Somerville Winter Farmers Market 2014

Spring is finally here!!! Except for the snowstorm that appears to be headed our way, but regardless, good things are coming.  Summer farmers markets are headed our way and a new farmers market will be opening in Watertown!  I love to hear that more cities and towns will have access to local food!  The market will begin on June 5th and run on Thursdays from 3-7 at Arsenal on the Charles.  Sounds like a beautiful spot for a farmers market.  I will keep everyone updated as I hear information about this market.  Another great thing about Spring is Union Square Farmers Market will be opening a few weeks early this year on May 17th.  

Even though it's not technically winter anymore, many of the winter farmers markets are still open.  My farmers market visit this week was to the Somerville Winter Farmers Market.  I went to this market for a few reasons...I needed breakfast sausage, which I know I can get at Stillmans Farm.  I also picked up some duck eggs while I was there too!  I love the richness of the yolk.  I like to make an egg sandwich and have the egg running down an english muffin.  I have also been eating a lot of sauerkraut lately.  Its delicious in a sandwich or on a hot dog, but I like to eat a couple bites in the morning because it is so helpful for the digestive system.  I picked up a jar from Hosta Hill.  I hope to see them at the summer markets as well.  Heron Pond had some great looking root vegetables and I was in need of some parsnips to make parsnip fries.  They also had some good looking mustard greens as well.  For a treat, I picked up a bag of cayenne mango cashews from Q's Nuts to snack on this week.  I also bought a new flavor, chocolate coconut almond for my husband.  Luckily, I got a sample of it at the market because the bag was gone before I could get a taste!  My last stop of the day, Union Square Donuts!  I was so excited to see the maple bacon donuts at the market, which ended up being my breakfast.

Other great vendors to check out include Long Wind Farm for some greenhouse tomatoes, Dan's Brick Oven for bread, Seta's Mediterranean Food, Narragansett Creamery, Soluna's Garden Farm, and many more.  This is a great market to get a little bit of everything.  Go check it out for the last day next Saturday, March 29 from 9:30-2 at the Arts at the Armory!

Last week I made this tasty spaghetti squash quiche!  It's super easy and great to make ahead and have for breakfast.  All the ingredients should be found at your local farmers market :)

1 medium spaghetti squash
6 eggs
1 tbsp good stuff from Soluna Garden Farm
3/4 lb breakfast sausage from Stillmans Farm

Cook the spaghetti squash.  Here is a link for instructions on how to cook a spaghetti squash.  While that is cooking, brown the sausage in a pan and set aside.  Whisk the eggs and seasoning together.  When the spaghetti squash is done cooking, put into a pie dish and pour egg mixture over the spaghetti squash.  Top with the sausage and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Enjoy not making breakfast this week!

Medford Winter Farmers Market

Finally February vacation came, so I spend one of my free days at the Medford Winter Farmers Market.  This market is located at the Hyatt near Medford Square on Thursdays from 3-7.  It's a small market, but has lots of character; decorated with lots of art.

Some familiar vendors that I saw were Stillman's, Soluna Garden Farm, and Foxboro Cheese Co.  I picked up some breakfast sausage from Stillman's and merlot salt from Soluna Garden Farm.  How could I resist salt infused in Merlot? I tried a little bit on my eggs in the morning and I used it in the fake shepeards pie that I made Sunday night.  By fake, I mean that I used ground turkey and added some red wine and spices and topped with veggies and mashed cauliflower.  I thought the merlot salt would be a nice addition to this dish.  A new vendor that I checked out was Doos PK.  I was sold on this dip that you can eat and drink.  There were three flavors, not too spicy, mild, and hot.  So far I have used it as an energy drink by adding ice, seltzer, and a squeeze of lime.  Other vendors you can find are Brookford Farm, Zoll Cellars, Joni's Cannolis, Oakdale Farm, and TRILLfoods.  

Something I accomplished while I had some time off was to experiment with the food dehydrator.  Since it's winter and there are not many veggies or fruit available to dehydrate, I decided it was time to make some beef jerky.  I am pretty happy with the result for my first time.  I bought a ginger teriyaki marinade at whole foods and added some garlic powder and a pinch of cayenne.  I thinly sliced 2 lbs of steak and marinaded for 48 hours. Then the steak slices were put in the dehydrator for 8 hours.  Then I added the dried piece to some mason jars and it has made a great snack.  

What to eat in January...

With the frigid temperatures, it's no surprise that many of us are longing for summer days.  What I wouldn't give to bite into a juicy peach or a fresh tomato.  Luckily, there have been many winter farmers markets popping up and many have winter veggies.  With a little experimentation, you can whip up a tasty recipe.

Last weekend, I went to the Wayland Winter Farmers Market at Russell's Garden Center.  Wayland Winter Farmers Market is open on Saturdays 10-2 until March 15.  Check out their website for special events like cheese day and wine day!  It's a nice market because you feel like you are in a garden with all the flowers and herbs available.  I am a sucker for hot chocolate, especially on a cold winter day, so it's nice to get a table and have a hot chocolate with a marshmallow from Sweet Lydia's.  I even tried the maple bacon chocolate covered salted caramels.  I love the salty, sweet combo and bacon is the perfect way to pull that off.

Other vendors that are worth a visit are Hosta Hill, Caledonia Farm, and Red Fire Farm.  I bought sauerkraut from Hosta Hill, which they make with organic cabbage right from their farm.  Delicious and good for you too!  Caledonia Farm had a very long line, but it was worth the wait to buy some hot Italian sausage.  I haven't been a sausage eater until I started buying it directly from farmers; it tastes so different from the store bought stuff.  Plus, it was delicious in a white bean sausage stew!  Red Fire Farm has lots of root vegetables and greens to choose from.   I bought onions, carrots, watermelon radish, and garlic.  I also bought some kale to make this delicious recipe.

If you have been craving for pesto, but it's not basil season, try this kale pistachio pesto, it is sure to wake up those taste buds (and sneak in nutrients too!).  I mixed this in with some spaghetti squash for a nice  winter meal.

Kale Pistachio Pesto

3 cups kale (I used dinosaur, but any variety will do)
1/3 pistachio
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor.  Pour onto pasta or spaghetti squash.  I put the extra in a mason jar and put it in the refrigerator.  It will last about a month, so make sure to eat it all!

Happy New Year!

It's been a while since my last blog post.  Sometimes life just gets busy, especially around the holidays, but let's face it, there aren't tons of farmers markets going on right now either.  I'm definitely excited to visit some of the winter markets that are beginning to open.  I am in desperate need of a good farmers market and I have plans to go on Saturday to Wayland Farmers Market!

After a fabulous brunch at Bulfinches in Sudbury (I love eggs Benny!), I came home and decided to stay warm by roasting up some butternut squash.  I love squash this time of year and it is very readily available.  Funny story, especially for those that know my husband.  For those that don't, he is picky and needs some convincing to try new foods.  One week, I made a big pot of chili and some delicious buttercup squash and sausage soup (http://www.notsocheesykitchen.com/2013/11/roasted-buttercup-squash-black-bean.html), the latter which my husband wouldn't touch.  Both were in containers in the fridge and one night that I was working late, I told him to have the leftover chili for dinner.  He called me and told me the chili was really soupy, but I just made it so I told him it should be safe to eat.  So I come home and I see the empty bowl in the sink and realized that he ate the soup instead of the chili. I couldn't stop laughing and he said he liked it, so now he can say he has tried buttercup squash.  Since butternut squash is more popular than buttercup squash, it shouldn't take much convincing for him to eat this recipe :)

This will make a great side dish throughout the week, but it takes some prep work, so it's great to make on a Sunday.

You will need:

1 butternut squash

8-10 sage leaves chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425.  Peel, remove seeds, and chop butternut squash into 1/2 inch cubes.  In a bowl, toss with olive oil, sage, and S&P.  Put in a baking dish and bake for about 40-45 minutes. 

Feel free to play around with spices too.  Sweeten with cinnamon or spice it up with cayenne instead of sage.

Cambridge Winter Farmers Market

When I went to the Cambridge Winter Farmers Market, I couldn't buy too much because I was going to New York City for a few days, but I still wanted some local snacks to bring along.  My new obsession, Q's nuts is at this market so I picked up some cayenne mango cashews, which I love, and also sweet and salty and chocolate almonds for my husband.  I stopped by red fire farm because they had frozen green, red, and yellow peppers, which I am fresh out of in my winter freezer stash.  They were also selling popcorn kernels, which I have yet to see at a farmers market, so I picked those up as well.  Another great find is Soluna Garden, which sells spices, rubs, and tea.  I bought some spices from them at the Wayland Winter Farmers Market and was very happy with their spices, so I bought a sweet chili pork rub and garlic pepper.  I haven't tried the pork rub yet, but the garlic pepper is great to use on scrambled eggs, chicken, or salad.  Other great vendors you can find include coffee trike (I love the heart in my latte!), Jordan Bros Seafood, Follow the Honey, Lillac farm, Silverbrook farm, and many others.

Cambridge Winter Farmers Market is open on Saturdays from 10-2 at the Cambridge Community Center.  There is a garden on the outside of the building, which I thought was fantastic! Unfortunately this markets last day was yesterday, but that means that we have the summer markets to look forward too!  Cambridge has quite a few summer markets that will be opening shortly.  Two markets that I know of are the Central Square Farmers Market and Charles Square Farmers Market.  Central Square is open on Mondays starting May 21 and Charles Square is open on Fridays and Sundays starting May 20.  And June 19 starts Harvard University's farmers market.  Many good things to come!

And now let's talk about my trip to NYC!  This was a surprise trip to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary and my husband surprised me with tickets to see The Chew!  It was a Hollywood themed show, so we had to wear our best clothes, plus with Clinton Kelly there we would have had to dress nice anyway.  We got to see Brooke Shields (yes, she is gorgeous in person) help Mario Batali make short ribs and then Michael Symon made Halibut with chips made out of root vegetables, a possible project for me in the fall.  Another great part of out trip was celebrating our anniversary at BLT Steakhouse.  We had some fabulous tuna tar tar with avocado and soy sauce and smoked bacon on a popover.  If that wasn't enough we had delicious fillets with asparagus and truffle mashed potatoes.  My next project will be replicating the truffle mashed potatoes because they were out of this world.  And finally dessert, we ordered apple crisp, but also got the "legendary" chocolate peanut butter mousse as a surprise for our anniversary, which we started devouring before I got to snap a picture.   

 



 

Pawtucket Winter Farmers Market

For St. Patrick's Day, my father and his wife had a party full of beer, green wine, and a traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner.  There wasn't too much that was local about this party accept the Harpoon Celtic Red and the Sam Irish Red that was being served, which sometimes have local ingredients.  Although I am not much of a baker, since I got my kitchen aid mixer last year I have been able to tolerate some baking in moderation.  I was also trying to find an excuse to bake with beer and I saw this great recipe on twitter.  So I made Boozy Irish Whoopie Pies to bring to the party.  And I have to say that these were pretty good and would even consider making them on a non-Irish occasion.  And therefore, these whoopie pies are recipe of the week!  And I won't go into the details of the party because let's just say that after Irish Bingo, things got a little crazy!

http://www.theeconomicaleater.com/2013/03/boozy-irish-whoopie-pies.html

This morning I took a road trip to Pawtucket, Rhode Island to go to the Pawtucket Winter Farmers Market.  This was a great find and worth the trip because this is one of the biggest winter farmers market that I have been to with tons of vegetables to my liking.  There weren't any vendors that I am familiar with because most were from Rhode Island, but there were a few from Dartmouth and Westport, which I always appreciate because that is my old stomping ground from my college days.  There are really too many vendors to name, but just know that you can get everything at this market.  Meat, whole chickens, fish, jams, cheese, granola, eggs, veggies - including lots of fresh greens, apples, applesauce, pastries, dog treats, soap, herbs, plants, eggs, and I am sure I am missing something.  And the food trucks...I wish it wasn't 10am while I was there because I would have loved to try the mac and cheese with Vermont cheddar. 

The Pawtucket Winter Farmers Market is located on 1005 Main Street, Pawtucket RI.  It is open on Saturdays 9-1 until May 11th.  It is really worth the trip down and go hungry!!

  

Medford Winter Farmers Market

For all the prosciutto fans out there, I went to the Salty Pig with my father for dinner last week.  The restaurant has a great selection for craft beer and wine plus we had a prosciutto feast!  For the appetizer, you can select what you want for meat, cheese, and, jellies and marmalades.  We picked two different types of prosciutto, one aged and one smoked, with cabot cheese (because I had to have something somewhat local!) and a gouda style goat cheese.  Then we chose to add marinated olives and jalapeno jelly, which I love!  But we didn't want to stop there.  So we got a pizza with prosciutto, roasted red pepper, tomato, and mozzarella.  There is also an option to add a fried egg to our pizza.  We had a discussion about this trend that we have seen pop up.  I have heard of adding a fried egg to a burger and my father had it on a crostini, but I have never had it on pizza.  Since we both like to keep up with the times, when the waiter asked if we wanted to add an egg to our pizza, we did!

Of course, before I went to the Salty Pig, I went to the Medford Winter Farmers Market.  Bring your jacket because this market is located in the parking garage at the Hyatt in Medford.  There were some good vendors that I knew I would see here, Romas Bakery, which has great giant cookies (good for bribing my husband to come to the market with me) and delicious pies.  There are sweet pies such as blueberry, strawberry rhubarb, and apple.  They also have pie like italian cold cut, thanksgiving dinner, and spinach and mozzarella, which I may even have in my freezer!  Another vendor that I am very fond of this winter is Silverbrook Farm out of Dartmouth, MA.  They have a variety of root vegetables as well as greens.  You can also buy honey, jams, and eggs too!  At this market there were lots of treats, which I don't typically buy, but I figured that I would splurge and try the Cookie Lady.  Thanks to Sweet Lydia's, I have been a s'more junkie lately, so I bought a package of petit s'mores.  It was a nice treat to cozy up with a hot chocolate and a s'more when it was snowing out on Saturday.  Other vendors include Stillman's, Big Sky Breads, C and C lobsters and fish, Coastal Vineyards, Q Nuts, and VESTA pizza.

Unfortunately, today is the last day of the Medford Winter Farmers Market, but they do have a summer market on Thursdays from 3-7.  I'll keep you posted when I hear the details.

Recipe of the week:
Healthy Shepherds Pie

I found this recipe on Pinterest and thought it is worth sharing.  It uses a lot of root vegetables so it would be easy to find these local this time of year.  I used local kale, onion, and carrots, omitted the peas, and used butter instead of greek yogurt.  Next time I will try to use more local ingredients, but it still came out great!!

http://soletshangout.com/skinny-shepherds-pie-gluten-free/

            

Egleston Farmers Market

Is anyone else feeling the winter blues?  It feels like it has been the longest week and I have wanted to sleep through most of it.  I find myself looking through the summer farmers market pictures on my phone and wanting some of those great summer flavors.  Actually, correction, I looked at the pictures on my phone until it broke.  I never thought that I would be one of those people that would flip out if my phone broke, but I guess I was wrong.  It was not a huge deal, I was able to upload all of my information to my computer.  While my husband was doing this, he said, "why are there so many pictures of vegetables on your phone!"  So now I have my husbands old phone with little to no pictures of vegetables on it.  That all changed when I went to the Egleston Farmers Market!

Egleston Farmers Market was a great find! And I wouldn't have found this market if they hadn't started following me on twitter.  There are some great vendors at this indoor market.  They had two guest vendors, Neighborhood Farm and Brookwood Farm.  I bought some onions, watermelon radish, and dried hot peppers!  I am so excited to try the hot peppers in some chili.  All you have to do is drop it in the chili to get some great flavor.  Also, I have never had watermelon radishes before so this will be a new treat!  If you are looking for some meat, there is Stillman's Farm and John Crow Farm.  I am stocked up on meat this week, so no need to buy anything this week.  For treats, there was the Cupcakory and I also saw a place that sold fudge too.  Foxboro cheese co is there and right next to them was Valicenti Organico to by sauce and pasta.  And this was also the first time that I tried hummus at Seta's Mediterranean foods.  I have to say that it was delicious!  Instead of buying hummus, I bought some kale and chick pea salad.  I can't get enough of my leafy greens lately, so I knew that would be a great meal this week.  And while you are shopping or just hanging out you can get a cup of coffee and listen to music. 

Egleston Farmers Market is located in Egleston Square in Jamaica Plain on Saturdays from 11-2.  It's a great market and go hungry because you can stop by the food truck and get something delicious for lunch.  This week Mei Mei food truck was there and I got some oolong tea and cheese and leek bread pudding.  And their food is made with all local ingredients!!

Recipe of the week:  Roasted Cauliflower

I got this idea while I was watching the Chew this week (it is my latest obsession).  Daphne Oz was making a roasted cauliflower recipe.  I decided that I wanted to try a simple recipe to really taste the flavor and then maybe next time I will play around with some spices.  But Daphne gave me this idea of getting that nice carmelization around the edges of the cauliflower.  This recipe is delicious and super easy.  I though that this was close to tasting like french fries, however, my husband disagreed.  He said that if they tasted like french fries, he would want to eat these with ketchup, which he did not.  Then, later on in the evening, my dad said there is no way that cauliflower would ever taste like french fries.  Regardless, these are delicious and I recommend trying this recipe.

1 head of cauliflower chopped into same size pieces (so they cook evenly)
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Wash and cut the cauliflower into same size pieces.  Liberally coat with olive oil so all the pieces are covered.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Put in a roasting pan and cover with foil.  Roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes and uncover.  Continue to roast stirring every 10 minutes until the cauliflower has that nice brown color.  It took me about 30 minutes total.

Natick Winter Farmers Market

Before the big Christmas feast, I got the chance to stop by the Natick Winter Farmers Market.  I remember going to this farmers market last winter, but I like it even more this winter.  There were two produce vendors and I got so excited to see the tomatoes that I forgot to get the name of the vendors.  One vendor has my favorite juliet tomatoes, which is a tiny tomato similar to a grape tomato.  I sampled one and it tasted just like summer.  There were also plenty of collard greens, scallions, potatoes, carrots, and parsnips.  The other tomatoes that I bought were a little bit bigger than the juliet and came in red and yellow, another favorite summer time treat.  I put those tomatoes in my winter local salad that I served on Christmas eve.  I was excited to see boxes of nice mixed greens and bags of baby spinach that also went into the local salad.

Other vendors at the market include The Cookie Lady, Fior D'italia, Naragansett Cheese, Nobscot Cheese, and several vendors with goodies such as jam, fudge, breads, pickles, and soda.  I also saw some coffee as well, but I had already had my morning cup at that point.  

I was very happy with this visit because I was able to get everything I needed for my winter local salad.  I like to eat a lot of salad and I now know where to get everything this winter to continue eating local.  The Natick Winter Farmers Market is open on Saturdays from 9am-1pm and located on Union Street at the Leonard Morse Hospital.  Parking is easy and there are signs to get you to the market.  In the parking lot, there is a vendor, Chestnut farms, which sells beef, pork, and chicken.  Go check it out!

Recipe of the week:  Tomato Jam

The first time I tried tomato jam was last summer.  It has a very unique flavor of the sweetness of tomatoes, but a little flavor with the basil.  This is a recipe I found from the food network and made over the summer.  I brought this to a New Year's Eve Party and it was a big hit.  Serve with some crackers and goat cheese.  If you find some winter tomatoes, try it out.  If I can find some good tomatoes and may make more for some gifts ;)

2 1/2 lbs. fully ripe tomatoes (about 5 large)
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons snipped fresh basil (I saw basil at the Wayland Market today!!)
1/4 cup sugar
1 (2 ounce) package powdered fruit pectin
2 3/4 cups sugar

Peel, core, and de-seed tomatoes, then chop.  Place tomatoes in a large pot (at least 6 quarts) and heat until boiling, reduce and simmer about 10 minutes.  Add lemon and basil and combine 1/4 cup sugar with the pectin and stir into tomatoes, heat to a boil.  Then stir in remaining sugar and return to boil.  Remove from heat and skim foam with a spoon.  Ladle into sterile mason jars, leave 1/4 inch head space and process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Home canning does come with risks, so be sure you do your research before trying this out.  You can always make the jam and serve the same day or put it in the fridge.  Check out www.foodinjars.com for some great canning tips.

Brookline Winter Farmers Market

Well, it's been some time since my last post.  It's seems to be a combination of not having any farmers markets to go to and being in a routine of working long hours.  I did find some time to stop by the Brookline Winter Farmers Market two weeks ago.  It's a indoor, small market in the Arcade building in Coolidge Corner.  I went thinking I could go to the market and then stop by the nearby trader joe's to stock up on wine and goodies.  I have had better ideas than tackling Brookline on a Sunday afternoon.  Parking was tight and trader joe's was jam packed with people.

The vendor's include Stillman's Farm, Silverbrook farm, Cape Cod fish share, the Cupcakory, Nella pasta, Samira's homemade, and clear flour bakery.  I stopped by Stillman's to get some lettuce, tomatoes, and breakfast sausage.  Stillman's has a variety of roots and greens, but also sell meat.  For those not to familiar with Stillman's, they are advertising their holiday meal samplers or you could order a fresh turkey for your holiday meal.  Next, I stopped by Silverbrook Farm to get some scallions, carrots, and kale.  The farms are full of beautiful root vegetables and fresh greens this time of year.  I like to make a beef stew filled with various root vegetable for a fresh, warm winter meal.  Samira's homemade is a delicious spot to stop for hummus and other mediterranean goodies.  For those that like something sweet there is cupcakes and they looked pretty good.  I also saw some hot chocolate, but didn't get the name of it.  Overall, if you live in Brookline, this would be a nice weekly trip to get your local veggies during the winter.  The goal of the market is to have a farmers market for all four seasons!  If you feel like being adventurous and battling a crowd, check out the Brookline Winter Farmers Market on Sundays from 12-5 on Sundays.

I have also been compiling a list of winter markets to shop at this winter.  Here is what I have so far:

Brookline Winter Farmers Market - Sundays 12-5
Egleston Farmers Market - Saturdays 11-2 ( I have been following this market for some time and I am dying to go)
Somerville Winter Farmers Market - Saturdays 9:30-2:30
Cambridge Winter Farmers Market - Saturdays 10-2
Natick Winter Farmers Market - Saturdays 9-1
Wayland Winter Farmers Market - Saturdays 10-2
Medford Winter Farmers Market - Thursdays 3-7
Framingham Winter Farmers Market - Thursdays 12-5:30

These all the markets I know of in the Boston area.  If you know of other ones in your area, let me know and I will add it to my list!!  Keep in mind that some markets do not open until January.  It makes it hard to eat local in December!!


Recipe of the Week:  Homemade Cranberry Sauce from foodinjars.com ( I doubled the recipe since I was going to multiple dinners)
I made this homemade cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving.  And I can't take all the credit because my husband helped, as he reminded me of this all day on Thanksgiving.

10 cups cranberries
6 cups white sugar
2 cups apple cider
juice of 2 lemons

Put all of the ingredients in a large pot on medium high heat until the cranberries burst.  Get a large bowl and a strainer and push the sauce through the strainer, leaving the cranberry skins and seeds in the strainer.  This sauce can be canned, but I put the sauce in mason jars and put in the refrigerator since I would be eating this the next day.


My thanksgiving goodies!!

Union Square Farmers Market

When I met Carl Hills, owner of Kimball Farm, he told me about the Union Square Farmers Market in Somerville, one of which I have yet to go to, until last Saturday.  He said it is one of their craziest markets, where it is only open for four hours, it gets busy.  I have never been opposed to a little craziness in my life, so I took up the challenge, and off to the Union Square Farmers Market I went!

I am a big fan of Somerville to begin with.  I love tiny cities with so many restaurants to eat your way through.  I also like farmers markets on Saturday mornings, so Somerville just earned a couple points in my book.  Of course, Kimball farm was there, which was my first stop.  My mom, who has been quite the farmers market shopper these days, came with me and she has never been to Kimball farm.  So I had to tell her about the bags of mixed greens with flowers that I love to buy from them.  I like to mix these bags with a head of kale to add some extra goodness to my salads.  As I am saying this, a man working there asks me if I massage my kale.  I have never heard of such a thing, but I am intrigued by this question.  Take some parchment paper, put the kale between two sheets, and gently roll over the kale with a rolling pin.  It is suppose to make it sweeter, so I have a new project and a little lesson to take with me.

So now off to walk around the market!  There are several smaller vendors such as Drumlin Farm, Flats Mentor Farm, Hollis Hills, and Hutchins farms.  If you are looking for some specialties there are Stillmans Farm (for your Thanksgiving turkey!), Fiore Di Nonni, Iggy's Bread, Robinson Farm (cheese and meat), Seta Mediterranean Foods, and Taza Chocolates.  I just remember thinking, there are a lot of "no no's" at this market.  Regardless of my thinking, I went over to Taza Chocolate.  At a wedding I went to a few weeks ago (I believe I wrote about the centerpiece), taza chocolate was the favors.  I got salted almond and it was delicious.  My plan at the market was to get some more, but as usual I get distracted by something else.  The woman that worked there was very nice and told me about the cinnamon disks, which make great hot chocolate.  As a hot chocolate lover, she didn't have to convince me anymore.  Needless to say, the recipe of the week is Taza hot chocolate!

Union Square Farmers Market is open on Saturdays from 9-1 in Somerville.  The last day of the market will be Saturday November 17 and I heard there is a winter market in Somerville.  I will be posting more information about winter farmers markets as the fall season is quickly coming to an end.

Taza Hot Chocolate

One disk of taza chocolate (I used cinnamon, but any flavor you like will work)
2 cups milk or water
1 pumpkin spice marshmallow from sweet lydia's (optional)

Boiling 2 cups of water (or milk).  Grate or chop the chocolate.  Slowly stir in the ground chocolate into the hot water.  Top with a marshmallow to make the chocolate a little frothy.  Enjoy!