Breakfast at the market
and
Art at the market
July 17th.

http://www.downtownblacksburg.com/art_at_market.aspx

Our Satellite Office

We pride ourselves on the use of high quality ingredients and the integrity of our craft. As such, most of our berries are picked from The Crow's Nest, a local farm which uses organic methods. Our interns go out to pick the berries by the gallon and we freeze them for use in our muffins and lemonade. Anyway, you've seen the kitchen, but this is another place where a lot of our work gets done.

In the Kitchen: This is our jam!

The kitchen kind of stops when this song comes on the radio. It's just SO adorable!! I hope our new interns Mark, Ally, and Jen like it too!

Garlic Whistles

I don't know if this is something unique to the Blacksburg Farmers Market or not, but I have never heard of this unsung culinary hero until I started working here. Garlic whistles (also known as garlic scapes) are simply the tops of garlic plants. They look like this:



You simply use them in your cooking as you would regular garlic, except for the part when you eat them. At that point you realize how amazingly wonderful and fresh tasting they are and swear that you will never go back to regular garlic. They have the strength of flavor that garlic has, but the flavor is less pungent and brighter than that of garlic bulbs.

We use them in our spreads and savory breads at UtGU (It's a key ingredient that sets our products apart from others). We use them in our personal cooking too. I find they really lend themselves to Asian cuisine. For example, I like to make stir fry sauce simply with sesame oil, soy sauce, and minced garlic whistles. They also work well thinly sliced in Asian inspired soups.

If you aren't going to use your garlic whistles right away, it's best to run them through a food processor with some olive oil and lemon juice. You can put them in a glass jar and keep them in the fridge for a few months (and by that I mean through the winter).

If you'd like to buy some, you can get them at the Blacksburg Farmers Market. I'm convinced this is the exclusive supplier for garlic whistles for the world. :o) The season is short, so hurry!

Customer Love: Sunshine and Rain

Sunny smiles for a sunny day! You all look so cute with your lemon-coconut cupcakes!
We always appreciate our customers, and every week we like to shout out a big 'ole Thank you! Last Saturday you definitely earned it though. That little squall was something else! We are so lucky to have such loyal customers who don't let a little thing like sideways rain keep them away.

As you can see the rain doesn't keep our customers from looking their best either! Check out those boots! And such poise. Gisele better watch out! :o)

A Farmer's Market Summer Dinner

All you need is "Wild Hill Farm" free range eggs, "Good Food Good People" Awesome spinach and also their super sweet cherries paired with "Under the Green Umbrella's" Roasted Garlic and Artichoke hummus.
Pile the hummus on top of a pita bread along with spinach and any other fresh market veggies you would like. Scramble up some yummy free range eggs, add a few sweet cherries for a sweet dessert and your all set!
Love these special summer dinners!

Yummy Brownie

"Now this Brownie is just the right size for my Yummy Tummy"

Muffins and Peach Lemonade

Young patrons enjoying our Blackberry & Blueberry Muffins, as well as, samples of our Homemade Virginia Peach Lemonade. "Happiness to share"

Recipe: Whole Wheat Sticky Buns

I love starting my Saturday with a baked good in hand, buzzing around the farmers market. Saturdays are days to be out and about town, being with friends, and having a good time. My Sundays, on the other hand, are spent recovering from Saturday. (As my dad says, it's a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning!) For me the perfect way to transition between the two is having a little bit of the market on Sunday morning. I give you, Sticky Buns a la UtGU!



You will need:
6 Whole Wheat Cinnamon-Brown Sugar rolls
Maple Syrup
Honey
chopped nuts

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Arrange your rolls in a cake pan. Drizzle liberally with maple syrup and honey. Sprinkle nuts (I used the end of a bag of chopped pecans and the end of a bag of sliced almonds, this time). Bake for 15 minutes. I like to take mine from the pan when they are done, and arrange them on a plate so I can pour the syrup that melted away on top of the buns for maximum stickiness.

The smell practically begs for a lazy Sunday morning at home. Oh, and they are delightfully gooey too!

From the Interns: Coconut Macaroons

This is SO my style: classic, unfussy and easy to accessorize should I decide to update them...but then again, why guild the lily? Of course we all knew macaroons had all of these great qualities, but did you know that they are also GLUTEN FREE? (Disclaimer: some people don't know how to properly whip egg whites and cheat by adding a bit of flour for a thickener, so be wary. Check out my ingredients list below.) Move over red velvet, there's a new throwback dessert in town! I'll have a few today in Grandin, and plenty for both markets this Saturday.



Nissa's Macaroons include: Egg whites, sweetened condensed milk, sweetened flake coconut and vanilla extract.

Sweet Blueberry Lemonade The Patterson's Party

Goodies for a Special Birthday Party
The Patterson's enjoyed some special goodies from Under The Green Umbrella, which included Our Homemade Blueberry Lemonade. They took some sweet pictures of the occasion and were equally sweet to send them over to us with a nice thank you!
Thanks right back at you! So glad you enjoyed our goodies! Let us know when you need more! Should have Blackberry Lemonade before too much longer!

Grandin West End Market

Here's the story Mornin' Glory:

I had one of my best girlfriends, Brittany, over for dinner recently and she brought up an event happening with the Grandin Community Market and one of her clients at the Advancement Foundation, the West End Center (Among other very generous organizations). She said she knew I worked at the farmers market in Blacksburg, and thought it would be fun to go out to support the first market in the Roanoke and New River Valleys to accept SNAP. It did my heart so much good to say that I had already planned to be there...AS A VENDOR!

It took us a little bit of extra work to get ready for this, and we aren't sure if we can do it every week since oven space is already pretty tight around here, but we are giving our best effort to support such an important cause.

I'm pretty sure we don't have any Grandin readers yet, but I hope to change that tomorrow! :o) You can find out more information about the event tomorrow here and here.

A Mother's/Grandmother's Love

The Love and Devotion a mother can give is endless! My mother has been awesome, helping with behind the scenes with the children, as well as, every other task within the business for a number of years now! Your the Best!!

Lots of Love at the Market

This Saturday was filled with sunshine and beauty! Much Love to go around!
Love of our favorite Double Dutch Chocolate Brownies from some beautiful customers who are enjoying the new market lawn, while sharing the giant soft chocolate gooey love filled goodness!

Fun Filled First Week

My first week as a new intern has been a blast!

On Tuesday, Tracie helped me get aquatinted with the kitchen and the daily routine. Also, I was able to assist in making some delectable chocolate brownies. I highly recommend trying them as they will surely satiate your chocolate needs.

On Wednesday, Nissa showed me how the Blacksburg market works. She ran me through the set up routine and introduced me to some of the regulars. Throughout the afternoon, she also educated me about the ingredients in the baked goods and a few of the stories behind them. Seeing people enjoy our hard work is definitely going to be one of the most rewarding parts of the experience.

Thursday I was able to work with both Ashley and Nissa. One of my jobs was to assist Nissa with making oat power cookies. If you haven't tried them yet, you must! They're the perfect blend of chocolaty, sweet, crunchy, and nutty goodness. Ashley showed me how to finish off and package the cookies, while trying to stay one step ahead of Nissa's baking. They have a great system and everyone works harmoniously together.

On Friday, I worked closely with Nissa to make a variety of humus's and olive tapenade. We concluded the day by getting ready for Saturdays' markets.

So far I've learned that flexibility and creativity are going to make a great recipe for solving any challenge we may come across. Everyone is extremely inviting and I had a great time working with the girls this past week. I'm looking forward to the weeks to come!

~Erin~

Customer Love

The instant gratification of seeing people enjoy our goodies is unparalleled. Thank you for sharing our passion for quality baked goods, and for looking so darn cute while you do it!

Photo Credit: Peg Fisher

Our Friends: Merry Peas

For one dollar per stem, you can be the owner of a cheery, lush, fragrant peony bloom. If you play your cards right, and get one with lots of buds on it, they'll continue to bloom into a beautiful bouquet! All you have to do is visit Mary P. at her stand called Merry Peas! Between you and me, she accepts our olive tapenade as legal tender. :o)

~Nissa

From the Interns: Kazandibi Rolls

Tracie allows us to make a little something of our own each week, to sell at the market. This Wednesday, I'm making some cinnamon rolls, with a Mediterranean twist.

I was originally inspired by a blog entry written by an English woman who is living in France, and is on vacation in Marrakesh. She wrote about some lovely honey drenched pastries she was enjoying on her holiday. The mention of Mediterranean desserts sparked a memory a gorgeous dessert called Kazandibi, which I had a few years ago at a Turkish restaurant. It is a light milk custard similar to flan. It's dusted with cinnamon (not cinnamon and sugar...just cinnamon) and pistachio nuts.

I thought a good way to combine these elements of inspiration in an original way would be in a cinnamon roll. So this Wednesday I offer you the Kazandibi Roll: A milk dough roll filled with cinnamon and pistachios, and glazed (read: drenched) with honey.

~Nissa

Big Spring Mill 225 lbs of flour

The Harrah family took a morning trip to the flour mill to buy 225 pounds of flour. Spotted a duck on the bridge. Ty was super stoked to see the duck and also a train on our business trip today.

Our Tiny Intern

Our Tiny Intern, 5 Month Old Ryder, helps mommy prepare brownies for baking!

Our Little Intern

Our Little Intern 3 year old Tyson Harrah
Helps mommy roll dough to bake Whole Wheat Breads

Finally, a word from me The Founder of UTGU and a BIG THANKS!

Nissa has done a superb job with the blog. I asked Nissa to keep a journal when I hired her last year, but she came up with something better, A blog! Smart cookie!
Nissa and Ashley have been awesome! While I was pregnant all of last season and very pregnant the last half of the season, I couldn't have done it without them! Nissa, Ashley, my husband Kenny and my mom, really pulled alot of weight between them last year! Thanks to all of them for their hard work, love and support!!

Sneak Peak of "The Market Book"!

Kathryn Albright is the founder of organization called Friends of the Market. The volunteers for FotM can be seen selling Blacksburg Farmers' Market t-shirts and are the ones who set up and man our special events. One such event is coming up, a breakfast at the market (it's slated for Mid-July) . As a special project for the event, Kathryn is putting together a book telling the history and behind the scenes stories of each of the market vendors. It will include original photography from each of the vendors as well!

Of course, we are so busy with our work in the kitchen, it has taken us right to the deadline for our photos to be submitted for the book. At any rate, here is a small sampling of the photos we are going to submit, and thus a sneak peak of the book!

Canning jars are worth their weight in gold around our kitchen!

Ashley can make over 100 of our signature Oat Power Cookies out of a single batch of dough. AND she does it with a smile!

The secret ingredient in our Irish Scones? A gentle touch.


I'll end with a candid shot...so you don't think we spend all of our time standing around smiling. :o)

~Nissa

NEW AND IMPROVED!

Hello everyone! Captain Obvious here to say: It's been a while, and I'm so sorry! Last fall and winter were pretty crazy, and I had no time to blog... not even on my personal blog. So, to prevent such a long gap in communication I am learning how to delegate some of my blogging responsibilities. By that I mean, I have finally become computer savvy enough to have more than one author on this blog! From now on you won't only be hearing from me. You'll also be hearing from my fellow assistant, Ashley, the founder and owner of Under the Green Umbrella, Tracie and from a new assistant...or two!

There really is so much that goes on at Under the Green Umbrella besides what you all see at the market, and each of our experiences are so different! For instance, did any of you Blacksburg customers know that we also do business at the Grandin Farmers' Market? That's where Ashley is on Saturdays, and she always has such wonderful stories to share with us when she gets back. We plan to write about our entire experience at UtGU. That includes but is not limited to: kitchen chatter, our friends at the market, new products, recipes, even those moments when the line between work and home becomes a little hazy.

If you haven't already noticed, we are all about the chit-chat at UtGU, and this blog is no different! Please comment, subscribe, and if you have a blog of your own, leave us a link! :o) We really love to connect with our community and we want to know about you.

Cheers to new beginings!
Nissa