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.