Thirsty Thursday!

My weekly farmers market visit was to the Brookline Farmers Market!  Typically when I think of Brookline, I think of delicious restaurants, but now I will think awesome farmers market!  There were tons of great vendors and the fruits and vegetables were plentiful.  Dicks Market Garden and Kimball farms were there, two great places to stock up on fruits and veggies, but also there were 4-5 smaller vendors that supplied fruits and veggies such as Stillman's Farm and Flats Mentor Farm.  If you want to get meat there is a choice of River Rock Farm or Smith's Country Cheese, and also Bob's Turkey Farm if you felt like a nice turkey dinner.  If you are thinking some fresh fish for dinner there is Globe Fish Company.  There is goat cheese from Westfield Farm and of course Smith Country Cheese where you can get some gouda, cheddar, or havarti cheese.  And don't forget the gouda spreads!  The bread looked delicious from Clear Flour Bread.  You could easy make a farmers market pizza from visiting this market.

So I can't resist the fresh fruits that are in season this time of year.  I went to Dick's Market Garden to get fresh, ripe white peaches that were just picked in the morning and some fennel.  I'm having girls night at my place tomorrow night and I am hoping to make a fennel salad.  Of course, to feed my friends I will make sure as many ingredients as possible are local.  Then I stopped by Kimballs to get some nice raspberries and some zucchini.

And to finish my market trip, I needed a thirst quencher, so I stopped by Trombettas Ice Cream Truck to get a raspberry lime rickey. If a lime rickey isn't your thing, you could also get a root beer float or some ice cream.

If you live or work in the Brookline area, this is a market you should visit.  This could easily be a weekly shopping trip.  Brookline Farmers Market is located on Centre Street, just off Beacon Street in Coolidge Corner.  It is open on Thursdays from 1:30 - 7:00.  Stop by this Thursday to get everything you need for the weekend!  I might be going back to get some fresh fish for dinner!

Here is the recipe I used for Romaine Fennel Salad for girls night!

1 head romaine lettuce
1 bulb fennel chopped
1/2 red onion
2 tbsp fontina/parmesan/asiago cheese
drizzle of olive oil
drizzle of balsamic vinegar
S&P to taste

Wash and chop lettuce and fennel and finely slice red onion and mix together in a large bowl.  See the you tube video below for how to chop fennel.  Mix cheese in the bowl and drizzle balsamic and olive oil.  Toss to coat well.  Add S&P to taste.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW0OCAnBYq8