At The Dupont Farmers Market- March 2, 2008
The sunny weather brought many patrons to the Dupont market on Sunday. I arrived around 10:30am and it was buzzing with folks carrying gorgeous spring flowers, chowing on pastries and sipping hot apple cider. It was nice to see a fuller compliment of farmers as well as some cooking from Whole Foods happening on the grassy knoll.
Strolling through the market, I continued to notice more canned goods, pies, soups and stews. I couldn’t resist buying some empanadas from Chris’ Marketplace. This week, I got beef empanadas and rappini empanadas. I put them in the toaster at home to reheat them. Works like a charm. Oh! guess what? I finally got good crabcake sample karma! I tried out a piece of lump crabcake which was moist and delicious. The lump crabcakes go for $5 each and the jumbo lump crabcakes are $9 a piece. I might save that treat for next week. This Sunday, I had a stromboli to make (I’ll post that tommorow). From scratch. Lots of flour dusted about.
I sampled some goodies at Keswick Creamery. Marinated feta was delicious on a small piece of bread. Their yogurt is as fresh as can be. Again, I’ll get some more of their cheese next week. I have about 4-5 cheeses in my fridge which needs to get eaten, including Keswick feta (that stuff really lasts!).
I also was really drawn to fresh burratta at Blue Ridge Dairy, but at $15, I couldn’t pull the trigger (again, too much cheese at home). I did however decide upon a teriyaki “slim jim” and sausage from Cibola Farm. A cranberry buffalo and pork sausage with savory seasonings sounded great for a breakfast patty, but I actually think I’ll use it in a stuffing/dressing along with pork loin.
Apples are still very plentiful with a wide variety available from many farms. Toigo had tart green apples which would be great to eat as is, or for a dessert or salad, along with some cheese (hey….I’ve got that).
It also seems as though more farmers are carrying eggs. I noted 4 vendors carrying them. I purchased a dozen from Eco Friendly, which are labeled Sunnyside Farms. I’ve been using brown eggs for years and recently have been purchasing them from the farmers market. First I tried the eggs from Tom at Water View and while good, didn’t knock my socks off. So, I’m trying another farmers eggs this time.
The eggs have left me in a quandary. I’m just not finding them to be worth double what I pay at the supermarket. I’m willing to pay a premium for fresh, local food (with all the benefits it brings) and support local farmers, but for me, the jury is still out as to whether it’s worth the extra cost for eggs. Look for my post titled “Great Eggspectations” at DCFoodies tommorow and see my observations.
Finally, it was great to see the flower vendor busy making bouquets for patrons. Beautiful tulips, daffodils and lilies smelled wonderful and hinted that soon, I should be seeing them on my front lawn. Hallelujah.
I think it’s time I changed my little flag out front from Winter motif, to Spring.
Until the next “At The Market”, eat and buy local when you can.
Nice to see the market from another perspective. I missed it last week.
I haven’t bought eggs at the market much, but I found that when I have, the yolks are more orange and they don’t smell as. . sulfuric . . when they’re cookin. Do you notice much of a difference?
Thanks for the update. I kinda wanted to go to get milk and cheese curds, but I was too lazy. Next week.
I was surprised that the farm fresh egg yolks were not deeper or orange in color. Perhaps I should compare them to plain white eggs from a supermarket- I’ve been buying brown eggs for a long time, but I didn’t think there was supposed to be a difference.
I’ve only noticed the sulfer if I over cook hard boiled eggs. I still eat them tho! ;’)
Melissa- where do you get cheese curds from? Thanks.