Thanksgiving Update For Thursday, November 20th: Let’s Tawk Stuffing!

Stuffing mix from Tall Grass Bakery at Ballard Farmers Market. Copyright Zachary D. Lyons.

Let’s talk stuffing. You’ll find most everything you’ll need for an Eat Local For Thanksgiving stuffing right here at your Ballard Farmers Market this Sunday! Let’s start with this amazing stuffing mix from Tall Grass Bakery. A mixture of dried, seasoned croutons of several of their best artisan breads, it is all ready for you to mix together with many of the other delicious items below to make a memorable holiday stuffing. But quantities are limited, and it is known to sell out early!

Schmaltz, a.k.a., chicken fat, from Stokesberry Sustainable Farm at Ballard Farmers Market. Copyright Zachary D. Lyons.

Before you add the stuffing mix to your pot, you will need to sauté your onions and celery. For a real treat, skip the butter and sauté them with some schmaltz, or chicken fat, from Stokesberry Sustainable Farm. This is the butter of Jewish mothers and grandmothers for centuries. It will impart amazing flavor into your stuffing while actually being less heavy than butter.

Yellow onions from Kirsop Farm at Ballard Farmers Market. Copyright Zachary D. Lyons.

You will need onions for a proper stuffing. Like these lovely yellow onions from Kirsop Farms, or even some of their red cipollini onions. They sweeten up as they cook, to add a nice, rich flavor. And for more flavor, and texture…

Celery from Stoney Plains Organic Farm at Ballard Farmers Market. Copyright Zachary D. Lyons.

… you’ll need some celery, like this celery from Stoney Plains Organic Farm. Now, I’ll warn you. Celery took it hard during the recent freeze, so quantities will be extremely limited this Sunday. Most farmers harvested as much celery as they could in advance of the freeze, but they weren’t all successful. Now, don’t let the fact that it was harvested a week or so ago worry you. It’ll still be fresher and better tasting than most celery at the Big Box stores. And in the worst case scenario, your Ballard Farmers Market will have plenty of celeriac (a.k.a., celery root) available from multiple farms.

Chesnock red garlic from Jarvis Family Garlic Farm at Ballard Farmers Market. Copyright Zachary D. Lyons.

And garlic. You’ll need lots of garlic. Not just for your stuffing, but for just about everything else, especially your bird! Stop by Jarvis Family Garlic Farm and check out all the different varieties of heirloom garlics they have, including this classic Chesnock red garlic.

Stock from Sea Breeze Farm at Ballard Farmers Market. Copyright Zachary D. Lyons.

A good stock makes for delicious stuffing. And while we never really know for sure what our buddies George & Rose from Sea Breeze Farm will show up with at your Ballard Farmers Market from week to week, hopefully this week will include some of their various meat stocks, which will moisten and richly flavor your stuffing.

Sno-Valley Mushrooms’ Rowan and shiitake mushrooms at Ballard Farmers Market. Copyright Zachary D. Lyons.

If you like mushrooms in your stuffing, be sure to stop by Sno-Valley Mushrooms early to pick up some of their shiitake or oyster mushrooms. They grow them over in Duvall in a state-of-the-art facility, and the result is delicious and nutritious local mushrooms that will make your stuffing sing!

Smoked, pickled & shucked oysters from Hama Hama Oyster Company at Ballard Farmers Market. Copyright Zachary D. Lyons.

Finally, if you like oysters in your stuffing, Hama Hama Oysters has you covered with shucked oysters in various sizes. They are fresh and brinylicious, and will make for a truly luxurious stuffing. But again, get here early, as they will sell out.

Sunday, April 10th: Nothing Says Spring Like Garden Starts, Easter Hams, Baseball, Radishes & Lard!

Baseball cookies from Grateful Bread. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

So let’s root, root, root for spring to show up. If it doesn’t, it will be a shame. But hey, ignore the forecast, as it’s spring at your Ballard Farmers Market right now! And that means, among other things, baseball cookies from Grateful Bread. You’ve just gotta love the creativity of these folks. I mean, have you seen the alligator loaf?!

Vegetable starts from Sunseed Farm. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Rain or not, if you plan on having a garden, now’s as good a time as any to start planting you some veggies. Sunseed Farm returned to your Ballard Farmers Market last Sunday with all manner of organic veggie starts. So get out the slicker, boots and trowel, and get planting!

Easter hams from Olsen Farms. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Okay, now that’s a proper photo of Olsen Farms’ holiday hams, just in time for Easter. Much better than last week’s photo of ham hocks, don’t you think? Skagit River Ranch has hams, too, and Olsen is offering up leg of lamb this week, as well. Or, get a chicken from Growing Things or Stokesberry Sustainable Farm — perfect for Passover.

Ravishing red radishes from Full Circle Farm. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Ravishing radishes just radiate spring. Just imagine dipping them in some butter and truffle salt, slicing them over a beautiful salad, or just eating them all before you even get home. These lovelies are from Full Circle Farm.

Spicy salad mix from Alm Hill Gardens. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

And speaking of salad, spicy salad mix has returned to the tables of Alm Hill Gardens. Woohoo! May your taste buds and colon rejoice!!! Get you a big ol’ bag, and a few bunches of them radishes, and just eat yourself silly!

Shucked, smoked & pickled oysters from Hama Hama Oyster Farm. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Have you met our new shellfish farm yet? If not, meet Hama Hama Oyster Company. They’ve got a few varieties of oysters in the shell, as well as the above shucked, smoked and pickled oysters, and they’ve got some gorgeous manila clams, too. If you’ve been missing your oysters & clams, stop by for your fix. These sweet, briny bivalves will absolutely make your day!

Bluebird Grain Farms Orange Hazelnut Farro Salad. Photo courtesy Bluebird Grain Farms.

Bluebird Grain Farms returns today, with the plan of coming back now every week. So come on down and pick up some emmer, a little flour, and maybe a bag or two of biscuit mix. Oh, yeah.

Strawberry starts from Stoney Plains. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Strawberry starts from Stoney Plains Farm. Plant them now. Eat berries from them in June! ‘Nuff said.

Pork lard from Sea Breeze Farm. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

And finally this week, nothing says spring like, um, lard? Oh, what the heck. You are going to make pie for Easter, right? Then why not make it right, with the most incredibly flaky crust ever? Well, that will require some of this beautiful lard from Sea Breeze Farm, it will. (Um, not the best choice for that Passover pie, but then again, such a pie would like be made of matzoh meal and eggs anyway, right?)

There is much more waiting for you at your Ballard Farmers Market today. Just check the What’s Fresh Now! listings in the upper right-hand corner of this page for a more complete accounting of what is in season right now. But please note that due to our recent cold weather, some crops may not be available as anticipated.

Sunday, October 17th: Beautiful Broccoli, Stunning Sunchokes, Tantalizing Turnips, Sexy Squash, Dashing Daikon & Perky Pluots! (And Some Oysters, Too, But How Do I Make Them Seductive?!?)

 

Beautiful broccoli from Alm Hill Gardens. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

 

Broccoli is back at Alm Hill Gardens. And with the crisp, cool, fall nights we’ve been having lately, it is really reaching its peak of flavor. Indeed, this time of year is best for all sorts of crops that benefit from cold nights and sunny days to sweeten them up and deepen their flavors, so enjoy the bounty that is October, especially in a year in which so many crops were so late that many of them are still around, as well.

 

Red sunchokes from Full Circle Farm. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

 

And how about this for a clear sign that we are deep into fall: sunchokes, a.k.a., Jerusalem artichokes are back. Full Circle Farm just started harvesting both white and red sunchokes. This North American native crop is a member of the sunflower family. Roast them. Fry them. Mash them. Gratin them. Enjoy a bit of American culinary history!

 

Japanese wax turnips from Oxbow Farm. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

 

It is always a pleasure to listen to Oxbow Farm’s Luke Woodward wax poetic about his Japanese wax turnips. And who can blame him? They are one of life’s great vegetables. I can eat them like candy. I understand that there are actual recipes in which one can cook them, but I never get around to that. I either eat them on their own, raw, or I slice them into salads like radishes. They are sweet with a hint of spice. And the greens are great in sautés and salads, too.

 

Winter squash from Colinwood Farm. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

 

Winter squash is at its peak now, in all its colorful, sweet glory. Just look at these beauties from Colinwood Farms. With all these wonderful varieties, you’re sure to find one, if not all, to please your palate.

 

Some serious daikon radishes from Nash's Organic Produce. Photo copyright 2009 by Zachary D. Lyons.

 

Woohoo! Daikon radishes from Nash’s! Get ’em while you can. Slaw them. Kimchi them. Just plain experiment with them. You know you love them when you go out for Japanese food. See what you can do with them at home. And if you have a great recipe for them you’d like to share, please post it to the comment field below and we’ll put it up in the recipe section of the blog.

 

Flavor Rich pluots from Tiny's Organic. Photo copyright 2009 by Zachary D. Lyons.

 

Sweet and juicy, you will love these Flavor Rich pluots from Tiny’s. They are truly the fall pluot, as they are good keepers, and they are a bit more plumy than other pluots. Enjoy!

 

Shucked oysters from Taylor Shellfish make it easy to add fresh, local oysters to any recipe. Photo copyright 2009 by Zachary D. Lyons.

 

Doesn’t a nice plate of pan-fried oysters or some hearty oyster stew sound pretty good right about now? Well, Oyster Bill of Taylor Shellfish makes it easy for you with these jars of shucked oysters. No frustrating shucking and intimidating shucking knives to deal with. Just grab the oysters right out of the jar and drop them into your stew or stuffing, or bread them and lay them into the fry pan. I don’t know about you, but I have just convinced myself to get a jar this week!

There is much more waiting for you at your Ballard Farmers Market today. Just check the What’s Fresh Now! listings in the upper right-hand corner of this page for a more complete accounting of what is in season right now!