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"