The sum is greater than its parts.
Several market vendors contributed to this eggplant parmesan.
By Kat Peters, Market Manager
We know that the market is a place that is greater than the sum of its parts – you get to come and find your favorite vendors all in one place. The parking lot transforms each Wednesday into a little oasis of yummy, local, healthy food, where we can be a community. We already know this is amazing.
There’s another part of the synergy that might take a little bit of a closer look, but it’s absolutely amazing. And that is the proximity of the products themselves to each other, and the relationships that vendors forge between their products to create something totally new.
This synergy can be seasonal, as when you can combine products from the same season to cook something amazing (like this eggplant parmesan, with eggplant, garlic and basil from Native Roots Farm, tomatoes from Kajers Greens, and breadcrumbs from At Whisk’s End).
Water & Wheat has a chicken of the woods mushroom taco (you can get these from Brown’s Mushroom Supply) with peach jalapeño pico de gallo (with peaches like those offered by Klug Family Produce and jalapeño’s like those from Native Roots Farm). The season comes together to offer unique combinations and absolutely delicious meals.
Left to right: Peppers can be combined with so many things, even sweat seasonal peaches! Peace crumble bread pudding is an amazing snack. So many fruits that can combine forces with other market ingredients for a delicious meal.
House of Rufus has been whipping together a Peach Crumble Bread Pudding using Klug Family Produce peaches. It’s an amazing combination of local grains from Janie’s Mill, local produce, using extra bread, and creating something amazingly delightful that’s basically a meal in itself.
Nick Albano has been known to receive your market purchase at his tent and whip you up something sublime, on the spot. I love when I see Nick or Andrea from The Rolling Stonebaker, or Josh from Water & Wheat, dash across the lot to a farm stand and pick up micro greens or basil or some other local product for their dishes.
Even for products that are not technically seasonal, we’ve seen market synergy. Lambstone Cellars Winery and Yaggy Road Roasting Company have a blueberry coffee wine they have been featuring lately.
Left to right: Blueberry coffee wine; market breakfast; vegan meals with local ingredients
You can build a great breakfast with sausage from Mitzner Meats or peanut butter from BNutty, English muffins from At Whisk’s End, and coffee from Yaggy Road. Or get your popcorn snack with a refreshing tea from Peace Organics and Black Sheep Makery.
The combinations are really endless. As long as you’re coming to the market, our vendors get the chance to be together and think of even more incredible combinations!
Find us this week and every week at our Wednesday market at the Coffee Creek Watershed Preserve Pavilion parking lot, April 20-November 2, 2022, from 3-7 PM. Check us out on Facebook and Instagram, and sign up for our mailing list to get notified of all of the vendors' featured products each week.
It's the last week to vote for the Coffee Creek Farmers Market as your favorite market and help us to win part of this year's $10,000 prize from American Farmland Trust and the Farmers Market Coalition! Click here to cast your vote for us and get a free No Farms No Food bumper sticker!
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