I’ll be honest.
As much as I love handmade, lovingly prepared artisanal products, I generally opt out of the giant twice-a-year One Of A Kind Show And Sale, for a variety of reasons.
1) The shows can get really cramped and uncomfortable and I despise that slow, laboured crawl that it takes to navigate them
2) People can get really rude and pushy over this kind of original stuff
3) I find a lot of what’s on offer to be prohibitively expensive
I’m a fairly industrious person by nature.
Yesterday morning for instance, I baked a loaf of banana bread and prepped a batch of pizza dough before I’d even left for work at 7:30. That was in addition to the usual girliness of getting ready, packing lunch and tending to the animals (plus rousing the Everyman) that I normally do every day.
Since it was Tuesday I knew there’d be a farmer’s market opportunity when I got home, and for whatever reason I had grilled pizza on my mind. This article from last week probably has something to do with it, plus the days are (slowly) getting warmer and that always makes me want to crack open the open air grill. So, I whipped up a batch of dough before departing, figuring I’d work out the fine details whilst at the market and be ready to go once I returned.
When I got to the market (which now comes equipped with it’s own website) it turned out the universe had slightly different plans. No doubt I’m usually one of the last people there since I’m coming from Mississauga during rush hour, but there was still half an hour until the market was supposed to close, but no veggies were in sight. In fact, a few of the vendors were already gone, and others were in the process of packing up to go. Just like that, visions of grilled asparagus pizza that had danced through my head went foop! I wandered around the remaining stalls somewhat dejectedly, now unsure of what to make for dinner. Then I came across the Millbank Creamery stand with it’s stacks of cheese and local Amish butter. I grabbed a pound of butter and a chunk of mozzarella cheese and decided not to abandon the pizza plan just yet. I stopped to see friendly Seth at Forbes to see if I could rustle up anything pizza-worthy, but all that was left were jars of preserves and dried nuts, seeds and berries, so I picked up a bottle of Labrador tea vinegar and carried on. Seth says Labrador tea is beguilingly spicy, so I figure this vinegar might be the salad sprinkle of choice come summer. As I headed down the path to leave, I passed The Local Cafe stand that foils me every time (since the market opened I’ve been trying to scrounge a yummy quick bread that the Everyman loves, but by the time I get there they’re always long gone). Today was no different so I kept moving, but out of the corner of my eye I spied something on the Evelyn’s Crackers table; a lone bag of red fife wheat. Eyes darting quickly around to ensure no one else had noticed it, I hied my way to the table and handed over the dough. What a wonderful and unexpected prize. I was almost upset that I’d already made pizza dough because I love red fife (really all hard flours; our standard is a hard unbleached wheat that comes flecked with it’s bran by the giant sack from Bob). With that I began the short jaunt to home and started pondering what would make a good pizza.
I’ve been feeling a wee bit aggravated and out of sorts since I fell off the counter last week.
We did manage to hit our local farmer’s market on Tuesday, but hobbling around somewhat killed my enjoyment of the atmosphere (plus it was spitting rain). The main reason we went was that I promised someone I’d come back this week if they could get me something, and I like to be a woman of my word. I stopped by to see Seth, my friend from Forbes Wild Foods, because I’d asked him to procure some additional elderflowers for me, and like the gentle soul he is, he did just that. He also brought me a jug of elderflower syrup that his boss had made and mentioned that when I am sick of playing with my homemade cordial, I am welcome to buy his instead 
I also picked up a small bag of dried sweet chestnuts, that I have no pressing plans for, other than that I just love chestnuts to begin with. He told me a funny little anecdote as we were settling up; apparently there was a bit of a friendly scuffle over my bag of elderflowers because it was the last one, and a chef had his eye on them too. Lucky for me I got first dibs because I’d requested them last week, which just goes to show that it pays to make friends with your local purveyors.
So, while there wasn’t an opportunity to create a market meal this week as I’d planned, (nothing new was available; just more of the same old ramps and asparagus) I’m sure I’ll have fun futzing around with the dried chestnuts. There’s definitely some elderflower jelly and ice cream in my future, but who knows, there could also be a chestnut pudding or brownie coming too!
Until next time…
I went to the market again this evening (as I do most Tuesdays once May rolls around) in search of my friend Seth from Forbes Wild Foods. I was hoping he’d have more dried elderflowers since I burned through them rather quickly over the weekend. Unfortunately that was not in the cards today, though he did promise me a bag for next week’s market. As a consolation prize I helped myself to some of his other tasty edibles; maple syrup, more ramps and some garlic scapes, with not an inkling of what I would do with any of them.
One of the things I love about market days is not planning out what’s for dinner. I’ll arrive at the market and let what’s fresh and in season inspire me towards inner deliciousness. This evening I prepared our second real market meal of the season, a sparkling green pasta with flecks of rosy guanciale.
I was bummed that I didn’t get my ‘nduja meats yesterday, but it inadvertently allowed me a chance to get to the first farmers market of the season at Trinity Bellwoods park last night. The market was relatively small, what with being so early in the season, but that certainly didn’t mean it wasn’t worthwhile.
I love the conviviality of an outdoor market setting. It’s so much more relaxed and comfortable, and you get a chance to talk to the purveyors one on one. Like the ramp guy I chatted up last night, for instance. I zeroed in on his stall as soon as I saw the giant basket of ramps, ecstatic that I’d get to have a few more before the season was over. While I was waiting for him to finish up with another customer, I started perusing the other offerings on his table. Lo and behold, didn’t I find a jar of jellied elderberry! Since it appeared to be the only one, I clutched it in my hot little hand while waiting for my turn, not willing to give up this golden find to anyone. They also had saskatoonberry compote, which is another wild-ish fruit I love, so I grabbed a jar of those too. They had lingonberry and cloudberry and dozens of other things I would’ve loved to take home, but I knew I had to restrain myself, or else I’d have bought the entire tables’ worth of preserves in one fell swoop.
When it was finally my turn, (still clutching my elderberry jam) I asked for a pound of ramps and then inquired whether they ever carried the elderflowers (which I’ve been searching for in vain for a few months now and are supposedly amazing for making cordials and cocktails, etc). Like some sort of crazy dream, the guy at the Forbes Wild Foods table grinned a megawatt grin, reached into a cooler under the table and pulled out a bag of dried elderflowers. I’d been initially hoping for fresh, but considering this was the first time I’d even seen them in person anywhere, I wasn’t going to press my luck. I happily caressed the bag, imagining all the panna cottas and other baked goods I could prepare with such a giant stash. He was so taken by my sheer joy at finding them that he decided to cut me a deal on my whole purchase too, and you can’t argue with that! By the time I arrived though (almost 6:30) he was already out of fiddleheads (the other wild food on my wish list for the evening), but promised there’d be more next week. Incidentally I found out this morning that my organic delivery service is carrying them this week, so I can get my fiddlehead fix elsewhere. I strolled home from the market with a bag full of goodies and a mind whirring from all the newly created possibilities.
When I got home I decided to make the ramp tart for dinner again because sometimes you can’t have too much of a good thing. And again, it was delicious. But it made me realize, while I love ramps as a whole, I think I actually prefer the less used but still delicious leaves more than the lily white bulbs. When I was sauteing the ramps for the tart I looked at the pan that contained both leaves and stems and felt a little sad that there weren’t more leaves. So I cannabalized most of the rest of the bag, and now have 3/4 of a pound of ramp bulb and stems sitting in my fridge instead. Silly foodie! I’ll have to come up with some other worthwhile use for them during the next few days (other than more pickled ramps) before they get a chance to go bad. Yay spring!
Until next time…
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