Family Fun at the Salem, NH Farmer's Market! Part 1

This past Sunday, the guys and I decided we wanted to visit a farmer's market that we hadn't been to before.  We decided to Check out the Salem, NH Farmer's Market.  It is located on Lake St. at the Lake Street Garden Center.  The market is open on the first and third Sunday of the month during the winter.  The hours are 12pm-4pm until May.  The market was founded in 2010.

I can honestly say what drew me most on the list of vendors was Brookford Farm.  Brookford Farm is a NH farm that offers raw milk, yogurt, cheeses, all from grass-fed cows.  They also have pastured pork, Grass-fed Beef, free-range eggs, New England Grain, vegetables, and a Whole Diet Based CSA Share.  Their site is beautiful and their staff is very friendly.  At the market, I met Jamieson, and he told me he has been part of the Brookford Farm for two years.  He had a table set up in front of an old white truck that was reminiscent of the old milk man's trucks.  When we arrived Jamieson was still setting up.  I held back from running over....I was dying to try raw milk.  I have never tried it, and have read of many health benefits of consuming raw milk.

Doesn't this remind you of the old milk man's trucks?

This is a quote found on the Brookford Farm website.  "Our milk is also raw, meaning that it’s never pasteurized, or subjected to high temperatures. We believe that raw milk is better to drink because it contains beneficial probiotic microorganisms, vitamins, and enzymes. It’s also much higher in vitamins like beta carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E. Even some people who are lactose intolerant are able to drink milk in its raw state, since the enzyme lactase, which helps to digest lactose, is not destroyed by the high heat of pasteurization.  Many people also think that Brookford Farm milk is uncommonly delicious. In 2010, we were awarded “Best Milk” by New Hampshire Magazine, and have won numerous awards from milk distributors like Organic Valley and other organizations."

I have to say, me and my family totally agree with New Hampshire Magazine.  Brookford Farm Milk is honestly the best we ever had.  My son normally drinks chocolate milk, but he loved it so much he had three glasses.  He said "it's so creamy and delicioussssssssss!  Can I have more?"  Normally, we are not milk drinkers, and usually we have to (and I hate to admit that we are so wasteful) throw out part of our milk because it has gone sour.  This milk was so tasty, and like Aidan said creamy, and sweet.  We drank the half gallon in two days.  I can't wait to go back to get more.  We love that it comes in Ball Canning jars too.  We use them for everything at home.  Drinking, canning, storing leftovers, making yogurt.  I told Jamieson about my blog as I was buying the milk and he offered to give me some yogurt to review.  That too, was just as great as the milk, smooth, creamy, and fresh.  I like to make yogurt when I have the time, but I haven't in a while so we were excited to try new to us products and support a local business.  I can definitely say that I will be looking into their other products and continue to buy milk and yogurt from them.

Cookies, Crispy pops, and Marshmallow samples!  YUM!

Cupcakes

We needed something to enjoy our milk with and the place for that was Modern Sweets, a Merrimack, NH based baking business run by a mom named Charlotte.  Her booth was so cute it drew me over.  She had beautifully decorated cupcakes, and Easter cookies, and homemade graham crackers drizzled in chocolate, and some rice crispy pops.  I started talking to her about how great everything looked. She told me she just recently started her business a few weeks prior.  She is definitely off to a great start.




 She offered samples of her homemade marshmallows, and once one melted in my mouth, she had me sold.  I told her that I have a blog, and when I told her the name she mentioned seeing it on a search.  She offered me some of her Easter sugar cookies, and two different flavored cupcakes to review.  I knew Aidan and I would have fun trying them out, and I bought some of her marshmallows and graham crackers so we could make some microwaved smores.  All perfect to taste with our Brookford milk. 


And the taste testing begins!....



We went to the market Sunday and Aidan and my niece tasted some of the cookies, and loved them!

Monday after school, Aidan and I set up for our sampling!  We couldn't wait for supper.  We had a lot of fun.  First was the milk and cupcakes.  The cupcake on the left is chocolate with peanut butter frosting.  My boy loves chocolate, but only really likes peanut butter in sandwiches, so he wanted to have some cookies instead.  I liked the cupcake.  Then we tasted the beautifully decorated carrot cake flavored cupcake.  I love carrot cake and so does Aidan.  We make one for John's birthday every year.  I adored this cupcake...I was proud of myself.  I didn't devour it.  I split it in three.  I needed to leave room for the Smores we were about to create in our microwave, while Aidan was busy dunking an Easter egg shaped sugar cookie in his second glass of milk...Those were really good, but I behaved.  I had some Pulled Pork cooking in my crock pot that we purchased the meat from the market Sunday from Hurd Farm.  ( I will talk about that in post 2).  We had some smores we had to make!

 I apologize for the lousy lighting here.  These pictures do not do justice to the delicious Graham Crackers, marshmallows, and smores we created with our Modern Sweets.  I don't think after eating these graham crackers that I will ever want a boxed one again....This was....amazing.  I will have to try to make some with Aidan for those times we don't have a chance to catch up with Charlotte at the market.

 Are they making you hungry yet?  These are not flimsy graham crackers, but dense, crispy, tasty goodness.  They had just the right amount of chocolate to make good smores.  If you are going to make some smores, it is a good idea to remember that these are fresh, homemade ingredients, without all the preservatives of the store bought marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers.  We don't have a huge microwave and it only took about 7-8 seconds...(make sure you stand and watch, so you don't get a huge mess) to get some ooey-gooey smores perfection.  Seriously, screw you Nabisco, Hersheys, and Kraft.....Modern Sweets are where the best smores are at.  And no, Charlotte did not pay me to say that....that's my opinion, and the evidence is below!  See what I mean??????  (Again, sorry for the lighting, the skylights are great, until you need a picture!)

I will post soon about the other great products and vendors at the Salem, NH Farmers' Market.  We will definitely making a return trip soon!

Puttin em Up!

Me and My Boy!

Pickled Jalapenos

Dilly Beans

This Summer seems to have flown right by.  A lot of that is probably because I had surgery.  I was down and out a lot of the Summer.  I did take Aidan to the zoo.  We had a blast.  I also made sure I got to the farmer's market every Saturday, and my CSA pick up on Tuesdays.  This is the first year in a long time that  I began doing one of my other loves again after a long hiatus....Canning.  I didn't grow up around anyone who canned, I was just drawn to it.  I really missed it.  I have had to take it easy, but it has been like therapy...to me it is calming, and I love creating and making things for other people.  I started with watermelon rind pickles, and since I have made diced tomatoes, salsa, dill pickles, and dilly beans, strawberry jam, cherry jam, pickled jalapenos, apple sauce, peach jam, peaches in vanilla, and hot pepper jelly.  I have also canned kidney beans and chickpeas.  It feels so good knowing what it going into the food that my family will eat this year into the next growing season.  No unknown ingredients, I have become friends with many of the farmers I get my food from.  The milk I make my yogurt from comes from Kimball's, my garlic, and green and wax beans from Polly at Fletcher's Community Farms, tomatoes from Farmer Dave, and Wally's, but the majority came from Jeff at Simone Farms.  Can you say where your food comes from?  To me it is important.  By buying local, you are supporting your community and helping keep small farms and business' alive.  My peaches and pears this week came from my Aunt Lynne's trees.  I am going to share some pictures, and post the recipe for the Peaches in Vanilla!  It is worth the time spent.  Home canned goods make excellent gifts as well! 

 

Peaches in Vanilla!

Peaches in Vanilla adapted from (Canning For A New Generation by Liana Krissoff)

1 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar (I used lemon juice)
8 pounds peaches (freestone are best)
4 cups sugar
2 vanilla beans split, and cut in half
2 quarts water

Fill a large bowl or pot with cold water and stir in the lemon juice.  Blanch and peel the peaches, putting them in the acidulated water as you peel (helps retain their color).  Halve and pit the peaches.  Slice or quarter them.  Return to the water.
Prepare for water-bath canning.  In a large saucepan, combine the sugar and 2 quarts water and bring the syrup to a boil.  Drain the peaches and pack them tightly into the jars, leaving 1 inch headspace at the top.  Ladle the hot syrup into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Slip 1 or 2 pieces of vanilla bean into each jar.  Use a butter knife to remove air bubbles around the inside of each jar.  Use a damp paper towel to wipe the rims of the jars and place a lid and ring on each jar, adjusting so it is finger tight. Return the jars to the canning pot, making sure the water covers the jars by a 1/2 inch.  Bring to a boil and boil pints for 20 minutes and quarts for 25 minutes.  Remove the jars to a folded towel and do not disturb for 12 hours.  You should hear that wonderful "ping" sound.  This is your jars sealing!  If a jar does not seal properly refrigerate and eat soon.  Otherwise label the sealed jars and store to enjoy later!  Peaches in Vanilla make fabulous gifts, just ask my friend Ellen.

With our first jar of them, I made a quick dessert of peach shortcake.  I took one can of Pillsbury buttermilk grands and baked them according to the package directions.  I used about a pint of peaches in vanilla, and heated it in a saucepan on low.  While stirring I slowly added some water combined with cornstarch to thicken the sauce.  I lowered the temp and let it cook until it was the consistency I wanted.  I cut the biscuits in half, scooped some vanilla ice cream, topped with some peaches and sauce, topped with some whipped cream and the top of the biscuit.  One little peach slice on top and a dollop of whipped cream.....delicious, quick and easy!!!!

Farmer Dave's CSA

 Can I just tell you...I love Farmer Dave's CSA!  I love CSAs period!  A CSA is Community Supported Agriculture.  Members in a CSA give a certain amount of money before the growing season, so the farmers have the money they need to get the crops started without having to take out loans.  In return for your money you get a weekly share of vegetables.  It all depends on how the farm does what you get.  It is local seasonal eating at it's best.  The vegetables are nothing like the bland tomatoes and cucumbers that you find in the grocery store produce aisle that flew or was driven thousands of miles to get to you.  Your CSA veggies were most likely picked the very day you pick them up, if not the night before.  They are tasty, and vibrant, and loaded with nutrients.  Look at the color of these radishes.  I have never seen radishes like this at the grocery store. 

 This was one of our first salads of the season. I think it was probably the best salad I ever had.  They send us a newsletter either the day before, or the morning of pick up, letting us know what we are likely to get in our share for the week.  I love to cook and experiment with food and different cookbooks, so it is exciting getting vegetables we have never even had before, and enjoying them in many different ways.  I will get into more about the cookbooks in another post.  If you are trying to incorporate more fresh, healthy foods into your diet a CSA is definitely a great way to do so.  You meet many new people as well.  It's nice to see the community come together for good.

Aidan used to be a picky eater...well I take that back, he still can be a picky eater.  He has gotten much better since we started going every Tuesday to pick up our share.  The child who would only eat carrots, cucumbers, and mashed potatoes, is turning into a little dinosaur.  He loves helping us pick out our vegetables.  One day when we came home he said "May I please have some fennel Mama?"  He walks around with plain leaves of red, green, butter, and romaine lettuce.  He likes fennel. parsley, white radishes, of course the carrots and cucumbers, he loves the corn on the cob again.  He wouldn't touch blueberries for a few years, and now he could eat a whole pint.  I'm not saying he likes all of it.  I was surprised he didn't like the sugar snap peas and peaches, but he is expanding his palate and likes to talk to people about our farm.  I am grateful for that!  I know that I am now a CSAer for life.  Thanks Farmer Dave!

I decided to start blogging again!

I have a lot to say.  I love reading blogs, and books, sharing reviews and products, and letting others I know about the stuff I am trying and learning about.  It has been a long time since I have blogged at all and I am sure as I get used to blogger there will be some changes on my blog as I go.  I need to figure out how to have my header on top of the page, and I definitely have a lot of pictures to share.  What a better time to start a blog than when I am laid up on the couch recooperating.  I have a nice stack of books by my side to keep me company.  I want to find out how to do product reviews for cookbooks.  We use a bunch of them, and we have our favorites, but we love trying new recipes as a family and are enjoying using our new ingredients from Farmer Dave's CSA.  We have been using Simply in Season a lot to help us make use of our bounty.  We have purchased a few new canning cookbooks, and so far have been using Put Em Up by Sherri Brooks Vinton.  You can find it on Amazon.com here.  http://www.amazon.com/Put-Up-Comprehensive-Preserving-Creative/dp/1603425462.  Aidan and I have made the Classic Strawberry Preserves, Watermelon Rind Pickles, and Cherry Preserves, and so far all have been great.  I need to get a new pressure canner, and stock up on some canning jars.  I also have my eye on a few new cookbooks.  For now, John is doing all of the cooking etc, until I am able to get back to my regular routine.  I am lucky to have him.