First Market Report for 2008!!!

Saturday morning was the Columbus Half Marathon.  Nothing like waddling through a bunch of whisper thin runners early on a Saturday morning . . . just kidding, of course; congratulations to all of those who ran (to be true, when I was arriving at the market, the winners were finishing or were at least very close; I don't know the exact route).

There were a few farmers out at the North Market this morning - Toad Hill Organics, where I bought some eggs and arugula (which will make a great salad with some nice bacon I bought this week at Weiland's); I also bought a few catnip toys from someone else, who I can't remember right now (I'm rusty, folks!!)  The kitties were very fond of the toys, and began rubbing them on their faces from the moment I stepped through the door.

I went into the Market, just for a few minutes - the house is clean, and we are having a wine tasting Sunday night, so cooking is restricted at Chez Widow until everyone is gone!

I stopped into the Greener Grocer to see if they had morels (not yet, but soon!) and discovered they are carrying Snowville Creamery Milk!  Which is delicious, and local.  It's also less expensive than the Ohio Organic Milk, which is about $5 a half gallon.  Snowville was $3 for a half gallon:

I also bought some hot sauce from the Sauce Cartel.  I love hot sauce, and I had heard of them but hadn't tasted it yet.  I made the mistake of tasting the first variety which sounded good to me, it of course turned out to be the hottest, and I loaded it on; it was a slow burn, but tasty - nothing a little sample of ice cream from Jeni's couldn't calm.  The guy from the Cartel was telling me how they like to use a lot of fruit for the sugar content and flavor, creating a hot sauce which has a strong, full flavor first and then goes into a slow burn.  it was pretty good, and I have a few good ideas for it . . . (right now I've just been pouring the mild sundried tomato & chipotle on anything that will sit still long enough)

And then it was off to Worthington for a brief stop, where I saw my favorite mushroom man! (Jim Rockwell from Toby Run Mushrooms; he'll have shitakes first week of May, FYI) and bought the oyster mushrooms, pictured at the top of the post which Husband is currently turning into bruschetta to go with our vino tonight (18 wines! Yikes!)

Comments

[wmbailey]

FYI: Weilands has morels right now, $40/pound.

[Columbus Foodie]

Jenn, the Greener Grocer in the North Market has heavy cream in half gallons, believe it or not. Not sure on the price or whether or not it's ultra-pastuerized or not, though. I can vouch for the taste of the Snowville Creamery milk though - I'm lactose intolerant so the only milk I can drink without setting me off is non-homogenized. This stuff tastes as good as Hartzler's without the price tag of Hartzler's.

[Jenn]

I see the milk is not homogenized. Does anyone know if they also sell cream and if it is ultra-pastuerized? I'm tyring to find cream as close to raw as I can for a reasonable price. (Less than $4 a quart is what I am looking for.)

Wow, can it be...market season coming so soon!

[Sara]

I will have to try the snowville creamery, but just to let you know a gallon of Ohio Organic milk is $4.29 a gallon at the clintonville coop.

[Bear]

Loved my tour of the Sauce Cartel guys a couple of weeks back. Their Luau Sauce, in particular, was really innovative. A lot of hot sauces are Tabasco ripoffs with cheesy labels, but each of theirs is an original, with a lot of thought and tinkering behind it.

[Anne]

I believe the other vendor at the North Market was Combs Fresh Herbs. She was there last week too (and has some lovely spinach, the extra-wrinkly variety that holds dressing so well.)

Have you tried the milk from Hartzler's Dairy (Wooster)? They aren't as cheap as Snowville ($3.49 or so) but it comes in returnable glass bottles and is also non-homogenized and pasteurized at lower temperatures. Their butter is truly heavenly as well.

One thing I like about Snowville is that you can get whipping cream in a half-gallon size!

[Rachel]

We LOVE snowville creamery milk and buy it up whenever we make it to the north market.

Can't wait for the CSA to begin in a few weeks. Spring is really here! :)