous Thanksgiving apple pie I have planned! one full peck into ONE pie! it will be amazing!), carrots, tomatoes, eggs, french bread, fougasse aux herbs bread.

We got home and were putting things away thinking we didn't really get very much. I think we were both a little overwhelmed with the new set up for the market and believe me when I say it was packed to the gills. Plus, you know the type, people walk right in front of you while you are looking or about to buy something. Knock into you without apologizing. And basically act like you are invisible. So we got what we got.. we'll be better prepared next time!

I must mention these breads a little more in detail.

Fougasse Aux Herbs:

This bread smells amazing! We had it last night with our t-bones and it was perfection!

Classic French Bread:

We ate this with our meal on Saturday; a roast with mashed potatoes, gravy and carrots. All fresh from the market. The dinner is one of my favorites and a slice of this bread along side of it just added to my happy dance while eating!

Both the breads were made by a woman that we had met when we had gone to Kelly and Adam's back in the early Fall. She had many other pastries that all looked and smelled delicious. But because I was already planning on creating my variation on the Glazed Doughnut Muffins we ended up just getting the breads. 

Stop back tomorrow to check out my Glazed Doughnut Muffins - You'll be glad you did!

Market Mondays and German Apple Cake

Spaghetti squash, eggs, cauliflower, french shallots  carrots, potatoes, honey crisp apples, ground beef, ribeyes, and  top round.

We were actually surprised that anyone was at the market at all. As we drove through the mountains it was a complete white out, winter wonder land! But once we came out and made it into the village it was only rain. Roughly six or seven vendors were there, and all the vendors that we normally shop at so it worked out fine!

Next weekend starts the winter indoor market. I'm excited to go and check out who is there, it will only be 2 weekends a month so we will have to stock up each time we go.I also was asked to possibly be a vendor once in a while at it. They will call me the Thursday prior to see if I'd like to set up. Exciting!!

This past week was Kevin's birthday on Tuesday so I decided to make him something a little different. One of my favorite baking books during the fall/winter months is Rustic Fruit Desserts. We always seem to have lots of apples so I picked out "Mimi's German Apple Cake"

German Apple Cake

Gather together:

1 TBS unsalted butter (for the pan)

1 Cup Flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

1/2 Cup unsalted butter

1/2 Cup granulated sugar

Zest of one lemon

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 apples, peeled cored and each cut into 6 slices **

2 TBS turbinado sugar

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Butter 9 inch baking dish

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl. Using a handheld mixer with the beaters or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest on medium-high speed for 3-5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture all at once and mix on low speed until incorporated. Pour the batter into prepared pan.

Score the peeled side of the apples with the tines of a fork and arrange the apples atop the batter around the perimeter, with one slice in the center.

Sprinkle the turbinado sugar over the cake and bake roughly 40 minutes, or until cake is lightly golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Sometimes the batter around the apples looks slightly underdone, but not to worry; its just the moisture for the apples.

** I used honey crisp apples and peeled and sliced up 2, but because they were large, cutting them into 6 slices would have just been silly! So mine were cut into 12 and I got to eat the second apple and only had to use one!

This cake was a huge hit. It was so yummy. The zest of the lemon really came through. Definitely will be making this cake again.

Market Mondays and Apple Pie

Lots of good stuff this weekend at the market.. fresh dinner rolls, garlic, eggs, potatoes, spaghetti squash, empire apples, cabbage, cauliflower, butter! (yes!!), bacon, summer squash, hamburg, top round and long  pie pumpkins (also known as Nantucket pie). Good eating ahead of us for this week!

Next weekend will be the last official market weekend of the year, then it goes to 2 weekends a month in an indoor market for the winter months. So we'll have to stock up the weekends they are open. 

This weekend was a perfect baking weekend. I made more blueberry muffins and also another apple pie.

Polly loves when the peels fall to the floor. I am trying out a new dough recipe this weekend. I LOVE my gramma's recipe. The problem is that it is extremely difficult to roll out. It always tears. So I tried out a recipe I found in the November issue of Martha Stewart.

The dough rolled out very smooth. It also helps because when you make it (before you chill it) you roll it into an 8" disk - then refrigerate for 45 minutes - 2 days. I made the dough Saturday afternoon and made the pie on Sunday to have with our roast.

I never used to pre-cook my apples, but I am really loving the flavor more when they are pre-cooked. It makes the pie taste more like diner-style pie. Very tasty!!

I usually make a huge, heaping pie but Polly broke my favorite pie dish this past week :

It was on the counter waiting to be washed as we finished the pie off, late the night before. I took my morning shower and heard a huge crash (which is usually when she gets into most of her mischief) Then there is was.. the rooster dish shattered on the floor. My mom had given me the vintage dish and I just loved it so much. The only other dish I have right now is my ginormous handmade dish. It makes a 12" pie. You need lots of apples to get that sucker to be heaping! Especially if you precook the apples. 

So my pie was a "flat" pie. When I told K he joked and said, "You mean a normal pie?!" haha 

If you'd like to try your hand out at the perfect apple pie.. here is the mix of my gramma's recipe with Martha Stewart.

Piecrust (via Martha Stewart November 2012 issue):

2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled, cut into pieces and divided

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1/2 cup ice water

1. Lay out three quarters of the cubed butter pieces on parchment and freeze until hard, at least 30 minutes. Take the remaining butter and refrigerate.

2. Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor. Add refrigerated butter and pulse to combine, roughly 10 times. Add frozen butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some blueberry sized clumps.

3. Add ice water, immediately pulse until water is just incorporated, about 10 times. Squeeze a small amount of dough to make sure it holds together.

4. Lay out 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Empty 1/2 the dough onto each piece. Bring the edges of wrap together to gather the dough. Press into disks.

5. Roll out the disks, still wrapped in plastic, to 1/2" thick rounds (8"). Refrigerate at least 45 minutes and up to 2 days. (dough can be frozen for up to one month)

Filling via my gramma:

6 cups of apples, peeled, cored and cut (I never measure - I use as much as I want! Usually a 1/2 peck from the farmer's market or apple orchard) I love honeycrisp apples, my favorite, but use any apple you like. Recently I have been using Empire apples. Another sweet apple.)

1/2 Cup sugar

1/2 Cup brown sugar

2 TBS flour

1 TBS lemon juice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg (I never add this - not a nutmeg fan)

2 TBS butter

Here is where you have another choice: to precook or to not precook. If you don't want to precook and have more of a crisper apple. Combine all your ingredients over the apples, and you are all set.

If you want to precook: Put your cut apples into a large pot on medium/low heat. Combine all the above ingredients and cook down. I don't cook them for too long. I just allow some of the moisture out of the apples because they are still going to get cooked in your pie. This is more of those things, you just know when it's ready. Let it cool down and then add to your pie crust.

Another choice: My gramma ALWAYS put an "egg wash" on her crust. That was always my job. I can still remember "painting" the pies when I was teeny tiny, standing on a chair in the kitchen. But I know many people use all different washes on their crusts, some sprinkle sugar. This again, is your personal choice. 

Slit 4 slits in the top

Bake @ 450 for 15 minutes then lower the oven temperature to 350 and cook for 35 minutes.

and there you have it -  super delicious apple pie! Maybe even some blueberry muffins will miraculously appear on top of your stove as well!

Happy Baking all!

Market Mondays

This week we had an amazing "take" at the Farmer's Market. Empire apples (for an apple pie I'm baking my dad right now, Happy Birthday Dad!), fresh eggs, pull apart rolls, baby potatoes, carrots, Honey Crisp apples, tomatoes, squash, green beans, hamburg (for amazing meatloaf the mister made last night), Lamb chops (never had them - has anyone ever had lamb??) and pork chops. 

We still had a whole chicken from last week and we had spaghetti squash that was dinner on Saturday. The farmer's market is only two more weekends. How did this season go by so fast?! There is an indoor market that is two Saturdays a month during the winter - so we will be going to those starting in November.

The weather the past few days has been so bizarre, rainy and cold in the mornings and then round 11am or so, it clears up and gets up in the low 70's! I'm not complaining..it's just bizarre weather. This week I'm on vacation (yes, again!). Today has been apple pie baking and creating a sales sheet for the mister to take into his work. It lists all my soaps, lip balms and washcloths with a brief description and then a sales order. He works with a girl I went to high school with and she has taken it upon herself to be my marketer at his work! She sent out an email to the entire company telling them about my goodies and hopefully it turns into a few sales for me.

I'm thinking about paying for the "search ads" on Etsy. Has anyone done those and if so, seen any upswing in sales. So far I've only had 158 views and one sale. I know, I know. It's only been 3 days! But you guys know me... I'm just trying to figure out the best way to get my name out there. Next month I'm going to sponsor a few blogs and hopefully that will also generate some traffic. Any other ideas??

Alright, I'm off to work on a special Christmas present I've been working on and relax for a little bit before heading out to dinner with my parents. 

Hope everyone is having a fantastic Monday. 

a small hive update..and yummy market goodness in one

This week's yummy take. We actually just had the spaghetti squash and those delicious rolls for dinner last night. First time I ever tried spaghetti squash and it was actually really good. I surprised myself by really liking something new and different!

The market was extra awesome this past weekend, I found $11 on the ground while walking to the organic shop across the street! We looked around and there was absolutely no one anywhere near us it was just blowing across the sidewalk. Somewhere, someone is saying, "Gosh darn it I lost $11!!" I feel a little guilty but there really wasn't anyone around. I'm assuming it blew across the street from someone at the market. You know what they say..."Finders keepers..."

I didn't get a chance to post up the take from the week before, but I love this picture! Take a look out the window and you will see Polly squirrel hunting!

I also don't think I ever told you all about the fabulous bags I use when we go to the market. We obviously have canvas bags that we take with us. We have some really nice heavy duty canvas ones that hold lots of goodies. But I always get frustrated because the vendors put things like beans, potatoes, tomatoes, etc into plastic bags. You know I detest those things and make every possible attempt to never take them. So a couple months ago we found these amazing mesh bags. They are made by a company called Flip and Fumble. We got ours from Amazon but I've also seen them on other websites. I can't even begin to tell you how awesome these bags have been. I was a bad girl and forgot them this past week but I absolutely love them. So, so good!

The rest of this week I will most likely be MIA. I can not believe that the show is upon me this coming week. All weekend was spent making lip balms. You guys are going to love them! I'm so excited to share everything with you all. All Saturday was spent making 250+ balms and Sunday was spent shrink wrapping them. If you have ever had to shrink wrap things, you know it's NOT a fun job! It took me over 6 hours with my hair dryer. I have it down to a science now and got a little quicker as I went. But it's not a quick process, and definitely not a fun one! But lip balm making is a lot of fun! My house smelled like this crazy candy factory. Tomorrow night is going to be spent wrapping soaps in my labels. Then I just have to create my blackboard and tie in ends on my scrubbies.

With everything I have left, I will definitely be MIA and probably won't get to do my fridays favorites. One week hiatus starting now and I'll be back next Sunday with another fabulous interview your your enjoyment. 

If anyone has anything fabulous to share or a post on their blog they don't want me to miss send me an email! Otherwise I will be computer free and not checking my normal blogs I read. 

Ok, full speed ahead!! Wish me luck. I'll be back when this crazy whirlwind is over!!

off to market..

Oh market, how I've missed you! For three weekends we missed the Farmer's Market due to different obligations that ran during the same time of the market. It was so nice to finally get back. While it may not sound like much, I really look forward to those Saturday mornings of hanging out with my mister, walking around the market, and then usually making a pit stop over in Bouckville to stop at a few of our favorite antique shops. I was a little sad though, two people I was really looking forward to getting things from weren't there: fresh butter and also my favorite fruit vendor. Hopefully next weekend they will both be back!

This past weekend I actually found quite a few awesome finds for my display set up. This show seems to be sneaking up on me so quick. The mister is now involved and we are going to be changing up the design (once again!) I promise you will all LOVE this one! I'm also going to try my hand and try to have a crash course in chalkboard letter writing for one of my pieces in my display! If anyone knows of any informative sites or inspiration please post a link for me. 

Stop back on Wednesday for a short tutorial on creating your own chalkboard! It's definitely not a difficult project, and so much more fun than going out and buying a new cheesy looking chalkboard! When I was searching for them they all seemed to have retarded designs on them, I couldn't just find a plain chalkboard. I did happen to find a couple at an antique shop but one was pretty darn expensive and the other one the back was all warped and wonky. I'm sure you'll all agree the one I made is much better! 

Hope everyone (that has the extra day off) is finding something awesome to do with the extra free time! I'm at that point right now that I have so much left to do but I almost feel paralyzed and don't know what I should be working on first! Thank god I have the entire week off! Off to write lists to prioritize!!

Market Mondays - Open Farm Day adventures

This weekend was the Open Farm Days that I have been talking about for the past few weeks. We had such a great time, even though the first 2 hours it was a complete downpour. But that didn't stop us from venturing out. A little rain never hurt anyone. So off we went.

The first place we stopped was a local hops farmer. We were the first ones there and got a personal tour of the grounds. The guy explained how this year, due to no rain, they will probably only produce 20% of what they had hoped to produce. They had awesome handmade machines made by master welders instead of them buying big expensive commercial machines. I'm an idiot because I didn't get pictures of the machines. They were so amazing looking. Kind of Mad-Max looking..so the mister talked to him about beer and hops and was shown that they have a shop that sells brew kits etc. It was a pretty amazing place. Plus they had this beauty..

They also had a male with ginormous antlers, but he was in the other stall and apparently in a bad mood. So I couldn't get a good picture of him.

We then ventured to a farm that apparently decided not to open?! But it was right on our way to other stops, so luckily we didn't go out of our way. Next stop - farm stand: nectarines, potatoes and apricots were purchased. 

Off we then went to the "bee guy". This was when it was complete down pour, so it worked out perfect because we were inside for the tour. They were showing how to make candles and then upstairs had demonstrations on collecting and extracting the honey. The mister has been very interested in having his own hives and is something he wanted to do within the next year. He tried talking to the "bee guy" but..well..the guy was just not a people person. He was a person when you ask a question, you get a one or two word answer. He didn't seem willing to really talk about the process etc. Which makes you wonder why someone would participate in this sort of "open farm day" if they didn't want to be "open" and actually talk to people showing an actual interest asking intelligent questions. But we did score a jar of free honey and earned our first free bumper sticker. (All the farms were split up in regions - there were four regions and after going to 3 farms in one region, you would receive a bumper sticker. Once you went to 3 farms, and then went to the next region you automatically received that regions bumper sticker - you didn't have to go to another 3 in that certain region..)

Then off we went to our farmer's market: purple potatoes, baby carrots, HUGE tomatoes, corn on the cob, hamburg patties, were purchased. Then we received free onions from one of the vendors we stop at every week. She joked its because we come out every weekend - even when its rainy. (second bumper sticker received as it was a different region)

Back in the car and back on the road. Now headed about 20 minutes in the opposite direction. The first farm we stopped at was actually by accident. I had thought it was the farm we were headed to. We parked and got out and realized it was a different farm! But this one was simply gorgeous and one of our favorites. They raise Wagyu Cattle (they produce Kobe beef - and are the only farm in the Northeast supplying Kobe beef). We also met this guy..

A huge pot belly pig. He was hard to get a photo off because he kept moving around, he actually came down from where he was and walked toward me. I wasn't sure if I could pet him or not because he was making funny noises. haha He was huge, I wish we could have gotten better pictures. (3rd region bumper sticker received)

Back in the car and off to the farm (we thought we were already at), just a few more miles down the road. The next place was a cider mill but also a corn maze and is my sister's competition. (shhhhh don't tell her we went there! haha). We wanted to see the cider operation. But there really wasn't anyone around to talk about it, they were all out in the "bar". So we went there and they were selling samples and then selling bottles of wine and hard ciders. Mister got a bottle of a hard cider called Four Screw. (he has since drunk it and stated it tasted like "ass", good to know)

Next up buffalo territory. We had planned to have lunch at this stop but once we got there we changed our minds quite quickly.

The pictures came out pretty neat from there tho. It was super foggy misty up there. It was just starting to let up from all the rain. It was a strange stop. No one was there to talk to you about anything and it seemed more like just a food rest stop than anything. But when I saw $8 for a teeny tiny burger, we both agreed that was just silly and we'd rather not eat. It was a pretty big disappointment because it was one that I had really been looking forward to. (4th region sticker obtained)

Then off we went to Daniel's. Daniel is an Amish farmer that we buy our meats from each week. His family and his home are beautiful (we had been there the year prior). They have AMAZING gardens - and between them and another stop we made, I am going to feature all my photos later in the week in my garden post so make sure you stop by to see those. 

We walked around their gardens and each year they give buggy rides around their property. They also had funny furry chickens and a litter of puppies in one of their barns. (no puppy pictures because they were MOBBED by little children)

That one little guy in the back was so cute and furry! I can not say enough great things about this family. After buying some pork chops, eggs and a chicken we headed off to our next destination. 

The next stop was a place called Growing Wild. Its a small nursery that grows native perennials. Flower pictures will be posted later in the week..but check out these views!

I can't even explain how gorgeous it was up there. They had 360 degree views that were breath taking. It's so funny that I grew up here and had no clue that this surrounded me. It's just stunning driving on all the back roads around where I live. The entire day we were just gawking and shaking our heads that we didn't even know some of this was around us.

Up next, and our last stop was another Amish family farm. They are an organic dairy farm and hand built a timber framed carriage house without any nails! They only use "framing pegs". The craftsmanship was simple amazing. And their house..it was a dream house..this little guy came out to greet us as we came up the driveway. Meowing away. I forgot how adorable kittens can be!

 It was such a great day. I love going on adventures and exploring. Especially seeing places where our food is coming from. I think it's really important to support local farms and your local community.

Here are my bumper stickers from all four regions collected and my booklet with stickers collected:

 I was bummed because we actually missed two places I had wanted to go to. But there is always next year!