Columbus Foodie

Am I the only one having a hard time reconciling how late in the year it is already? When I woke up this morning at around 6:40ish, it was still almost pitch black outside, and I had a hard time dragging myself out of bed. Much, much different from the middle of summer where it’s already bright by the time I wake up…

But it seems as though everyone else had as much difficulty dragging themselves out of bed too. When I got there at my usual time of 7:30, hardly anyone was set up, so I wandered around for a few minutes just taking pictures and chatting here and there.

Fridge space is at a premium here right now, so I knew in advance it would be a light market day for me (just how light, I didn’t realize - can you all believe I got out of all 3 markets for $20 total?!?). I wanted to get stuff that could store, or that wasn’t particularly perishable. It is a beautiful day, just a tiny bit nippy but mostly mild - they say it will get up into the low 80’s for this afternoon’s game against Purdue.

One item I’ve been thinking about all week is the dumpling squash at Persigner Farms. So I picked up a couple of those, with a dish in mind for the next week or two.

As is usual this time of year, most of what was available this week at the market was winter squash, apples, and other root vegetables, with the very last residuals of summer fruit like tomatoes, sweet corn, raspberries, and peppers. I did a lot of browsing, and looked at things like these beautiful radishes from Elizabeth Telling Farms, but ultimately, just ended up getting the two squash.

Worthington was a bit of a different story. I knew I wouldn’t be getting much, so I left my shopping cart in the car, but there was great selection today. One of the things I got was this great big bunch of rainbow chard for $2. Don’t remember where, unfortunately.

Also admired this Dwarf Cajun Hibiscus, and wondered how something so pretty could manage to grow in October?!?

A lot of the farmers were making and selling decorations made out of decorative gourds, dried corn, and straw - like this cute one I found on display at one of the vendors at Worthington:

I talked the farmers from Pop & Judy’s Patch into bringing some of their dried beans to market next week. He says he grew many different varieties this year (a couple of dozen), so I can’t wait to see what they’ve got! I also picked up a couple of baskets of new potatoes, and made my requisite stop at Sassafras Bakery - this week I got a couple of elderberry hand pies, a bourbon pumpkin tart, and a small buttermilk pecan pie. All three are quite delish.

It’s getting to be that time of year where I think about buying maple syrup. So many choices, so little time.

I actually did make it to Clintonville this week - Denise and the others at 2Silos were worried because they hadn’t seen me for weeks. The nice people at Snowville Creamery gave me a half gallon of short-dated cream - anyone have recipes that use a ton of cream (since it’s dated today, and I want to use it up as quickly as possible)?

Kevin from Just This Farm had some really nice looking garlic:

And is it just me, or does Blue Jacket Cheese seem to get a new variety every time I look?

All in all, it was quite a pleasant day to go to the market. Where did you go this morning and what did you get? What’s on the menu for this week?