Tag: maple syrup

At the Market: Stocking Up for Winter

Carrying home farmers' market shopping bags can be a workout this time of year because Ed and I are toting a few extra items to fill our pantry for the winter months.

Local Honey

Honey is the number one item on our list. We buy the majority of the honey we eat from Foppema's Farm. We love the flavor and appreciate the fact that it's a local product, simply collected with all the phytonutrients and traces of local pollens.

Honey stores perfectly well in a cool dark spot and will last for years, so we never worry about buying too much. Our only concern is making sure we have enough to get through the months when we can't get our favorite.

Young, Fresh Ginger

Local, young ginger from Old Friends Farm is another fall favorite around here. Penny recently read this page on the Old Friends website about freezing this lively, full-flavored alternative to the dried-up ginger you often find in mainstream stores.

She tried it and is thrilled to know she can have a supply of great ginger until next September rolls around and it appears again at the corner of the Atlas Farm stand devoted to products from their neighbors at Old Friends Farm.

Maple syrup is available all winter but if you like to buy it at the market, you can stock up. This jug came from Boston Organics and we keep it in the freezer. Pure maple syrup has no additives or preservatives. It has a higher water content than honey, so it can and will grow mold if you don't use it quickly.

In the freezer, it never becomes solid so you can still pour out what you need and return the jug to it's chilly storage spot.

Pumpkins and Winter Squash

More cooks are discovering the golden goodness of winter squash, and pumpkin. Food sites like The Kitchn are showing us how to make the most of the harvest while it's in season. Here's a recent post they did on "Two Ways to Freeze Winter Squash."

What will you be taking home to store for winter use? How will you store it? How will you prepare it? Are you making jams and jellies? Apple butter? Hard cider? Tell us about your favorite stockpiles!

Click here to read more of our At The Market Reports.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

October 24, 2013
At The Market: Old Friends at Copley Square

Our once or twice-a-week visits to the Copley Square Farmers' Market are a combination of shopping and chatting with old friends. Penny has been shopping at this market for more than twenty years and some of the stands we frequent have been there even longer. During the past few years, Ed has joined this wonderful community.

Last week, Ann Starbard of Crystal Brook Farm and Penny chatted between customers and caught up on what's been happening in their city and farm lives. Over the years, Ann has added a great selection of flavors to her goat cheese selections.

Rather than constantly adding more varieties, she tries to suggest matches with current seasonal products from other farms at the market. Last week, she was suggesting her chive cheese with the strawberries that were adding a deep, red pop to the market tables.

We love to offer guests her ginger goat cheese with a fruit platter for snacking or dessert. Last weekend, we enjoyed it spread on an Iggy's baguette with a glass of rosé wine from the South of France.

Ed and Poppy (our Westie puppy) often sit on a bench next to the Cook's Farm and Bakery stand while Penny backtracks through the market to purchase what we spotted on our initial walk around. Simeon Cook welcomes us and supplies Ed with the oatmeal raisin cookies that keep his sweet tooth under control.

This was a much better maple syrup season than last and Cook's has jugs of Grade B syrup on the stand. Penny loves the deep, rich flavor of Grade B syrup and it's one of the secrets of her meltingly delicious lamb shanks in chipotle sauce recipe.

The Word from the Farms

Lily Carone from Atlas Farm said, "Cukes are not far off – cabbage, carrots, peppers, and eggplant too…" "What few plant starts are still making appearances at market will soon be put to rest – so take this opportunity to plant some basil in a window box – or slip some tomatoes in the ground for a late season treat!"

Marshall's Farm tweeted, "Sweet Peas started last week and hopefully Green Beans are right behind them."

In Season, Right Now!

Foppema's Farm/Keown Orchards had the first cabbage we've seen this season. Time to make some cole slaw! They also have some of the best tasting honey we've had from any farm. It's our choice for our daily dose of local honey for allergy relief.

Micro-Greens were at both the Atlas stand from Old Friends Farm and at Silverbook Farm.

Eggs, meat, and fish are always in-season and available at more markets.

We also saw: strawberries, tatsoi, cut herbs (cilantro, parsley, basil, and dill), hakurei turnips, fennel, broccoli, mushrooms, garlic scrapes, salad mix, lettuce, arugula, radishes, beets, scallions, kolrabi, rhubarb, bok choi, chard, small onions with green tops, snap peas, sweet peas, herbs, hot house tomatoes, and honey.

Get Some Before It's Gone!

Strawberries! Enjoy them now. Some farms lost a portion of their crops due to the rain in June.

Coming Soon!

Blueberries and early raspberries – Barbara Hamilton from Hamilton Orchards hopes to have ripe berries around the Fourth of July.

Follow all our Local Food/Farmers' Markets and At The Market reports:

We heard talk about some early hothouse tomatoes. Curtis Stillman said Stillman's Farm would soon have kale and their first peas.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your Kitchen & Dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

June 27, 2013
At The Market: Old Friends at Copley Square

Our once or twice-a-week visits to the Copley Square Farmers' Market are a combination of shopping and chatting with old friends. Penny has been shopping at this market for more than twenty years and some of the stands we frequent have been there even longer. During the past few years, Ed has joined this wonderful community.

Last week, Ann Starbard of Crystal Brook Farm and Penny chatted between customers and caught up on what's been happening in their city and farm lives. Over the years, Ann has added a great selection of flavors to her goat cheese selections.

Rather than constantly adding more varieties, she tries to suggest matches with current seasonal products from other farms at the market. Last week, she was suggesting her chive cheese with the strawberries that were adding a deep, red pop to the market tables.

We love to offer guests her ginger goat cheese with a fruit platter for snacking or dessert. Last weekend, we enjoyed it spread on an Iggy's baguette with a glass of rosé wine from the South of France.

Ed and Poppy (our Westie puppy) often sit on a bench next to the Cook's Farm and Bakery stand while Penny backtracks through the market to purchase what we spotted on our initial walk around. Simeon Cook welcomes us and supplies Ed with the oatmeal raisin cookies that keep his sweet tooth under control.

This was a much better maple syrup season than last and Cook's has jugs of Grade B syrup on the stand. Penny loves the deep, rich flavor of Grade B syrup and it's one of the secrets of her meltingly delicious lamb shanks in chipotle sauce recipe.

The Word from the Farms

Lily Carone from Atlas Farm said, "Cukes are not far off – cabbage, carrots, peppers, and eggplant too…" "What few plant starts are still making appearances at market will soon be put to rest – so take this opportunity to plant some basil in a window box – or slip some tomatoes in the ground for a late season treat!"

Marshall's Farm tweeted, "Sweet Peas started last week and hopefully Green Beans are right behind them."

In Season, Right Now!

Foppema's Farm/Keown Orchards had the first cabbage we've seen this season. Time to make some cole slaw! They also have some of the best tasting honey we've had from any farm. It's our choice for our daily dose of local honey for allergy relief.

Micro-Greens were at both the Atlas stand from Old Friends Farm and at Silverbook Farm.

Eggs, meat, and fish are always in-season and available at more markets.

We also saw: strawberries, tatsoi, cut herbs (cilantro, parsley, basil, and dill), hakurei turnips, fennel, broccoli, mushrooms, garlic scrapes, salad mix, lettuce, arugula, radishes, beets, scallions, kolrabi, rhubarb, bok choi, chard, small onions with green tops, snap peas, sweet peas, herbs, hot house tomatoes, and honey.

Get Some Before It's Gone!

Strawberries! Enjoy them now. Some farms lost a portion of their crops due to the rain in June.

Coming Soon!

Blueberries and early raspberries – Barbara Hamilton from Hamilton Orchards hopes to have ripe berries around the Fourth of July.

Follow all our Local Food/Farmers' Markets and At The Market reports:

We heard talk about some early hothouse tomatoes. Curtis Stillman said Stillman's Farm would soon have kale and their first peas.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your Kitchen & Dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

June 27, 2013
At The Market: Old Friends at Copley Square

Our once or twice-a-week visits to the Copley Square Farmers' Market are a combination of shopping and chatting with old friends. Penny has been shopping at this market for more than twenty years and some of the stands we frequent have been there even longer. During the past few years, Ed has joined this wonderful community.

Last week, Ann Starbard of Crystal Brook Farm and Penny chatted between customers and caught up on what's been happening in their city and farm lives. Over the years, Ann has added a great selection of flavors to her goat cheese selections.

Rather than constantly adding more varieties, she tries to suggest matches with current seasonal products from other farms at the market. Last week, she was suggesting her chive cheese with the strawberries that were adding a deep, red pop to the market tables.

We love to offer guests her ginger goat cheese with a fruit platter for snacking or dessert. Last weekend, we enjoyed it spread on an Iggy's baguette with a glass of rosé wine from the South of France.

Ed and Poppy (our Westie puppy) often sit on a bench next to the Cook's Farm and Bakery stand while Penny backtracks through the market to purchase what we spotted on our initial walk around. Simeon Cook welcomes us and supplies Ed with the oatmeal raisin cookies that keep his sweet tooth under control.

This was a much better maple syrup season than last and Cook's has jugs of Grade B syrup on the stand. Penny loves the deep, rich flavor of Grade B syrup and it's one of the secrets of her meltingly delicious lamb shanks in chipotle sauce recipe.

The Word from the Farms

Lily Carone from Atlas Farm said, "Cukes are not far off – cabbage, carrots, peppers, and eggplant too…" "What few plant starts are still making appearances at market will soon be put to rest – so take this opportunity to plant some basil in a window box – or slip some tomatoes in the ground for a late season treat!"

Marshall's Farm tweeted, "Sweet Peas started last week and hopefully Green Beans are right behind them."

In Season, Right Now!

Foppema's Farm/Keown Orchards had the first cabbage we've seen this season. Time to make some cole slaw! They also have some of the best tasting honey we've had from any farm. It's our choice for our daily dose of local honey for allergy relief.

Micro-Greens were at both the Atlas stand from Old Friends Farm and at Silverbook Farm.

Eggs, meat, and fish are always in-season and available at more markets.

We also saw: strawberries, tatsoi, cut herbs (cilantro, parsley, basil, and dill), hakurei turnips, fennel, broccoli, mushrooms, garlic scrapes, salad mix, lettuce, arugula, radishes, beets, scallions, kolrabi, rhubarb, bok choi, chard, small onions with green tops, snap peas, sweet peas, herbs, hot house tomatoes, and honey.

Get Some Before It's Gone!

Strawberries! Enjoy them now. Some farms lost a portion of their crops due to the rain in June.

Coming Soon!

Blueberries and early raspberries – Barbara Hamilton from Hamilton Orchards hopes to have ripe berries around the Fourth of July.

Follow all our Local Food/Farmers' Markets and At The Market reports:

We heard talk about some early hothouse tomatoes. Curtis Stillman said Stillman's Farm would soon have kale and their first peas.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your Kitchen & Dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

June 27, 2013
At The Market: Central Square Cambridge Market Visit

With the Central Square Farmers' Market (Mondays, Noon to 6 pm, map to the location), we combine errands and fun. We can buy fresh, local food at the market and ethnic food elsewhere in the square. We also see some of the area's finest chef's shopping at this location.

We are also big fans of Hi-Rise Bread Company. Their presence at this market saves a trip across the city to their Concord Avenue or Harvard Square locations.

Friends shopping with us indulged in a tasting of a full range of maple syrup grades from Nutting Farm and bought a jar of maple cream. That cream has also made a hit with Ed's sweet tooth.

Hutchins Farm is certified organic and had lettuce on their stand that looked like a work of art.

Parker Farm is proud to give shoppers the details of their growing practices. They had a nice selection of greens including Asian favorites like: pea tendrils, bok choy, and pac choy.

These turnips from Parker Farm make a great raw addition to seasonal salads.

More bread (Ed's favorite farmers' market shopping) was available from Hearth Artisan Bread from Plymouth.

Tomorrow we'll tell you about our the lobster roll supper we had with lobster from Chis Manning from C & C Lobster & Fish.

Make sure you stop by the manager's tent and say hello to Market Manager Peter Ward. He's always on top of what's in the market, what's coming up next, and what you should get before it's gone for the season.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

June 5, 2013
At The Market: Central Square Cambridge Market Visit

With the Central Square Farmers' Market (Mondays, Noon to 6 pm, map to the location), we combine errands and fun. We can buy fresh, local food at the market and ethnic food elsewhere in the square. We also see some of the area's finest chef's shopping at this location.

We are also big fans of Hi-Rise Bread Company. Their presence at this market saves a trip across the city to their Concord Avenue or Harvard Square locations.

Friends shopping with us indulged in a tasting of a full range of maple syrup grades from Nutting Farm and bought a jar of maple cream. That cream has also made a hit with Ed's sweet tooth.

Hutchins Farm is certified organic and had lettuce on their stand that looked like a work of art.

Parker Farm is proud to give shoppers the details of their growing practices. They had a nice selection of greens including Asian favorites like: pea tendrils, bok choy, and pac choy.

These turnips from Parker Farm make a great raw addition to seasonal salads.

More bread (Ed's favorite farmers' market shopping) was available from Hearth Artisan Bread from Plymouth.

Tomorrow we'll tell you about our the lobster roll supper we had with lobster from Chis Manning from C & C Lobster & Fish.

Make sure you stop by the manager's tent and say hello to Market Manager Peter Ward. He's always on top of what's in the market, what's coming up next, and what you should get before it's gone for the season.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

June 5, 2013
At The Market: Central Square Cambridge Market Visit

With the Central Square Farmers' Market (Mondays, Noon to 6 pm, map to the location), we combine errands and fun. We can buy fresh, local food at the market and ethnic food elsewhere in the square. We also see some of the area's finest chef's shopping at this location.

We are also big fans of Hi-Rise Bread Company. Their presence at this market saves a trip across the city to their Concord Avenue or Harvard Square locations.

Friends shopping with us indulged in a tasting of a full range of maple syrup grades from Nutting Farm and bought a jar of maple cream. That cream has also made a hit with Ed's sweet tooth.

Hutchins Farm is certified organic and had lettuce on their stand that looked like a work of art.

Parker Farm is proud to give shoppers the details of their growing practices. They had a nice selection of greens including Asian favorites like: pea tendrils, bok choy, and pac choy.

These turnips from Parker Farm make a great raw addition to seasonal salads.

More bread (Ed's favorite farmers' market shopping) was available from Hearth Artisan Bread from Plymouth.

Tomorrow we'll tell you about our the lobster roll supper we had with lobster from Chis Manning from C & C Lobster & Fish.

Make sure you stop by the manager's tent and say hello to Market Manager Peter Ward. He's always on top of what's in the market, what's coming up next, and what you should get before it's gone for the season.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

June 5, 2013