Greetings Market Friends,
It has been a true joy to see the fruits of the labor of our farmers come to be in the form of summer produce. Katherine writes very eloquently in the farmers’ section about the joy of the summer tomato. I cannot agree with her more. I, myself, have had a great time this summer with my first garden. It has been a real miracle to watch seedlings turn to vines, then to fruits and vegetables, then to our dinner table. I hope you all will come and see what all our vendors have to offer. Don’t miss many of summer’s best pleasures!
Remember also, our tomato festival is coming up on July 26th. It will be a great day at the market with many exciting additions to our usual line-up, including a cooking demonstration by Kansas City’s celebrity chef, Jasper Mirabile. We will be sending more information in the days to come, so stay tuned!
This week for your musical entertainment, we will have Nick Baker. Come have a breakfast burrito, some coffee, and enjoy the morning the Brookside way!
Please remember that the market does accept monetary donations. Support from market patrons in the form of a financial contribution helps keep us up and running from year to year. Please stop by the market tent for information about making such a contribution. Non-cash donations in the form of items for our annual raffle drawing (as well as the items for crafts listed below) are accepted as well. And speaking of the raffle, you can also purchase a raffle ticket this season to win one of many fabulous prizes. The grand prize is a dinner for 8 at the winner’s home complete with all organic products from the market. Please contact Eddie Adel for information at 816-965-0934.
As always, we look forward to seeing you at the Border Star School at 63rd and Wornall Road in the heart of Brookside from 8 am to 1 p.m. every Saturday. Please check out our website, which information about our market and our calendar: http://www.FarmersCommunityMarket.com.
See you Saturday!
Franki
Now from our Farmers…
From Bread of Life Bakery:
Hello market friends,
Our warm weather has finally come and our bakery was very hot with two ovens going and the hot days starting. We have been enjoying the nice weather longer than usual and I was ready for it to stay that way!
The market burritos will have local vegetables, squash, spinach, potatoes from wood Mood Gardens, onions and farm fresh local eggs. Our meat burritos will have Benedict Builders’ sausage added to the mixture. Quiches, raspberry bars, cinnamon rolls, cookies and breads will also be available. Have breakfast at the market and visit friends and vendors while you shop.
Luke and Chris have had a busy week finishing hay and delivering hay to a family with a new horse. Haying is hard work in the heat so market day is a time for them to slow down and enjoy a beautiful day at the market with music and visiting with their market customers/ friends.
See many of you Saturday,
Luke (dairyman of a family cow now), Chris (the cookie man) and Kathy (just Mom)
From the KC Center for Urban Agriculture:
Oh, tomatoes, lovely tomatoes… Glossy red, radiant orange, sultry pink, and, my favorite, the wonderful mahogany of Cherokee Purple. The tomatoes are just beginning to hit their peak, for the next few weeks you can expect abundance, beauty and unbelievable flavor! Slice them up with buffalo mozzarella or any fresh, slightly salty cheese, toss some basil and balsamic on them, and you have the most perfect dinner.
If there were no other arguments at all for local agriculture (and there are many J), tomatoes alone would do it.
For an even more perfect dinner though, add some homemade croutons from bread from one of the market’s bread vendors to the tomato salad, make a local three bean salad using our Tri-Color mix and boiled baby potatoes, and toss our salad mix with a light dressing. Now there is a summer meal.
This time of year, you can be the most fabulous cook with the least amount of effort, local fruits and vegetables are all you need!
Other ideas for cooking this week:
Julienned cucumbers, kohlrabi, and turnips salted and marinated in vinegar and oil. Perhaps with a bit of tarragon or winter savory.
Swiss chard braised with the unbelievable garlic that is just really coming along.
Lightly steamed cabbage as a bed for lamb, beef, or chicken.
Cold roasted baby beets and carrots.
Finely diced zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, and onions “quick pickled” in vinegar and salt. (Make a lot of this, you’ll want to eat it all week.)
Oh, and eggplant! These are coming on some-kind-of-gorgeous! Slice them in half, brush them with oil, roast them in the oven, then mash up with some salt, pepper, garlic, and oil, (and tahini if you have it on hand) and you have a cooling spread for sandwiches or roll-ups.
Just decide that your “recreational” activities over the coming weeks are going to be cooking! Forget the movies, going out to dinner, or browsing at the mall, this is the time of year to just cook and eat and be grateful for real, good, local food.
Katherine, Daniel, Dan H, and the rest of the crew!
From Puddin’ Head Coffee:
Hello fellow coffee drinkers! George and I returned on the 4th from an extended vacation to the Northwest and were a bit tired on Saturday but it was good to see everyone. We drove over 2000 miles in a rental car on our "vacation" so needed to come back home for a rest.
George has been roasting like crazy and on Saturday we will have our usual Rainforest Blend and Toby's Decaf but will be offering Mexico Chiapas and a new coffee called Blue Ridge Blend which we are excited about. George is describing it as bold and full-bodied with "hints of cinnamon and nutmeg". We are on the last of our Ethiopia Yirga Ch'efe but have an order for Ethiopia Sudamo coming any day and hope to have that roasted by Saturday.
See you at the market!
George and Vicki Hartman, Puddin' Head Coffee
Wells Family Farm:
Hi Everyone, Sorry that I missed market last Saturday. I will do my best not to be absent again. Farm and family life does catch me off guard sometimes! We do have all cuts available. Some beautiful brisket, and all the great steaks. DE and our bug repellant have been having a great impact on our summer and from the feed back I have received from many of you it has made your summer better too!
Hope to see you all at market!
Kim
Green Dirt Farm:
This week at the market we will have some beautiful frenched Racks! We also have legs available, both bone-in and boneless. Arrive early for sausage as we only have two packages left. Our ground lamb makes yummy gyro burgers and to make it easy, we have a recipe!
Our milking parlor and cheese kitchen are up and running. We should have cheese for sale sometime in the very near future. Remember to plan on coming to our open house celebration on July 27th. Stop by to sign up for our electronic newsletter and watch your email for a special invitation!
We'll see you Saturday!
Sarah, Jacque and the rest of the crew
The KCCUA folks were kind enough to provide several recipes in their section of the newsletter, so I will throw in one more for good measure:
Summer Squash Fry
· 2 tablespoons olive oil
· 1 onion, chopped
· 2–3 crushed garlic cloves
· 4–5 medium sized zucchini or other assorted summer squashes
· 1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock
· 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
· dusting of grated cheese
· chopped fresh parsley as garnish
Sauté onion and garlic in the olive oil until onion is barely softened. Add squash and stir-fry a minute or so. Stir in the stock and oregano and simmer gently until the liquid has almost evaporated. Serve, dusting with cheese and garnish with parsley. For additional color, add chopped red bell pepper to the mix.
*from www.wholefoods.com
Nice temperatures in the mid- to low-80's should make it a good day to hang out - cool off under the pavilion roof and get to know your local growers & artists. Take a break from the rush hour and see what we've got this week: 
