Showing posts with label Markets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Markets. Show all posts

Sunday, June 22, 2008

To Market, To Market, To Buy A Fat Pig...

We were off to the Coventry Farmer's Market at the Nathan Hale Homestead this afternoon - my husband, two younger daughters and I - in search of fresh vegetables and whatever other delectables we might come across. (Howard Valley Fudge Company is always there with homemade fudge in lots of different flavors!) We were running late and racing an arriving thunderstorm - by the time we got there, it had rained already and most of the vendors had packed up. No worries though - we wandered around, heading back to the old barn where there is a little shop that sells penny candy.


We were not ten minutes in the barn, my girls having purchased their candy - when we found ourselves leaving with more than we had bargained. A conspiracy between the kindly woman who ran the shop, my two enthusiastic daughters, and my husband who I will now refer to as "Softy". No, no fruits or vegetables, nor yummy fudge but "Haley" named after the homestead. An abandoned kitty the staff had adopted has found a new home.

An hour after arrival, just snug as a bug...

Saturday, April 26, 2008

buyCTgrown.com


I work in the restaurant industry and the current trend is toward buying local - organically grown fruit & vegetables, farm raised meat & poultry, fish from nearby shores and cottage industry dairy products including eggs, milk and goat cheeses from area farms. There's also local bee keepers and their honey, artisan bakeries and maple syrup from the forests we hike through. More and more, local chefs are designing their menus around what's available and what's in season, in their own back yards - mine, of course, being Connecticut.
I've just discovered buyCTgrown.com, a website with a comprehensive list of local resources, including farms, markets and restaurants. It provides a map with photos, bio, directions and web links. No need to be a professional chef - fresh, organic products are available to us all.
So take a Sunday drive in the country - and do your grocery shopping!

Sam Hammer Holcomb Farm, West Granby


Known for buying local:
Chef Jason Collin
Firebox Restaurant, Hartford

Chef Christopher Prosperi
Metro Bis, Simsbury


Still River Cafe, Eastford

Chef Kara Brook's Carrot Cupcakes

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Spring is Here!













In my quest to design my new life and new product that will support me in the manner I have become accustom, I've been reminiscing on the days when I created hand painted tiles and sold them in "kits" for the kitchen or bath at street fairs in Greenwich Village. In chatting with Habitually Chic (who lives in New York) I remember the city and it's street fairs arriving with the spring season. I think I will have to head down to lower Manhattan - a two hour trek for me - for a creative hit at one of the upcoming fairs. Christopher Street, Soho, LES, Brooklyn Heights - doesn't matter. There is always someone reaching for their dreams in New York. I've found mine there in the past - time for an update!


Thursday, April 17, 2008

Cottage Industry Artists featured at Local Farmer's Markets



Connecticut
Coventry Farmer's Market
June 1st is the Grand Opening of this year's Coventry Farmer's Market with a new location on the grounds of the Nathan Hale Homestead in South Coventry. (Directions) It runs every Sunday, June thru October from 11am - 2pm. The market is known for it's fresh produce, artisan breads, baked goods, honey,jams and the like but is also a venue for local artists and craftsmen. Some of my favorite are:
Susan Parks Soap
My favorite is her Egg Yolk Soap. It is derived fr
om a 19th century recipe and produces a rich, silky lather, it's key ingredients being Eggs, Shea Butter and Bees Wax. She also does Goat Milk Soap, made from her own goats!



Cato Corner Farm Cheese
Producing all their cheese by hand from their herd of mostly Jersey cows, they are located in Colchester and a review from Town & Country Magazine says it all - "World class...some are wonderfully spicy and pungent. All it takes is one bite of their most popular offering, the Belgian-inspired Bridgid's Abby, and you'll swear off bland, pasteurized cheese forever." Other varieties include the Hooligan, the Despearado, and the Drunk Monk!


Beauty That Moves
Heather Bruggeman does these quirky, vintage inspired bags as well as beaded jewelry.



There is always something totally unexpected at the farmer's market - demonstrations,
jugglers, the most perfect marinated mushrooms.....definitely worth the trip!

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"It's never too late to be who you might have been." --George Eliot