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Weekly Market Notes Library

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Weekly Market Notes for November 15, 2012

Hello Market Friends:

Last week I thought it would be fun to take a Dufferin Vendors Portrait in honour of our tenth anniversary. I don't know why we've never done that before; I guess mostly because it's quite hard to herd everybody into one spot when there's the hustle-bustle of pre-market, and entirely impossible once things are underway!

Colette was away preparing for a seed conference, Ben and Peter were off doing deliveries, Helga had called to say they had a hard frost, but we rounded up everybody we could. Of course then I thought about Tim and Laura and Denzil and Bruno and Debbie and all the other summer vendors and helpers who weren't there, the bakers like Heidrun and Michael who work the early shift and the wonderful Park Staff who didn't make it into the shot, Andrew up on Cape Croker hoping the weather might mean fish again soon, Alvaro and Rod out on the farm, Lorenz and the rest of the farmers and vendors who've been around in the past, Anna B off in Arizona, Jutta who should have been in the midst of it all....Well, you see where this is going. It should have been a REALLY BIG PICTURE, and actually, all our faithful supporters should have been in there too, because what would be the point without you?

So the picture ended up incomplete, and imperfect, with everybody squinting into the sun, but nobody complaining. After all, who complains about a sunny market day, especially when it's November, and especially while taking a moment to think about ten years of this very special market community. What a pleasure and a privilege it has been to be part of it. Thank you all!

Please come and celebrate. Leslie Lindsay sent this delightful forecast of treats we'll have to pass around:

"I'm going to do lots of beet chocolate cake, some carrot cake and a gluten free parsnip cake. I'm a little worried about the parsnip cake because I'll be going head to head with Krista of Defloured and she is such a good baker! If you would like to serve a hot drink, perhaps we could do garden tea.. Our garden group drank it all summer. It is green tea brewed with herbs from the garden. We've been using mint, anise hyssop, and lemon balm, and we could use honey from Bee's Universe to sweeten it."

The shopping will be good, too. Here's some vendor news:

Knuckle Down Farm News: "This week I had my first harvest in the snow but I am not ready to hibernate just yet. Last week a few of you were missing my colourful carrots, so I will have some loose again this week along with bunches of sweet orange and white ones. Turnips, radishes and a few heirloom pumpkins left this week as well. The greens aren't growing as quickly as I harvest them, but I will have some baby kale, tatsoi and chard for you again. New this week I will bring along some beautiful bull's blood beet greens for steaming or juicing, as well as some fresh rosemary, dill and cilantro!" Jenny

Sosnickis' contribution: "Still great field harvest! Fresh Broccoli, bunches of Kale, sweet Spinach and still Beets with tops freshly picked! From storage our Potatoes, Onions, Garlic, Cabbages and Leeks!! More frozen Sweet Corn, Green Beans and fresh, raw not-frozen Sauerkraut!!" Ben and Jess

Dan Glassco will be coming down once more with his beautiful cutting boards made mainly from wood harvested on the family farm.

Reminders: Angelos (Country Meadows) will be absent for the next few markets, and this is the last week we'll be on the rink. We'll move to a semi-indoor arrangement next time, in and around the rinkhouse and garage.

As another little thank you, here's one of my current favourite recipes featuring our excellent fall items. If you don't already have them in your kitchen, you can find most 'non-market' ingredients at an Asian-Canadian grocery store or in the 'international' aisle of a supermarket.

Market Veggies with Noodles and Peanut Sauce

• about 6 servings depending on appetite

Peanut Sauce

• 1/2 cup unsweetened peanut butter
• 2 T soy sauce
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2/3 cup hot water

Whisk together in a medium bowl, then mix in:

• 1 T brown sugar (I'm going to try agave syrup next time)
• 1 T rice vinegar
• 1 T Fish Shak hot sauce for a nice kick (or Sriracha)

Let the sauce stand while preparing the rest.

Veggies and Noodles

• 3 T coconut or grapeseed oil
• 2 T minced fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small-medium head broccoli, florets and stems cut into bite size pieces
• half a cauliflower, prepared the same way (or other market veg according to season and preference)
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchstick-size strips
• 8 green onions (or one medium onion), chopped, green parts set aside
• several large handfuls of pea shoots and/or Ancient Blend sprouts from Kind Organics
• 1 package Ying Ying Sweet and Spicy Tofu
• 3/4 cup peanuts or cashews
• 1/2 cup or more chopped fresh cilantro (if you like it--sorry Jenny, cilantro haters may skip this ingredient)
• 12 ounces rice noodles, medium width

Put a large pot of water on to boil for the noodles. Heat oil in a large pan. Add ginger and garlic, stir, then add broccoli, carrot, onion & cauliflower & saute for about 5 minutes. Add tofu and saute briefly. Add shoots and sprouts right at the end, mix all together and remove from heat.

Cook noodles according to directions on package. Drain. Toss with peanut sauce, then vegetables, pile on a platter and sprinkle with chopped green onion, nuts and cilantro. Serve with tongs and a big spoon.

If there are leftovers, I wrap small bundles of the noodles and veggies in rice paper for lunches (way better than baloney sandwiches).

See you at the market!

Anne Freeman

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