Till Next Season...

One of the wonderful things about living in this Happy Valley is that there are multiple opportunities to access locally grown food.

Locally grown food shows up everywhere, from smaller natural food stores to the local co-op and even in the produce section of larger grocery chains. However, my favorite way to find from-the-source goodies (besides actually going to the source, i.e. the farm) is via the local farmers' market.

We're lucky enough that each week we have two farmers' markets occur in our town. One takes place on Saturday mornings and fills up an entire street in town. You can find anything from produce to baked goods, plants to meat. It's a nice array of products and always bustling.

But I have to let you in on a little secret. My favorite farmers' market occurs every Tuesday afternoon, and is tucked in between the town parking garage and Thorne's Marketplace. I'm not quite certain why the Tuesday Market is my favorite.

There's no one reason I can pinpoint.

Veggies galore

Perhaps its the variety of vendors you can find there on any given Tuesday. From broomsticks, goat cheese, maple products, handcrafted bread, local meat to of course produce of the fruit and veggie variety, the list goes on and on.

All sorts of maple goodness
 (sorry for the dark quality of the pix - lame DST making it darker too soon!)

Wait a second...those aren't carrots.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the occasional restaurant or coffee shop that sets up a booth, offering drinks, soups or even homemade chocolate-dipped macaroons.

Two local meat purveyors trying to keep warm on a breezy afternoon

The Tuesday market has become more of an adventure than a mere shopping destination. You never know who you'll meet or if perhaps a friendly cow, goat or chicken might be in attendance.

Music fills the plaza as each week a new band shares their sounds. Groups crowd around, sitting on the brick pathway, listening as they eat...a fresh apple, a cup of soup, a goat cheese truffle.

Goat cheese goodness

Kids run around (especially my kid!), alternating between checking out the arts & crafts area to playing with the fallen leaves or found pebbles. 

I'm going to do my best to hold on to all of these memories, since this week was the last Tuesday Market of the season. Next May can't come soon enough, and I'm already counting down the days until the market is back in full swing.

Of course, this doesn't mean a stop to local produce. Last year a group of farmers got together to bring us a winter market - meeting in the basement space of Thornes on Saturday morning. They will be back again this winter providing eggs, meat, veggies, bread and (hopefully!) some hot cider once again. 

And somehow, we'll manage. I'll  sit in my living room knitting scarves and dreaming of freshly shaved ice with homemade blueberry syrup, knowing that spring is only a few (okay, a lot of cold, snowy) months away.

Corn Chowder

Woke up this morning to a rainy day and a fridge full of extra corn. The next step was obvious: Corn Chowder!

It's hard to motivate on a Monday morning, and even harder when it's gray, chilly and wet outside. The only thing that makes it easier is knowing that in a few short hours I'll be hanging out with good friends, sharing delicious food.

I already knew that whatever I decided to make for tonight would include corn, since I had extra that I had purchased from our Tuesday farmer's market last week. I just wasn't 100% sure what that dish would be...simple grilled corn rolled in herb butter? A fresh raw corn, bean and tomato salad? Corn salsa?

As usually happens in our household, the weather dictated the dish. Dreary New England fall days require a good hearty soup, even one that is still holding on to the vestiges of summer. So I shucked, chopped, sauteed and boiled, and currently have a wonderfully smelling chowder simmering on the stove top, just waiting for tonight.

I've made this recipe often, ever since we stumbled into an abundance of summer corn one year and needed new ways to prepare it. I start with this basic recipe from Eating Well magazine and tailor it to my needs or wants on that particular day.

For instance, today I omitted the turkey bacon, but only because I didn't have any on hand, and I didn't want that to prevent me from making this delicious soup. I've made it both with and without the turkey bacon, and while it certainly brings a punch of smokiness to the soup, it's still quite flavorful without it. I also swapped out the green bell pepper for a beautiful orange one that I had in the fridge. Everything else  was done according to the recipe.

The soup should be done in a bit and then we're off to potluck. Can't wait to see what else is in store... Update to follow!