Our trip to Barton Creek Farmers Market

If you've been following this blog - you most likely already know that we have dumped the grocery store for the Farmers Market on about 80% of our home food. Its been about 9 months now and even though there are new things at the market each week - I was feeling a lil uninspired by what I knew what would be waiting for me. Had a great idea of driving down south and checking out the Barton Creek Farmers Market for a change. We made great time there and got there by about 9:30 am - only about 15 minutes from home.












The size of the market was similar to what we are used to and we did see many familiar farms that sell at both - Round Rock Honey, Our Mushroom Farm, Kettle Corn, etc. I did immediately get produce vendor envy. I would say about 40% of the whole market was a wide variety of veggies and fruits. The first item that I got super excited about was Medina Apples!! Ive been wanting to make applesauce forever and I got 8 lbs from them! There were also beautiful Persimmons everywhere. I counted 4 vendors that had onions - something our markets hasn't had for months! Also I found Kale at 3 vendors and haven't been able to find that either. There was a Spice booth that had an amazing array of locally harvested spices. We got Cumin and Peppercorns. There also was this amazing bread artisan there - he had an array of fresh baked bread - the kind that goes bad by midnight - not that it would last that long. I wish I got a photo - will defiantly next time. I also really enjoyed the garden nursery that was there - I don't want to take on any new plants as it starts to get cold but I would be totally into buying there once spring comes around!

We enjoyed our time here for some new discoveries but we were missing a few key things. First off - our goats milk - they had no goat milk vendor there. No 6J Ranch were we prefer to get our meat and eggs from. And no prepared foods like Aunt Nita. We couldn't go the whole week without these staples in our life so we swung by our Lakeline Market on the way home and got all our needs met! It was super fun to go to both and although most of my money and support goes to Lakeline, I cant wait to continue checking out other markets. We are so lucky in Austin to have so many at our fingertips!

This week on the plate: Apples!!! 8 lbs of em, Kale, Goats Milk, Homemade Chips, Spini...ch Dip, Kolhrobi, Garlic Bread, Red Onions, Green Onions, Cilantro, Cucumbers for more picklin, Cardimum Seeds and BlackPepperCorns, Homemade Marinara, Home Strawberry Jam, Tomatoes, Shitake Mushrooms, A mix of Hot Peppers, Ground Pork, Beef Stew Meat and Smoked Chipotle Pasta!

Zucchini Bread Bonanza

My husband is a tea bread freak! Seriously - get him around pumpkin, banana or zucchini bread and you lose him for at least an hour. Having a choice of both my Zucchinis from my home garden as well as amazing ones from our local Farmers Market - I have been making lots of Zucchini bread lately - I even made some for my pops for his birthday this year. I have tried a few recipes and the one below is my favorite from EatingWell.com

This is a great way to get your whole grains as well as veggies! I used my homemade apple sauce in it as well and that was a tasty upgrade! Also, did versions with Cranberries and Almonds. So Good!! Hope you enjoy! Id love to hear about any other variations too!

Zucchini-Walnut Loaf
Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature (see Tip)
• 1 cup sugar, or 1/2 cup
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract, (optional)
• 1 cup grated zucchini, lightly packed (about 8 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 2 mini 6-by-3-inch loaf pans with cooking spray.
2. Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl.
3. Whisk egg whites, sugar (or Splenda), applesauce, oil and lemon extract (if using) in a medium bowl. Stir in zucchini.
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients; slowly, mix in the zucchini mixture with a rubber spatula. Fold in walnuts. Do not overmix. Transfer the batter to the prepared pans.
5. Bake the loaves until a toothpick comes out almost clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 5 minutes, then turn out onto the rack to cool completely.

Tips & Notes

• Tip: To bring cold eggs to room temperature quickly: Place in a mixing bowl and set it in a larger bowl of warm water for a few minutes; the eggs will beat to a greater volume.

Nutrition

Per slice: 118 calories; 3 g fat (0 g sat, 1 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 22 g carbohydrates; 2 g protein; 1 g fiber; 88 mg sodium; 37 mg potassium.

My name is Mindy and Im a Kale Addict

Holy Kale Chips Batman! Who would have thought this super food would have such a hold on me but... I must confess, it does! Ive had Kale on the brain for weeks now - my intake is approx 3 large heads of Kale a week but if it was on hand more, I bet I could take in twice as much.

Finding this crack addicting crunch food did have a few bumps in the road. My 1st post about Kale chips, I used Flat Kale - big mistake. One MUST use curly kale. The curlier the better. Also, don't use any other oils but olive oil. I used some vegetable oil on a batch b/c I was out of olive oil and it really lost some taste points. And lastly - salt the living hell out of em. Ive used both Kosher Sea Salt and Himalayan Salt - I prefer the Kosher - the Himalayan was a little gritty.

The great part of all this is I'm now addicted to some of the best food on the planet - albeit I'm taking in too much salt, no doubt. If you'd like to hear all about the anti cancer benefit's as well as eye health - check out this link http://health.learninginfo.org/nutrition-facts/kale.htm

Please let me know if you have some adventures with Kale too! ALL HAIL KALE!!

8 lbs of Applesauce

I have been on a quest for local apples for weeks. When Bat Creek stopped coming to the market - I tried to call them as well as many other orchards and they all said that I had missed the season. This totally sucked as I had planned on making this super tasty applesauce that has hints of lemon, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Well, fast forward to last Sat when Mike and I decided to check out the South Austin Farmers market at Barton Creek and low and behold - APPLES! I of course swapped up 8 lbs and ran them back to the car.



Although I was super excited to get these apples finally, I had lots to do this week and kept letting the canning action pass to the side. Then all of a sudden, my kitchen started smelling of apples and honey. This puppies were getting ripe and it was now or never.
Had a fun evening of peeling all these apples and getting stickiness all over the place!


At the end, I was able to can 11 jars with the water canner. How fun is it to listen from the other room while you tops pop! Its the best. Cant wait to share these wares with my family over the holidays!

Farmers Market Oct 25th 2010

Howdy all! Its officially fall at our farmers market! The veggies are pretty much down to eggplants, peppers, and squash. I have been lucky enough to get some late cucumbers so that I can make more pickles. The pickles have been turning out so good! I'm now trying to make them spicy. The latest round has lots of jalapenos packed in with them.

This week at the market, we were joined by the Huehlefeld clan! Mike and Paul have worked together at a few different companies and been friends for years. It was fun to show Paul and his wife Shannon around and who we buy from. Miss Lili their lil one, who was sporting some kickin Converse, had her concerns but we are guessing once she goes a few times, it will be a favorite place to tottle around!

Our treasures this week include: Mushrooms, Sweet Potato Pone, Aunt Nita's cookies, Goats Milk, Eggs, Habenero Pasta, Butter, Black Eye Peas, some tiny Pies, Turkey Enchilada Casserole, Homemade Chips, Tomatoes, Amberjack Fish, Jalapeno Spread, Serrano Salsa, and some Cucumbers!

CRAFTY: I love old furniture!

http://www.designspongeonline.com/category/before-and-after

This is a great blog that deals with a lot of re purposing furniture and lots of other cool household items. Ive been holding onto this crazy gold colored circle chair for the past 15 years b/c I want to take an upholstery class and recover it. I know it has promise! This blog inspires me even more to do just that!

Hello Kitty Sushi

This has nothing to do with local or gardening but it does include two of my favorite things in this world - Hello Kitty and Sushi! Once again, futher proof that I was born in the wrong country. Some day, I will make it to Japan and possibly never come back!