Farmers Market! Yeah, Baby!

I have been missing the Ann Arbor Farmers Market so bad! I finally, finally got to go this morning.

My customary first stop, as it was this morning, was the Zingermans food booth. I say food - usually all they bring out is cheese. If you don't know Zingermans from my constant bragging on it, hit them up online. They have a catalog, you could order most of their stuff. You should be ordering most of their stuff!

They have a deli in Ann Arbor, and they make, grow, bake, and come up with as much stuff as it's reasonable to do on their own, and anything they can't, they've pretty much got the inside track on what's the best out there. Apparently, they grow good olives in Iowa, because that's where they get theirs. Iowa. Who knew?

At any rate, back to the cheeses. They are always quick with a sample, or with a recommendation on how to use their cheeses. Although admittedly, I tend to not get as far as their recommendations, I usually smear it on a cracker, or a piece of fruit if I've got one, and go to town.

I sampled the Honey Almond today, which I went ahead and bought. Although, I need to find something to do with it, because it's a bit of an acquired taste, I think. I also sampled their Lincoln Log cheese. It's a aged goat cheese, and I think it's a little closer to what people generally think of when they think of goat cheese. Firm texture, nice feel in your mouth - a little similar to Ricotta in both respects - with a interesting aftertaste of beer. The suggestion for using the Lincoln Log was to slice it up, and melt it over a hamburger, which sounds really good.

But I knew I'd end up sharing with James (my three year old), and I knew he wouldn't go for beer, so we went honey almond. Got a yummy for dinner, stored right in the tank! :D

Our next stop was the Roos Roast booth. I've been recognized!

The last time I got to stop at the Roos Roast booth, I came here and blogged about my visit. The guy was totally cool, the coffee was good, the coffee names were funny, I was in love!

I mentioned today during my stop that I blogged about them last time I was here (I'd actually sent them a link to the post), and the man running the booth today remembered coming to my blog to read about it! Shout out! How funny is that?

I get a total, total kick out of giving a little extra press to local businesses, and I'll do it again today.

I love Roos Roast!

I just read something in Rachael Rays magazine that says that flavored coffees are out, and flavored teas are what's in style. Don't tell anybody at Roos Roast! Although they don't do flavors like I think the Rachael Ray piece was talking about, just the same - no one mention it!

Because I don't drink caffiene, I don't get to partake in all their yummy flavors - Lobster Butter Love and Rich French Neighbor are two that always stand out for me, but their De Calf is excellent! Smooth, mellow, with a little substance to it, if that makes any sense. I was driving home, happily enjoying my coffee, trying to think on WHY I liked the coffee. It's hard to describe - it's just got a nice body to it. It makes me happy. It's happiness in a cup - how's that for advertising?!

I was asked to pass along the message that Roos Roast is a hard drink to find. And it kind of is - they have a list of places that you can see them in the average week, and well, let's put it this way - if there's a Farmers Market to be had in Washtenaw County, they are there!

But if you don't have access to Washtenaw County and their Farmers Market schedule, might I suggest ordering online? roosroast.com, they ship anyplace. If you live in an area where it's possible to do it, they even deliver by bike!

Ok, I was just poking around on their website, and I found, and I kid you not - Coffee Camp. Really. Every way you can figure out how to talk about coffee - where it comes from, how to roast it, how to brew it, how to drink it...their talking coffee at Coffee Camp. Oh, I'm so there!

I love the people at Roos Roast, and I love their coffee. Enough that I'd consider buying a coffee pot to make some at home! The vibe at their stands is always really fun as well. Everybody's laid back, hangin' out, just making good coffee. Love!

Our next stop was the Stod's Berry Farm. I won't lie - not the cosmetically most attractive berries out there, but the price was good, and my three year old deserved some reward for trooping around the Farmers Market behind me all day, didn't he?

He got one. A pint of blueberries. And, our berry friend threw in a extra half pint for free! My son ate so many that his lips were starting to turn blue! I was joking that that would happen, but I didn't know that that could actually HAPPEN! It's very temporary - by the time we made it back around the corner, he was fine again.

We made another stop at a stand that I didn't catch the name of, and admired the gorgeous bounty of Heirloom tomatoes, and mused on the watermelons. I'm so curious on whether a orange or yellow watermelon tastes different then a red, but in the end, I decided I just didn't want to carry around a three year old AND a watermelon, so I figured that that'd be a quest for another day.

My last customary stop is the people at Pillar's. It's a little street cart that serves tamales, and plantains, and lots of other yummy treats. I usually walk up to the cart, go "I want the lunch special. What do you recommend?", and see what happens. The lunch special is a tamale, with sides of black beans and rice, some sort of slaw (that I always promise I'm going to know the name of so I can blog about it, and I promptly forget), and plantains, and a drink. The last time I went, the drink was a hibiscus tea, but I truthfully don't know what the drink was today. It was hot, so it wasn't the same hibiscus tea. I actually was so contented with my coffee from Roos, that I haven't tried the drink from Pillar's yet!

Alright, in the time I've been sitting here, I'm pretty reasonably convinced my three year old has lost every reasonable brain cell he's got left, and I need to remember to send my email to apply for coffee camp!

Middle Of The Week Farmers Market!

So, thanks to the wonder that is Vacation Bible School, I got to make it out to the Ann Arbor Farmers market in the middle of the week this week!

Gorgeous eats this week - lots of fresh fruits and vegetables to be had, everywhere you looked. Made me a little sad I was doing Farmers Market on a budget. :D The snow cone lady, who is a customary stop when I've got my two year old with me, had fresh blueberries with her this week. Between snow cones and blueberries, he would have been her best friend!

So I made a couple of my usual stops, and added in one new friend. When I get to the Farmers Market, I usually make a cruise through once, scope the sights, and then go back to the stuff that looked interesting.

Roos Roast

This was my first stop, the really cool people at Roos Roast coffee. They make free trade coffee, with funny names like "Lobster Butter Love" and "Rich French Neighbor". If you order in an area where it's possible to do so, they deliver your coffee on bike, and all their stands are set up off the grid. This is my first experience with the cool people at Roos Roast, but I hope to make it back to see them again!

Because I don't drink caffeine, I'm a bit of a tough coffee customer. Most places only have one coffee I can have, if even that. Wednesday was kind of a dippy, dreary day, and so Roos Roast was running a special that you could get a hot coffee for only $2.

The guy running the stand (who I learned later from their twitter was named Brian. Shout out to Brian!) forever earned a soft spot in my heart for a few reasons:

1)Not only that he had decaf (their decaf is called "Decalf". Hah!), but he acted shocked that I dared to think they wouldn't. And

2)He patiently allowed me to stand there while I doctored the coffee up. I'm a coffee doctorer, I admit it.

Like I've been saying this whole time - I love the people at Roos Roast! Smooth, mellow, delicious coffee. My cup was filled to the brim, and as I happily walked away, Brian told me if I needed any more ice (I got an iced coffee) or anything like that, to just pop on by, and he'd be happy to help me out. Shout out to the people at Roos Roast! I'll probably be back this week for another! :)

My next stop was my main man, one of the reasons I go to the Farmers Market at all - the Zingermans cheese guy. Aah, Zingermans. How do I love thee?

Zingermans Creamery

Zingermans Creamery hand makes fresh cheeses that they sell at Farmers Markets all through the area. They are always really good to you when you stop by their booth - they generally have a few cheeses out that you can sample to, and they are always ready with a recommendation if you want to try something new, like I did on Wednesday. I usually run in, get my City Goat, and split. I told the guy that I wanted something new, and he suggested the Sharon Hollow.

Sharon Hollow isn't totally new to me, I've had it before, but I wanted something different, so I was game. He said that they'd made a really good batch of cheese that day (yes, THAT day. I was buying cheese at 9 in the morning that had been made the same day. Hows that for service?!), and I had to try it.

Man, he wasn't kidding. Smooth, mellow, with a nice creamy flavor. Delicious! I got the Sharon Hollow rolled in chives, which was really good - every time you bit into a chive, it offered a little spike of peppery goodness to offset the creamy goodness from the cheese.

He's also quick to offer suggestions on how to use the cheese. I think he said that the ways he liked it the best were over a crusty baguette, or crumbled into a pasta salad. I won't lie - their cheese is so good, I just sit down with the cheese and a sleeve of Ritz crackers. :D

My last stop was the street cart of Pilar's Catering.

Pilar's Catering

I am a total convert to the ways of Pilar's. I made my first stop there a few months back, got just a order of plantains, came home, and went "I don't get it!", and kind of wrote it off.

Oooh, no, no, my friends! I had to get the whole deal!

The next time I went back, I got the "Farmer's Market Special", which is a tamale, a little salad, some rice and beans, the plantains, and a drink. Oh man. My life was changed forever!

They use everything as natural and organic as they can get it, and the recipes are really authentic - their website says they do "traditional Salvadorian cuisine", and their head chef, Chef Sylvia Nolasco-Rivers is from Salvador!

I've tried the Vegan Tempeh tamale, and the Jalapeño and Cheese, and their both delicious. I'd actually be hard pressed to name a favorite! And the plantains, in the context of the entire meal, are fantastic! I wish I could figure out which of their salads listed on the website is the street cart salad, because it's a knock out.

And the hibiscus tea is delicious as well. It's an acquired taste - the first time I had it, I took my first swallow, and went "What is happening in my mouth right now?!", it was a little sweet, a touch tart, and had a little bit of a woody note on the back of my tounge.

By the last swallow, I was ready to get back in the car and drive back to Ann Arbor for more! Hibiscus tea is an acquired taste, but try it - you'll love it!

So here's to my tasty adventures at the Farmers Market! :) I met my son at Vacation Bible School, and we went out, and got ice cream! As you can tell, Wednesday was a very good day to be a foodie at my house! :D

Farmers Market Finds!

So, you know I love to come on and talk about all my delicious finds at the Farmers Market.

I was dissapointed that I missed the good people from Zingermans - I look for them every week!

I did find the Sansonetti Foods booth, which I had missed the last time I was there, and I was chatting up the woman a little, as much as the busy farmers market crowd would let me.

I told her that I had gotten their Michigan Apple Glaze, and I know I told you all about it last week, but I'll mention it again. The stuff is crazy good. I've tried it with everything I could think of - I've had it with Mexican food, I've had it with pizza, I've had it with Stir Fry. It's just really never NOT delicious!

Today, my son (my usual partner in crime) was with me, and we selected the Premium Marinara to try. Delicious as always. Smooth, mellow, and really tastes of fresh tomatoes, basil and garlic. I know that with spaghetti sauce, saying it tastes like tomatoes is like "Yeah, duh!", but sometimes you get spaghetti sauce that you have to doctor, or sauce that tastes more like chemicals and preservatives then the actual stuff in the sauce, and with my friends at Sansonetti's Gourmet Foods, you don't get that. They tell you tomato, they mean tomato!

It did get the two year old stamp of approval too. In fact, he asked for extra! If you've got any experience feeding a two year old, you know the two year old stamp of approval is no small feat!

I also made a stop off at the Pillar's Tamales booth. I had gone to their booth once before, and gotten Plantains, and kind of didn't understand the appeal. Not because of anything the lovely people at Pillar's did...just because I don't get the appeal of the plantain. If you've never seen one before, they look just like a overgrown banana, but they are a little more starchy, with a mouth feel kind of similar to a potato. If you can imagine a banana and a potato being cross bred to each other, the result would be a plantain. You can't eat them raw, they have to be cooked. So far, I've not come across a cooked plantain that knocked my block off. I've not come up on one I hated though, to be fair.

I got the Saturday Special at the booth. That included 2 tamales, fried plantains, black beans and rice, and a side the seemed to look similar to cole slaw, but was flavored differently. I also had a hibiscus tea to drink.

I gotta say - totally loved it. I finished my plate, and could have had another! I had the Vegan Tempeh for my tamale choice. No particular reason why - I'm not vegan - it just seemed like such an interesting choice. Even the plantains were really good. The only thing I might have taken a pass on seconds of was the slaw. Like I said - it looked like cole slaw, but it had a bit more of an herbal quality to it. I even took a picture of their menu so I could remember what it was, but of course, my camera is not with me right now. Figures.

The Hibiscus tea was a bit of an aquired taste - a little fruity, but with kind of a wooden note on the back of your tounge. It was an aquired taste, but I did come around, and found myself truly dissapointed when my cup was empty. The tea did not earn the two year old seal of approval. He took a drink, wrinkled his nose, and went "No, thanks!"

Two for two! I really just can't speak highly enough of the people from Sansonetti's. Love them, love their products. When I first found their products, I was told that their curry mustard is especially designed to go with Kogel Hot Dogs. Can't wait for the opportunity to have both of them in the same place at the same time!