Meet the Vendor -
Quil Bay Seafood
Bivalve aficionados, celebrate, Quil Bay seafood,brings to our Market ice chests brimming with clams and oysters harvested on Market day from
Hood Canal. http://www.quilbay.com/That's the meaning of fresh seafood. One QuilBay regular at the Market, Dee Carrel, has it just right, "Oh, one dozen isn't enough; you have to buy two." If You Haven't Tried Oysters or Clams, Quil Bay Would Love to Talk with You Bivalve non-lovers, take heart. Quil Bay has a pretty good chance of turning you into someone who at least appreciates the taste of bivalves. All you need do is to stop by and talk with Karen and her crew. She'll tell you exactly how to prepare these fruits of the sea and even give you recipe cards. You can also meet her in a video on our Market blog,
As Karen will tell you, clams and oysters are among the easiest foods to prepare. They're also fun to work with in the kitchen. Watching them pop open to reveal their precious contents entertains kids and adults.
Quil Bay Committed to Sustainability
Quil Bay takes sustainability of the marine environment very seriously. As members of the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association, http://www.pcsga.org/
they are committed to protecting the marine environment and preserving the resources of Puget Sound. |
21 Reasons to
Shop at the Market
7. For the safety of what we eat
With the food scares of the last years-the peanut butter contamination traced to a Georgia plant, the melamine problems traced to Chinese imports, the tomato scare of last summer eventually traced to peppers from Mexico-it's rather understandable that many of us have very big questions about the safety of our food supply.
With the popularity of processed foods and the stunning increase in the amount of imported produce (imported produce and imported processed produce has tripled in the last 20 years), the opportunities for microbes and pesticides to wreak havoc have increased.
The FDA is charged with inspecting domestic and imported produce, as well as other foods. Last year, the GAO released a report that more or less shrieked as it listed the FDA's shortcomings. If you can bear to read it, Click HERE to read the report.
In general, the FDA has a better handle on domestic inspections for microbes and pesticides than on imports.
The USDA tests for pesticide residues on certain domestic and imported produce. In general, pesticide levels are higher on imported produce.
Against that background, the Market is a sanctuary. It's a place we can go where we know that our food has been grown locally by small farmers who aren't large anonymous farmers or food processors. Most are family farmers, some even third-generation family farmers, who want to make connections with their customers. Some use organic or transitional or no spray farming methods. What they all share is a desire to provide us with delicious, fresh and safe food.
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Last Day at the Market to Make Video Clips
This is the last day Audio Amigo Video Services will be at the Market to make video clips for the city's time capsule. There's no charge, and it's very easy. Just walk over to their booth and talk for about 30 seconds. That's all you need do.
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This Week at the Market 
Pakistan Day at the Market
Enjoy the culture and tastes of Pakistan (brought to you in partnership with the City of Sammamish).
Firefighters and Rotary Members
Stop by the information booth to receive your Market Buck to spend while shopping. Entertainment
TMD plays popular Pakistani music.
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What's Fresh at the Market 
Fruit
Cherries (both Rainier and red) and apricots from the Yakima area. As Heather from Calhoun Family Orchards explains, once cherries come in, the fruits just "pour" into markets as successive crops ripen. Peaches won't be far behind. Strawberries. Youngquist Berries and Hayton Farms, both from Skagit Valley, and Cha New Life from Duvall all have succulent strawberries. Raspberries should show up at the market in a week or two.
Vegetables
Now that it's a bit warmer, the market abounds with vegetables. We're at that special point where we have both the delicious cool weather vegetables like peas and the warm-weather vegetables like green beans, fava beans (some of the best looking ever), and zucchini. After a winter of seeing woody, spotted or imported green beans at the grocery store, the fresh, slender beans at the market gladden the soul. They also resuscitated our green bean taste sensors. They're so good!
Tomatoes, cabbage, kale, rhubarb, English peas, sugar snap peas, snow peas, pea tendrils, asparagus, spinach, collard greens, chard, broccoli rabe, Chinese broccoli, amaranth, lettuce (romaine, butterhead, red leaf and green leaf), radishes, beets, cucumbers, eggplants, lemon cucumbers, spring onions, spring garlic, garlic bulbs, kohlrabi, and carrots.
Herbs
Mint, cilantro, dill and parsley.
Flowers
The first lilies are here. Happily for us, the lily season is a rather long one, beginning with the colorful and hardy Asiatic lilies, followed quickly by the majestic Oriental lilies with their intoxicating scent. Also enjoy the sweet peas, dianthus, delphiniums, irises, poppies and peonies.
Our flower vendors can provide the flowers for your special events. Last year and already this year, they've helped Market shoppers plan flowers for weddings and other events.
Shellfish and Meat
Grass-fed beef; oysters and clams fresh from Hood Canal.
Last week, Quil Bay Seafood brought in fresh Hood Canal spot prawns along with clams and oysters, put up a sign announcing the prawns, and quickly sold out.
Those of you lucky and quick enough to buy these prawns indeed found an exceptional treasure at the market, since these prawns are not harvested regularly. We need to grab them when we can find them. Didn't the prawns just about melt in your mouth with sweetness and tenderness?. There was not one smidgeon of the rubbery texture we sometimes find in the shrimp we buy in grocery stores.
Bread and Pastries
Bread, pie, cobblers, bagels, cookies, bars and all things good
Honey
Local varieties of honey along with beeswax candles
Prepared Foods
Dim sum and pad Thai; award-winning barbecue; ice cream treats; frozen soups; homemade ice cream; and specialty chocolates.
Plants and Crafts
Our local artisans share their artistic gifts by having booths at the Market. Why not stop by to meet these vendors? |
Cooking with the Market - Freezer Jam
Strawberry Freezer JamIf you've never made freezer jam, why not try now? The Market has strawberries with the perfect sugar content to make memorable freezer jam.  Easy to MakeThe process is easy; it's quick (it takes all of about half an hour); and it's not messy. Since there's no canning apparatus other than clean glass jars and lids, you don't have any of the worrisome business of using a water bath and sealing the lids. Plus, this jam is delicious. When you take it out of the freezer in late fall or winter for your toast or croissants, you'll sample the sweet strawberries of the summer. Sure-Jell Recipes Easy Way to StartThe easiest way to start with freezer jam is to buy Sure-Jell pectin at the grocery store. Most jams and jellies rely on pectin to help them set, the process that binds the fruit so that it's spreadable but not a flowing syrup. As a manufacturer of pectin, Sure-Jell offers a number of types of pectin. Try the pink box for low sugar recipes or the standard yellow box for Sure-Jell Jams and Jellies. Follow the instructions included in the box for an easy, no-cook version of freezer jam. You'll need berries, granulated sugar, lemon if you want to add it, and the pectin, which is mixed with ¾ to 1 cup water. That's it. You'll also need 3 to 4 jam jars and lids that you have sterilized by rinsing with boiling water and then drying. Not Just for Berries but for Cherries and Peaches Too Or turn to Sure-Jell's website, where you'll find hundreds of freezer jam recipes, http://brands.kraftfoods.com/surejell/ . Once on the website, you'll immediately see how you can use the same techniques to make freezer jam from all the summer bounty, from cherries to peaches.
L. Leo, Editor
Photos by L. Leo & Cynthia Johnston
© Sammamish Farmers Market 2009 |
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