Growing up, I would spend some weekends with my grandparents, especially when my parents traveled. My Grandma Stella and Grandpa Stanley prepared everything from scratch, without exception.
During the fall, not only did they have apple trees in their backyard that produced delicious apples, they also packed me in the truck, with ladders, and beverages and we traveled to the local farm where we picked apples by the basket for the day.
Later, upon returning home, I would help my grandmother wash and peel apples, and then she would chop them up and begin great recipes like fresh apple pies, and applesauce. What I learned early on is that the greatest recipes start with farmer’s market fresh ingredients!
Thankfully, we have numerous local markets around us and I get to frequent them to remind me of my childhood and to be a regular supporting patron of local business. Lavishly live this tale of how the greatest recipes start with farmer’s market fresh ingredients.
The Greatest Recipes Start With Farmer’s Market Fresh Ingredients
First and foremost, summer is here. For every season there is a reason to visit a farmer’s market. Not only to support the local businesses but to enjoy some of the freshest and best of the best in produce, fruit and baked goods.
You will LOVE the products and the prices. There is just something so incredible about buying fresh and buying local. Wait till you try it.
My Grandmother Made Me Understand Without Even Trying!
My Grandmother is the ripe old age of 95 today and she is as spry as ever. I attribute her life, and youthfulness to her fresh food lifestyle. In fact, earlier in her life she and her mom ran a true farm, with chickens, and fresh eggs, cows, and a huge bed of land filled with fresh produce.
One of my biggest thrills and best set of memories goes back to spending time with my Grandparents and going out to the blackberry patch with my grandfather and picking fresh berries, eating them as we picked.
There is nothing more delicious than food right off the vines, it is fresh. Fresh, and wonderful recipes start here. Every market and farm has its own spirit, you have to visit to feel it.
THE TRUTH ABOUT APPLESAUCE
My grandmother shared with me how simple is best and recipes are about a few fresh ingredients while heat does the rest. Applesauce is simply apples peeled, apples sliced, a tad of water, and fresh cinnamon, with a light sprinkle of sugar after mashing the apples.
Thanks to numerous local farms around our home we have access to the apples by the peck and it is awesome. I don’t buy store bought I take the time to make my own applesauce!
TOMATO SAUCE
See a display of tomatoes in the farm markets, I say ‘Indulge’ they are sweet as sugar and fresh. The next best thing to growing a tomato in your own yard is picking some up at your local farmer’s market.
I regularly stop at a farmer’s market. I do this because fresh-picked tomatoes are the lightning in a bottle when it comes time to preparing tomato sauce. The advantage of living more rural is that we have many markets to choose from and I stop at each different one to fulfill my needs.
Fresh Is Best
It’s funny how much my childhood created who I am, and my preferences, but it every shopping stop begins with a stop at the local farmer’s market. Now, as an adult, I grow my garden, in large containers, in land plots, and even between trees! As a matter of fact, I plant wherever I can and I stop at my local farm market daily. I believe that the freshest recipes begin with farmer’s market fresh ingredients. What’s your own story?