May 26, 2011
Vol 5, Issue 6
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Market Updates                       
The market is starting to fill out! Big B Farm, DeMartini Family Farm, and Sylvan Valley Acres are all starting the market this week. Happy Campers Gluten Free Baking will be at the market starting next Saturday, June 4th along with Thompson Farms. Nossa Familia Coffee returns to the market this Saturday, but if you need a latte, you might want to pick one up on the way to the market as Mocha Roma's Coffee Company will be on family vacation, returning next week on June 4th. Unger Farms, finger pointing at kim as she looks at her strawberry flatsLiepold Farms, and Baird Family Orchards are on their way, we promise! You can start looking for them around the second week of June. But if you need berries now, check out Deep Roots Farm and Happy Harvest Farm in the back row of the market!

Be sure to read the latest monthly article by Miriam Garcia below, about cooking seasonally and listening to vegetables!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the market last week to help us celebrate our 15th birthday. Again, thank you to Whole Foods Market for donating our birthday cake.
liz is holding the cutest puppy in the world, gibson. It was really wonderful to see you all and we received some great comments from folks including one that read "Started coming here with a puppy. Three kids later, we've grown up here!" Awwwww, how sweet! It's true, nothing says Hollywood Farmers Market like dogs, kids, and fresh produce.

We are pleased to help promote the Hollywood Loaves & Fishes Good For Your Health Fair happening this Saturday. Get your hearing checked, find out about fitness programs and more, all while shopping at the market!

 

See you at the market!

   eatthebookEat the Book Backwards   

 by Miriam Garcia    

"Psssst!" said the Artichoke. "Over here! I wanna be stuffed with breadcrumbs and Parmesan and drizzled with a fruity EVOO!"

 

"I don't take orders from Artichokes!" I sniffed. "Besides, I really need Zucchini today. Except there aren't any. What's up with that you think?"


Once upon a time, I hated the kind of cookbooks that are organized alphabetically by ingredient. You know, from Artichoke on through Zucchini. This approach I did not find helpful. No, I found it somewhat backwards at best and oddly sentimental at worst. I didn't want to think about Asparagus as 'that tender harbinger of Spring that shows up along with robins and daffodils!' I wanted ideas for interesting meals and menus to suit my mood of the moment, satisfy cravings, get my kids to eat without making barfy sounds, earn man-praise, delight guests, and dirty as few dishes as possible. I was looking for solutions to problems that had nothing to do with the seasons. I wanted sustenance and pleasure on my terms.

As Farmers Market aficionados, you probably know what I didn't: It's natural to pursue sustenance and pleasure, yes. The back-spinning trick of it is to up the quality of sustenance and depth of pleasure by eating what the earth is putting forth right here and right now. I'm not trying to preach to the converted here. I'm just asking, how do you figure out what to make for dinner? Do you ever eat the book backwards?

Eating the book backwards means that instead of starting with a recipe and then shopping for ingredients, you reverse the process and start by gathering fresh, local ingredients at the Market -- then figure out what they can become. This might mean looking into the backs of your cookbooks first, at the indices where key ingredients are listed. It might mean consulting one those alphabetical-type cookbooks, which I now love, or a seasonally-organized cookbook. Learning to eat the book backwards creates small, but profound, shifts in how we might approach cooking. Ultimately, it puts our nourishment and pleasure into a more authentic, healthier relationship with the world.

But that's not all.

Health, environment, economy and politics aside, eating the book backwards can yield unexpected rewards, for example I've reaped....

A broader repertoire. I've become good friends with celeriac and kohlrabi, vegetables I never encountered growing up. I've also learned to love beets and Brussels sprouts, vegetables I did encounter (and despised) in canned and overcooked forms, mostly upon school lunch trays. Fortunately, my earlier convictions were overturned by "fresh" evidence.

Bumper-to-bumper crops. I've learned to have fun with the creative challenges of eating a lot of one bumper crop for a time, and then a lot of the next bumper crop, and then a lot of bumper crops all coming at me at once, like bumper cars.

Way more potlucks. A great thing to do with all those zucchini, or corn, or winter squash is to make a big batch of something delicious and then share it. It's also fun to see what my friends and neighbors concoct from essentially the same ingredients. What's available right here and right now can be magicked into an endless variety of dishes.

Hugs from my farmer. After many years of picking up my CSA box from the market, I have come to know my farmer. Now, I get a hug along with my lettuces, how cool is that?

So, here's a thing to try, if you like. The next time you visit your Farmers Market, let the farmers' goods whisper their wishes to you. Let inspiration and impulse guide you. Eating the book backwards, you might go overboard, but you really can't go wrong.

"Pssst! Over here!" said the Eggplant. "I would make a terrific Thai stir-fry, like with ginger and garlic?"

 

I gasped, "Oh, my! It's a dear harbinger of Summer! Yeah, stir-fry, sure. Or moussaka? Or ratatouille? Or baba ganouj? Lots of possibilities."

 

"I know, right?"

 

"OK, in the basket you go! And you over there, you too!"


Once upon a time, I didn't take requests from Eggplants. But now I do, and from Artichokes and Zucchinis, too . Turns out it's a great way to eat happily ever after..
 Tip of the Week
brought to you by
Robert Reynolds' Chefs Studio
Knives - For Pete's sake, get a good knife. A good knife makes life easy. A bad knife makes life hard.
At the Market

Music:

Anna, Paul, & the Bearded Lady  

 

Community Booths:

Loaves & Fishes - Good For Your Health Fair

 

Upcoming Events:

Good For Your Health Fair with Loaves & Fishes - 5/28, all day 

 

Cooking Demonstration with the Chef Studio - 6/11, 9:30am & 10:30am 

 

Fest O' Pesto - 6/25, all day 

 Featured Products

May 21, 2011  

shiso starts

Shiso Plant Starts 

Glass Jade Nursery
Used in Asian cooking, sushi, and salad mizes. The green plant has an "almost citrusy" flavor and the red has more of a spice to it. Sarah (HFM Market Manager) thinks they both "taste like the color magenta". Try both for a unique flavor adventure!   

   

Asparagus   

ProFarm Produce   

Tender with thin stalks, this asparagus is great in the pan or on the grill with olive oil and just a touch of salt. Yum!  

 

Sweet and Spicy Thai Chevre  

Alsea Acre Alpines

Alsea Acre Alpines' signature goat cheese with a Thai dipping sauce over the top. Put it on a cracker or eat it with a spoon!   

Baby Turnips  

Winter Green Farm  

Delicious raw or cooked, they are mildly sweet, not spicy. The taste of Spring!

 

Pretzels   

Delphina's Bakery  

Traditional soft pretzels, these are fabulous with mustard (Fatdog Mustard especially!) and come in three shapes: traditional knot, sticks, or pretzel rolls. We hear sandwiches on pretzel bread is heavenly. 

 Market Pics   

 

gibson 

 

 

 

kid in wagon looking at the camera kinda meanly. 

 












hfm_mapThe Hollywood Farmers Market is open Saturdays, May through Thanksgiving from 8am - 1pm. (November Markets begin at 9am).

We are located on NE Hancock Street between 44th and 45th Avenues (one block South of Sandy Blvd).

For more information, check us out online at www.hollywoodfarmersmarket.org.

See you Saturday!

Hollywood Farmers Market
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