21 Reasons to Shop at the Market
4. For building your community
Farmers markets are great places to run into your neighbors and even acquaintances you haven't seen for some time. A few years ago, a study showed that shoppers at farmers markets engaged in much more conversation than shoppers at grocery markets.
Isn't some of the fun of coming to the Market the anticipation and then pleasure at seeing people you know? Or meeting someone for the first time while talking at a vendor stall about produce or bread or honey?
One of our goals in creating the Market was to build on the sense of community we're developing here in Sammamish. We want the market to be a place where people can gather to shop, talk, eat and play. Some of our favorite market photos from last year and already from this year reflect just those bonds of community being forged at the Market.
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Make Your Video Clips for the City's Time Capsule
The City invites you and your family to create a video clip for the City's time capsule. To celebrate its 10th birthday, the City will bury a 40-year time capsule with messages from Sammamish residents. Taping is done at the Market through June 24 from 5:00 -7:00 PM.
No charge. |
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Parking at the Market
- Mary, Queen of Peace Catholic Church
- The lot directly in front of City Hall
- 30-minute parking right in front of the Market
- Sammamish Hills Lutheran Church
Valet shopping service is available. You can check your shopping bags at the kiosk in front of the market, bring your car around, and we'll deliver your bags to your car. |
Thank you to our Sponsors!
Presenting Sponsor:
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This Week at the Market
 Bike to the Market Day - Market Bags and Market Bucks for Bicyclists!
Join our inaugural Bike to the Market Day. Ride your bicycle to the Market, and we'll give you a Market shopping bag plus a Market Buck to spend at the Market! You are also welcome to participate in the International Justice Mission Ride to the Market.
Sponsored by International Justice Mission
Bike to the Market Day is sponsored by International Justice Mission (IJM), http://www.ijm.org., a human rights agency dedicated to the abolition of slavery throughout the world. Various groups in our community have been involved in supporting IJM, adults and students alike.
Local Schools Have Raised More than $50,000 for IJM
Just in 2008 alone, three Issaquah schools, Pine Lake Middle School, Issaquah High School and Pacific Cascade Freshman Campus, raised $50,000 for IJM that resulted in freedom for 120 people, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009134955_slavery28m.html
IJM Ride to the Market Starts at Sammamish Presbyterian Church Campus 5:30-5:45 pm, June 3
A full-fledged bicycle ride is planned for late summer or early fall to raise money for IJM. A practice bicycle ride starts this Wednesday, June 3, on Market Day, beginning at the Sammamish Presbyterian Church campus between 5:30 and 5:45 pm and ending at the Market.
If you want to participate in this practice ride, or if you want more information about the fundraiser to come, please contact Ray Dellecker at rdellecker@w-link.net .
Entertainment: Kris Orlowski returns to the Market from last year to play acoustic rock with catchy riffs and heartfelt lyrics, www.sonicbids.com/krisorlowski .
Non-Profit Group: King County Noxious Weed Control Program, www.kingcounty.gov/weeds. Do you ever wonder if that lovely flowering plant that just appeared in your yard, unplanted and uninvited but nevertheless very pretty, could be a noxious weed? This group will tell you. |
Guest Chef Series - Lisa Dupar of Pomegranate
Lisa Dupar of Lisa Dupar Catering and Pomegranate Bistro joins the Market to begin our second season of chef demos. She'll show us how to prepare simple seasonal creations using Market produce. The demo is scheduled from approximately 4:30 to 6 pm.
When Lisa Dupar opened Pomegranate at the intersection of East Lake Sammamish and 202, the buzz started immediately about her creative, delicious cooking. The rave reviews haven't stopped.
Chef demos are among the Market's most popular special events. Our guest chefs give their time, energy and generosity to us, while sharing tips on how to cook better with the Market's bounty. We thank each of them. Watch this newsletter for their Market recipes.
Here's the season schedule for our Guest Chefs:
June 3 - Lisa Dupar of Lisa Dupar Catering and Pomegranate Bistro, http://www.duparandcompany.com
July 1 - PCC Natural Markets, http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com
July 8 - Peter Kelly of Spazzo, Redmond Town Center, http://www.schwartzbros.com/spazzo.cfm
August 5 - Mark Schoenthaler of Roux, Seattle, http://www.rouxseattle.com
Sept. 2 - James Sherrill shares his mastery about tomatoes. Sept. 23 - Marc Powers of Sip, Issaquah and Gig Harbor, http://www.siprestaurant.com |
What's Fresh at the Market
Look for peas - Mrs. Cha of Cha New Life thinks her sugar snap peas will be ready this Wednesday. If you remember the peas from our vendors from last year -- and pea lovers don't forget these things -- you'll recall bins of sugar snap peas, English peas and pea vines. It's a cause for celebration, not just because peas are absolutely delicious but also because once the peas come in, we're on a roll -- the produce varieties at the Market increase quickly each week.
You can also find lettuce (romaine, butterhead, red leaf, green leaf), asparagus, rapini, spinach, chard, collard greens, radishes, leeks, spring onions, garlic, mint and cilantro.
 Did you try the Vue Farm spinach last week? If so, did you enjoy a visual and taste sensation? So much spinach is sort of medium green these days and bland.
But not the spinach from Vue. This is the real stuff. It's very dark green, so you know you are actually getting all the nutrients promised by eating spinach, and it has a genuine spinach taste to it.
Steaming it gently and then sautéing it in olive oil with thin slices of green garlic from Cha New Life create a visually stunning presentation that also perks up the taste buds. Let's hope we have spinach at the market like this for weeks.
 Fresh flowers include peonies, tulips, irises, and lupine. |
 Cooking with the Market -
Washington State Asparagus among the Best
As far as asparagus is concerned, we in Washington have it made. Every spring, we know with certainty that lovely fresh asparagus will be widely available at our grocery stores and farmers markets. Not only will we see copious quantities of this vegetable that was once reserved only for banquets and wedding dinners, but we'll also see it at reasonable prices. It just isn't this way in every state.
53 Million Pounds Exported to Other States and Countries
Washington is one of the prime asparagus growing states, once producing the majority of processed asparagus in the nation. Now that the canneries have gone and our tastes have turned from processed to fresh, asparagus growers in the state are concentrating on producing the very best quality fresh asparagus.
Their efforts are working. Each year, Washington growers ship asparagus to every state in the nation and to Europe and Asia -- 53 million pounds of it. For more statistics, recipes, nutritional information, and details about asparagus growing, see the Washington Asparagus Commission site, http://www.washingtonasparagus.com/ .
Why Are We Supposed to Store Asparagus in Water?
Our farmers often bring their asparagus to market in bunches stacked upright in bins of water about a half inch to inch deep. This is a big clue. They store asparagus in water because it extends the freshness, crispness, and sweet taste. 
This means that every May and early June, you may want to give up a corner of your refrigerator shelf to an asparagus jar. Fill it with one-half to an inch of water, pop in the asparagus stalks, and cover the tops of the stalks loosely with a plastic bag. The results are so good you won't begrudge the lost space.
You can also wrap the bottoms of the spears with damp paper towels or a moist towel and store the asparagus in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer.
Fat or Skinny Asparagus
Whether you prefer fat to skinny asparagus seems to be a weighty matter, if you judge from the number of articles you'll pick up from an Internet search. Here's just one example of strong opinions on the matter, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/17/dining/17mini.html . Our state has responded by setting four sizing standards, small, standard, large and jumbo. The jumbo is 13/16" or more. Now that is fat.
When to Peel Asparagus
When using fat asparagus, you'll get the best results if you peel the stalks to get rid of the tough outer skin. A vegetable peeler is dandy for the job, and the peels are dandy for the compost pile. Peeled asparagus cooks faster.
How to Tell When Asparagus Is Cooked Correctly
Use the knife test. Insert the tip of a sharp knife into the spear. After some practice, you'll know "the feel" when the asparagus is done the way you like it.
To Sauce or Not to Sauce
Years ago, asparagus usually showed up on our plates with sauce, generally Hollandaise. Today, cookbooks are filled with ideas for other asparagus sauces. While asparagus is delicious on its own, there's something about it that lends it well to being sauced or to being enhanced with butter or vinaigrette.
My favorite is brown butter sauce. It satisfies all my requisites for a sauce -- it is easy; it is fast; it uses very few ingredients, in this case one, or if we want to stretch it to think of salt as an ingredient, then we have two; and it does not overwhelm the vegetable. Rather, it gives just the right delicate touch to the asparagus.
Asparagus with Simple Brown Butter Sauce
1 bunch of asparagus from the Market (Try to select a bunch with spears about the same thickness.)
Trim off the ends and peel stalks if fat. Cut into 4" pieces.
Steam asparagus.
When almost done, remove from heat.
Melt 3 to 4 tbsp. of butter in skillet over medium heat.
Add salt to taste. Better quality butter will give better tasting sauce.
When the butter starts to foam, it will turn golden in color and a bit nutty in taste.
Remove quickly from heat to keep the butter from turning brown. (This really should be called Golden Butter Brown Sauce. If it turns brown, it will taste a bit burnt, and you'll want to start over.)
Add the asparagus to the pan and stir it to coat it with the sauce.
L. Leo, Editor
Photos by L. Leo & Cynthia Johnston
© Sammamish Farmers Market 2009 | |
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