Connecting the dots...

Few things make me happier than watching vendors at the market making connections. Whether it’s Tamara, at Agape Premium EVOO, giving Matt, at Ash Hopper Botanical Skin Care, a jug of her olive oil to collaborate on a soap recipe or Jenny, of, Aya Hummus using that same unctuous oil for one of her hummus flavors. Or Ellen, of Northwinds Lavender Farm bringing extra lavender plants to  give to Chris at Thousand Leaf  Gardens, because he wants to start growing lavender on his New Paltz farm.

Or the habit Daniel from Larchmont Charcuterie and Eduardo from Aux Bons Fromages, have of making market sandwiches with Eduardo’s cheese and Daniel’s charcuterie and Bien Cuit bread. Thierry from L’Escargot Voyageur also partakes: he brings the attitude, and an occasional quiche or crêpe.

Did you know that Laura, of Dough Co Bagels, (mother of bagel meister Josh) experiments with cookie baking at home every Friday and brings samples for Carlos to try? Carlos is her neighbor at White Moustache and they’ve become close market mates over time. Carlos is one of the sweetest people to have ever sold at our market which helps when he’s delivering the frequent bad news of another sellout. At 11 a.m.!

Former market vendor, Miguel LaCruz of Wild Culture Waffles (a business that was incubated at the market) says his sourdough waffles have been transformed by switching to the Wild Hive Project flour sold at Le Roux Trading. 

“As soon as we started mixing their flour into our levain, it was like something woke up,” says Miguel. “The starter just took off — bubbling, alive, full of energy — and the waffles coming out of it are next level: The texture, the flavor, even the smell… it’s all richer, deeper, more complex. It’s been such a fun and inspiring collaboration. We feel really lucky to be working with a farm that shares our love for wild, real, slow food.”

Brandon of Leroux Trading Co., is also the one who brought us the very talented Abby Prager of Unofficial Ice Cream because she was using his tallow for her ice cream ahd he suggested she give Hastings a try for her first. market venture. Brandon has become friendly with Amelle, over at Halal Pastures since they both have market stalls “between the bridge trestles.”

Brandon has recently hired Amelle full-time to help him expand his business and put her degree in business development to good use. She will still be working at the market (phew!) just a few feet away from Halal, keeping it “in the family” as it were. By the way, it was Harry, who formerly worked at Hudson Valley Fisheries who convinced Brandon to start his new business at the Hastings Farmers Market. 

All these connections are what makes our market feel like a family more than just a place to buy  greens. And speaking of family, love has blossomed under the turmeric tents of Titusville Farm.  Kaela and Nick got engaged. Please congratulate them when you go buy your bok choy on Saturday.

As some of you know, Dan, my husband, has been selling fish off and on with Paul at Pura Vida, since Covid days, a real and welcome departure from his intense day job as a global events producer for Bloomberg. I could literally eat fish every day of the week (blame/or credit my Brittany lineage) so this makes me very happy. As does a good fish recipe such as this coconut cod chowder that knocked our socks off. I’m a bit of a recipe rebel, so I added some of Pura Vida’s smoked mussels, and some Morgiewicz fennel to the recipe (add the mussels when you add the celery, the fennel when you add the potatoes). This recipe calls for fresh ginger which you should get from Halal first thing on Saturday before it sells out. And, I added Hala’s cilantro as a topping instead of going to the trouble of making croutons. But you do you. I’m also intrigued by this Melissa Clark recipe for  salmon and green beans in red pepper sauce. 

Pears are at their peak so buy extra this week to make this heavenly poached-pear ginger cake, which puts the pear front and center, literally. It’s the perfect dessert to serve after your cod chowder because you'll have some of that beautiful leftover ginger from Halal. You’re welcome! (By the way, I plop my beautiful ginger stem in a large mason jar of water and set it on my windowsill each week because it’s pretty and to remind myself to add ginger to just about everything). 

Tomorrow we are bringing back our “dot survey” for those of you who were away when we did the first round on Oct. 11th. Please swing by our market tent to share your opinions about what we’re doing right and what we can do better. While you’re there, snag an adult or kids’ costume from our Halloween rack. Last I checked there were a few dog costumes as well! 

Local artist Fernanda Franco will be here to teach your kids how to make artsy potato prints. Seasonal, natch. Please join the fun on the upper level from 10 to 12 p.m. Thanks to our “activities” sponsor, Emily Haas-Godsil of Compass.

See you at the market!