Saturday, May 7, 2011 @ 2:48 PM

the most wonderful time of the year

I'll be honest. I was never a fan of spring growing up. It's not that I had terrible allergies or hated all the beautiful buds on the trees. I think spring was always eclipsed by school. As a child, all that mattered was April vacation and beyond that, my brain was too busy counting down the days til June to notice the flowers outside. In college, I began to appreciate spring a little more only because it meant not having to freeze on the way to class, but I was often so busy writing papers by the time the weather got lovely that I couldn't enjoy all that the season had to offer. I began to really take notice once I was working in a cubicle after undergrad and springtime meant walks on my lunchbreak and outdoor patios at restaurants after work. Now, springtime means reading books (academic or pleasure) in the park, green grass sprinkled with pale pink petals fallen from trees and, best of all, the re-opening of outdoor farmer's market.


I'm a little bit spoiled given that I live in between two year-round indoor farmer's markets, but nothing beats the outdoor Bryn Mawr Farmers Market. People bring their kids and their dogs. They walk around nibbling on their purchases, whether it be a breakfast sandwich from the Renaissance Sausage truck or a whoopie pie from the Herbal Springs Farmstead. There's always a new food to try or beautiful flowers to smell. Best of all, you can talk to any of the growers/vendors and they're so knowledgeable about whatever it is they're selling. It's my favorite way to start my weekend.

Today I didn't buy much, given that I had gone to Reading Terminal Market yesterday (more on that in a later post). I walked by one of the new stands, Market Day Canele, and couldn't resist buying some. Lately I've been thinking about making caneles, but haven't been in my apartment long enough to bake them. Anyway, the texture was spot-on: crisp and carmelized exterior with a moist, custardy interior. The flavor was surprising, as they were made with orange in addition to the traditional vanilla bean and rum.

On my way out, I stopped to peruse the organic produce. Amidst a stand of leafy greens, stood a box of vibrant, ruby-toned rhubarb. I've never once made anything with rhubarb, but it was too beautiful to pass up.

I left with three stalks and my brain whirring with all of the incredible concoctions I could make.

Labels: canele, farmers market, rhubarb

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Saturday, August 7, 2010 @ 1:52 PM

yesterday's farmers market purchases

Here's a look at what I got at the Bryn Mawr Farmers Market yesterday...

Labels: corn, farmers market, raspberries, strawberries

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 @ 7:12 PM

I'm back!

If you missed the memo, I was in Ireland for the last six weeks. I will certainly miss Galway and all its charm, but I couldn't wait to get back and get cooking. I was staying in a homestay and didn't have access to a stove, microwave or even a fridge, so I had to eat out for all my meals except breakfast. It was torture to walk through the Galway Market every weekend and not be able to experiment with the vibrantly colored fruits and vegetables. So, after 17 hours of travel and a delicious slumber, I woke up and headed to the Bryn Mawr Farmers Market.

There were a few more stalls since the last time I visited. I stopped for a sticky bun at the Herbal Springs Farmstead stand and picked up some peaches too.




The peaches joined some blackberries from another stand and they found their way into my very first cobbler (I thought I was making a crisp until my hands were covered in flour and I realized I had to add milk and roll out a dough. whoops). It could have used some more sugar, as I underestimated the tartness of blackberries. It could have also benefitted from some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (everything's better ala mode). Overall, though, it came out pretty good for a first attempt.



(I served it while it was still hot so the steam prevented a pretty picture. Apologies!)


While at the market, I also had a chat with Mitch from the Green Zebra Farm. I couldn't resist taking pictures of his spread--the colors were just too beautiful--so I asked if I could snap a few photos and we struck up a conversation. We talked tomatoes (he has several different varieties of brilliantly colored organic heirlooms) and I walked away with two different shades of red and a yellow tomato.






The tomatoes found their way into the chicken kabobs I made later.



as well as the tomato onion summer salad I whipped up the next day...

Labels: blackberries, cobbler, farmers market, peaches, salad, tomatoes

1 Comments:

kel.......just genius as always. those photos are aaaamazing...and i want those kabobs like nownow

By  Anonymous, at July 28, 2010 at 11:31 AM  

Post a Comment

Sunday, May 30, 2010 @ 4:23 PM

my saturday happy place

Ever since moving to PA almost a year ago, I was thrilled at the thought of living next to two year-round indoor farmer's markets (not to mention the close proximity to all of Philly's offerings). You can imagine my elation when I found out that Bryn Mawr hosts a weekly outdoor farmers market on Saturdays. I went a few weeks ago with a friend to poke around and see what each stand had to offer. Since then, they've added several new stands, including a chocolatier, a baker, cheeses from a local dairy farm, pesticide free plants, and a few other various stands. I was pressed for time and originally went just to get a scone, but I couldn't help looking at all the amazing produce and meats and local honey.

Labels: farmers market, flowers, sticky buns

0 Comments:

Post a Comment