Grapes and gluten-free goodness
Those who know me, know that when I'm working at the market, I rarely sit down. I like to walk around the stalls and talk to vendors about new items they are bringing, and among the shoppers to see what they're buying. Of course, I stop to pet dogs... lots and lots of dogs.
But sometimes it's also fun to sit behind the market tent and just watch the “show” from a distance. It was from that vantage point last week that I watched a shopper literally swoon over the heady smell of the Concord grapes at the Caradonna Farm tent. She was leaving the stall when their sweet scent caught her attention. I watched her double back, lean over the table laden with grapes and take it all in, eyes closed as if she were having some sort of religious experience.
Hard not to. Those grapes are something else. But so many shoppers did exactly what she did: appreciated their aroma without buying any. What a shame. Concord grapes can do so much more than just look fetching on a cheese board.
Pick some up this week and try your hand at grape jelly to elevate your pb & js. Or make a Concord grape shrub (a concentrated syrup that combines fruit, sugar, and vinegar) which you can then use as a base for a Concord grape cocktail, as David Lebovitz, one of my favorite food writers, does.
Speaking of heady scents... last week 3x3 Kitchen was adding truffles to their popular sweet/savory bundt cake, a favorite gluten-free treat of mine. Let's hope that they bring them back this Sunday, though chef Derek Paez' creativity never disappoints. And Muscovado Sweets, returns this week to satisfy all sweet cravings for those who shy away from gluten and dairy. Her breakfast buns are the bomb.
You will notice we are officially awash in squash. Pick up some butternut to make this roasted butternut squash with lentils and feta or this squash and green curry soup.
Dough Nation cannot be here this week so the Leila’s Empanadas food truck is joining us. And, lucky us, Hand Held Kitchen, not wanting to end their market run on a rainy day, has decided to join us for one last HandHeld hoorah.
See you at the market! It should be a beautiful fall day.
