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| Wooster Park Market: Everything Promised and More! |
| Wednesday, September 26, 2007 |
 I hit up the Cityseed Wooster Park Market last Saturday for ingredients for my Mabon dinner on Sunday. And it was everything and more that had been promised. Parking was difficult, but I managed it just fine (I'm a horrible parker, so if you're good at parallel parking, have no fear). It's in Russo Park on DePalma Court, which I found by driving around a little in the Wooster Park area, but which I have now found for you and you can just Mapquest it.
I walked the whole block of stands, just to get a handle on what was there (a trick I learned at the Edgewood Park Market). There was everything: honey, cheese (goat and cow and sheep!), milk in glass bottles, eggs, lamb, beef, a million vegetables, bread--and even places selling dips, spreads and hot breakfast.
I ended up with local honey, a wildflower variety (by the time I bought honey I was low on funds, so I didn't even try the buckwheat and other honeys available. It came in handy this week, when I needed to make some tea for Lenny's sore throat. In fact, when I showed it to Lenny, he hid the honey in the pantry closet, so that no one would "accidentally" walk out with it.
The milk was amazing (it's from Trinity Dairy Farms in Enfield, CT). Honestly. I love the glass bottles and Lenny says the 1% milk tastes like whole. The milk lasted less than 24 hours in my house, so I'll be back next week to return my bottles and get some more. I also bought cream, for my butternut squash soup.
I purchased half a pound of Pleasant Cow cheese (from Sankow Beaver Brook Farm in Lyme, CT), which I put out as a munchie on Sunday. It literally disappeared. At $16 a pound, I'm glad it didn't get a chance to go bad, but it's definitely a special occasion luxury. It has a little sharpness to it, but it's not a cheddar sharp at all. It would make amazing tomato and grilled cheese sandwiches and would be a welcome addition into fondue or baked macaroni and cheese. It actually was featured as one of 50 in the article "Our Favorite American Cheese" in the April 2005 issue of Saveur magazine.
The stand for Starlight Farms in Durham, CT lets you mix your own salad greens in a bag and it's perfect. I got a lot of comments on Sunday about the salad, which had a little heat to it, due to one of the greens I picked up. Oh, if you find Sun Gold tomatoes, buy them! They're tart and sweet and not like ordinary cherry tomatoes. I can't remember which stand I bought them at, but they're yellow and labeled, so dig in.
The kielbasa from Four Mile River Farm is excellent (I bought this at the first market I went to and was requested to buy more). It went into the stuffing on Sunday, along with good bread (bought at the market) and cutting celery (amazing fragrant, but less crunchy, stuff from the Yale Sustainable Food Project), and again, well received. And speaking of good bread, the Sourdough Boule is amazing and makes a great bread bowl, especially for Spinach Artichoke Dip.
Northfordy Farm had fresh cilantro, with roots, and I was hit with a little homesickness. That cilantro went into the roast chicken and I can't tell you how that smelled while cooking.
Again, no photos of the market or the goodies--but when I go back this weekend, I will take photos. The light was kind of crappy when I went--it was cloudy and dark.
This market is by far the best and most bountiful and it also goes until December, so I'm happy with that.
The only problem is that I dropped quite a bit of cash this time (and every time). Sigh. I will have to be a little more frugal, but I'm a convert to this market, so I'll survive. Hey, at least I don't buy $100 shoes or $75 sweaters (and speaking of sweaters, I believe it was Barberry Hill Farm in Madison that had wool sweaters and wool).
Anyone want to come this Saturday? I could use someone to help me carry things.
I'll be posting recipes from Mabon dinner over the next few days. |
posted by Rose @ 7:28 AM  |
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