happy accidents...

dear shoppers, The other day, Linzi, from Spice Revolution handed me a chocolate sample. "Taste this," she said, her eyes wide as pie.

Now, I've been lucky enough to be a taster for Linzi over the last couple of years so I'm no stranger to her wondrous Willy Wonka ways. Still, this truffle was different. It was uncommonly intense and, well, sharply chocolate-y.

"it's VEGAN," she practically squealed. "It's a vegan truffle. And it's that good."

I was skeptical.

Then she told me the story of her "happy accident" that led to the creation of what, I think, is her best chocolate yet.

One Friday night a few weeks ago, Linzi got a call from a dear friend from Philly she hadn't seen in a very long while. He and his wife and baby were just passing through town and they wanted to see her. "I knew I should absolutely not be entertaining the night before a market when I have packing and production to do," says Linzi. "But I do not get to see them very often, so I invited them over for dinner."

It was a great visit, she says:  they dined, they drank and the friends left around midnight. That's when Linzi got started making truffles for the next day's market.

But when she went to the fridge to get her cream, it was obvious, after one whiff, that  it had gone bad...even though the expiration date list was more than a week out!

"With the market only 6 hours away, I knew I had to come up with something fast," Linzi recalls. "I looked around the kitchen and saw the coconut oil. "I thought,  'its a fat, lets see if it'll set'."

She played with the ratios and seasoning for about an hour then put in the fridge with her fingers crossed that it would set. After a couple of hours sleep, she woke up and saw the chocolate had indeed taken form. She cut it, weighed it and packaged it and headed out to market.

The chocolate got rave reviews from shoppers - many of whom didn't even know it was vegan. She sold out within 90 minutes.

"And that's how accidentally vegan truffles were born."

Tomorrow is the second Saturday of the month, that means we can expect Guyank Brand for you fans out there who can't live without their tangy mango hot sauce.

Please welcome a visiting Kombucha vendor from Pound Ridge who makes a Champagne style version of the popular pro-biotic fermented tea beverage.

Also, Dough Nation's Pizza Truck will be at the market tomorrow...so plan on a breakfast pizza if you can.

Here's a recipe from the Beard Foundation for white bean and cauliflower soup with truffle oil.  Don't have any truffle oil? mix in a dollop of kale pesto from Pure Food or some Kontoulis Olive Oil (she will be here NEXT week - one last time before she heads to Greece to press and crush). This soup would be so good with a salad topped with grilled scallops. Just sayin.'

The winners of last week's pie contest: Middle School-er Mitchell Fine for best traditional pie overall (and a cute story to boot) and, for prettiest pie, our very own volunteer, David Bowen whose lattice-work was truly stunning.

Thanks to all who entered.

See you at the market!

Pascale