Hastings Farmers Market

Have you considered swine for your Valentine?
Some local honey for your honey?
Loose mint tea for that special chick-a-dee?
Sure, you could go for predictable roses or diamonds or chocolates in a box, or you could find everything you need at the Hastings Farmers Market: Catskills granola, homespun soups, lasagna and ravioli hand-made by a charming Italian expat, king oyster mushrooms (aphrodisiacs, natch) bio-dynamic meats, rustic peasant loaves you can tear apart together and eat with a wedge of farmstead Eden cheese.

In case you missed all the action on Saturday, the apple pie contest was, once again, a big draw and a great success.
The overall "gold medal" winner was Hastings resident Gil Reavill who was the first to drop off his pie entry early Saturday morning in a gigantic cardboard box.
Reavill's recipe for "Bon-Ton Roulet Apple Crumb Pie"
came from the Bon Ton Cafe in Wausau, Wisconsin where Reavill used to hang out as a teenager. Reavill used only top shelf ingredients like farmers market apples, Ceylon cinnmon and leaf lard from Stone Hill Farms. (The recipe is below).

For three years now, people have been asking me about my relationship with the weather gods. For a long time, it seemed that every market day was blessed with perfect weather.
Our lucky streak has clearly ended!
And, I'm sorry to report that the pie contest is - yet again -- postponed until next week - which happens to be Halloween.
We just hope that means more and more people will enter the third time around.
We're also hoping more teens and tweens will enter this year.
For them, we've created a new category: "Best First Attempt at an Apple Pie."

Dear shoppers,

We're hoping that we've caught you before you rolled out your dough...after much deliberation we've decided to postpone the Apple Pie Contest until next week (Oct. 24th). The weather is going to be just plain nasty tomorrow: they're calling for rain and gusty winds. Not only will the pies get soggy but no one will want to stick around and dive into the table of pies, as per tradition, once the judges have made their call.

Jane Austen once said that "Good Apple Pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness."

We at the Hastings Farmers Market wholeheartedly agree, and so it is with great pleasure that we bring you our Third Annual Apple Pie Baking Contest. Last year, 26 brave souls stepped up to the challenge and we hope to top that this year.

The rules are simple (and haven't changed):
Pies must be dropped off at the market tent between 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m on Saturday morning.

Market season is upon us! We hope you will come out and spend some time with us on Saturday. The forecast calls for clear, sunny skies - at last!

That little spring tease we got this week made me antsy for strawberries and asparagus and our little slice of scenic heaven up on on the Library "hill."
Then I got an email from Vivian Graziano of Madura Farms (they've been bringing greenhouse greens to our indoor winter market) and all was forgotten:

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that if you missed the Hastings Farmers Market's debut on national television this morning, you can catch it online at:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/18424824#27820887

And here's some more news you can use:
Our winter market will be held on the second Saturday of every month from January to May at the James Harmon Community Center at 44 Main St. from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Time to dust off your rolling pins and dig through those old family recipe files. Our second annual Hastings Farmers Market Apple Pie Contest will be held Oct. 18 at the market tent.
We hope many of you who shop the market will participate.
Why not use the contest as your incentive to finally crack that crust code? If you're a beginner who has been dancing around the notion of making a pie from scratch, this is your chance to give it a whirl.
Here's the skinny on the contest:

1. Pies must be made from scratch. Period. No "50-50" pies (frozen crust and homemade filling).