June » 2011 » Markets of New York

Chime Jewelry Made from Recycled Drum Cymbals

Earrings made from recycled drum cymbals by Chime Jewelry

Once again, the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn blew my doors off with the quality, variety, beauty, wit, intelligence, and pure fun of the designs I saw.

One of the most unique concepts I came across is from a company called Chime. Designer Leslie Wilson creates beautiful, versatile jewelry designs from recycled drum cymbals. She told me that her husband is in the music business, and it turns out that those fine, handcrafted Zildjian and Sabian cymbals do not last forever. They eventually crack from the pounding they take. And then off they go to find a new life as earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and keychains.

Chime’s designs all have a really great back story, and they are also wonderful pieces of jewelry. Ms. Wilson and Chime are based in LA, and I hope she brought home a few of our own Brooklyn vibrations back home with her from Renegade!

Visit Chime’s website and follow Chime on Faceook!

Guest Blogger: Christine Chitnis and The Markets of New England

I am thrilled to welcome author and photographer Christine Chitnis as a guest blogger! She is the author of Markets of New England, newly released by The Little Bookroom. The images in her book are gorgeous and colorful, and they remind me of summers I spent up in Maine as a kid. Please read as Christine describes here amazing journey researching and writing this lovely, lovely book. And visit her wonderful blog, Lavender and Limes.

The Colorful Markets of New England

While writing my first book, Markets of New England, I covered fifty markets -both farmers markets and art + craft markets – in six states over the course of one summer. From the rocky coast of Maine, to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, from open studio tours to floating farmers markets…I took in all that New England has to offer. What stuck with me the most, and indeed, seems to be many readers favorite part of my book, is the kaleidoscope of brilliant colors that I discovered during my market travels, and managed to capture through my photography.

I was endlessly intrigued with the unusual produce and food products that I found, and indeed, they became my favorite subjects to photograph. The colors of nature’s bounty never cease to amaze me. Favorite colorful discoveries included quail eggs, black, golden and red currants, mini Savoy cabbage, black radishes, fiddleheads, squash blossoms, zebra tomatoes, overflowing baskets of plums, peaches, nectarines and berries… and the list just goes on.

In addition, there is nothing quite like photographing the talented artisans of the region, and experiencing color through their unique works. I especially enjoyed my visits to various artist studios, during open studio events, where I caught glimpses into their raw spaces, the tools of their trade, and their work, in various stages of completion. Whether creating with yarn, clay, metal or wood- the colors of their art exploded through my lens.

Although a travel guide book, it is my hope that Markets of New England also serves as an inspiring, photographic journey showcasing the rich, vibrant beauty of the region I am lucky enough to call home.

Weekend Market Picks — And Yona’s Gourmet Delights!

Yona's Gourmet Delights Provides the Perfect Snacks for Market Shoppers

I’ve been munching on Yona’s Gourmet Delights for several years now. It never ceases to delight me to find Yona’s delicious borekas and mini-quiches at a market. You can purchase a bag of three, and they make for the perfect snack. Her tables are always my first stop at the Greenflea, and recently saw Yona herself at the 9th Avenue Food Festival with Oreo Cookie Cake, Strawberry Shortcake, and Carrot Cakes. Gigantic and sweet – just the way I like my cakes!

Here are my Market Picks for this weekend – June 11-12, 2011:

Saturday and Sunday

Renegade Craft Fair: The Renegade is like heaven on earth for hand made craft lovers. From the most whimsical to the finest design, every artisan at this event is seriously dedicated and talented. This is a juried event, and it is highly competitive to get accepted into. So trust me when I tell you to set a budget for the day, even though I know you will exceed it with no regrets.

Crafts at Lincoln Center: This wonderful outdoor American crafts show runs this weekend and next. 400 juried craftspeople from around the country bring their handmade treasures to Lincoln Center. The event features continuous entertainment, craft demonstrations, exotic and natural foods. And if you’re driving into the city, you can get a $2 discount coupon for parking in the nearby indoor garage.

Saturday Only

Artisan Market at Fort Greene Park: This sweet market features local artisans who are there in the shade of the black walnut trees outside Fort Greene Park, bringing their work directly to you. It is in its 7th year, and it continues to provide a venue for some remarkable designers, from ceramics, fine clothing designs and hats to handmade soaps and children’s toys. I’ve seen some remarkable products in this sweet market.

Fort Green Greenmarket: I always tune into the happy vibe at this farmers market. It is a distinct and unique feeling based on the great relationships between the market vendors and the community, who find true value and pleasure underneath the market tents. Neighbors stop by for fresh juice and a muffin after a run in the park, or they’ll bring their kids to pick up produce for the week. So go to the Artisan Market and pick up some delicious fresh treats at the Greenmarket just up the hill.

Sunday Only

Hell’s Kitchen Flea Food Truck Bazaar: Don’t have time to chase your favorite trucks around the city? Then come to this one-stop food truck shop for all your favorite treats! Kimchi Taco Truck, Rickshaw Dumpling Truck, Kelvin Natural Slush Truck, and The Cavity Shoppe, as well as the HKFM debuts of Coolhaus, Red Hook Lobster Pound Truck and Two Pitas in a Pod!

Hester Street Fair’s Sunday Summer Picnic: The Hester Street Fair is devoting Sundays to special food events, and this weekend is the first one! They invited over 20 food purveyors because of their picnicky food. How awesome is that? The idea is to come, grab a bite of something delicious, grab a seat, and chat with your neighbors. You can play ping pong and enjoy live music too. Can’t think of a nicer way to spend a Sunday!

Enjoy the weekend! And don’t forget your sunscreen!

Belly Up to the TOASTbar for a Scratchbread MOZZwich

Scratchbread is a food fixture at the Brooklyn Flea, and now owner Matthew Tilden is trying out a new concept at Smorgasburg: TOASTBar, a wooden sandwich bar set up around his tent, where you can try delicious savory and sweet bread-based delicacies.

The Flea has been about food on the go, things you can eat while you wander around the market. The idea behind TOASTbar is to belly up to the bar, casually eat something that will blow your mind, and have a chat with Matt. I had a taste of the rich, sweet, mozzarella that Matt made two hours before, as I watched him make the MOZZwich. The Mozzwich is fresh pulled mozzarella, fennel seed, burgundy powder, lemon juice, and a dash of olive oil on Scratchbread focaccia. Yes, it was amazing!

And it was also nice not to have to grab my food and head straight back into the throngs. While I love to see a crowded market, sometimes it’s nice to take a moment, savor the flavors, and chat with a baker.

Smorgasburg Met My Seriously High Expectations

You know that face we all make when we bite into something absolutely delicious? The one that is accompanied by the words, “Mmmmmmmm,” “That’s soooo gooood,” and “Oh. Mah. Gah.” I saw that face all over Smorgasburg on Saturday.

Despite the L Train woes, there was a fine crowd at Smorgasburg on the Williamsburg Waterfront. My friend Jeff Nolan and I toured the market, starting with a visit with Beth Linskey of Beth’s Farm Kitchen, who was doing a food demo and book signing at the Waterfront Greenmarket that is a part of Smorgasburg. This greenmarket is not only a destination for foodies, but it serves the neighborhood by providing farm fresh produce, eggs, cheese, and even lavender, which every household needs.

I was happy to finally meet Matthew Tilden of Scratchbread. He has created the Toast Bar at Smorgasburg, where you can order up something incredibly delicious, like the Tomato Dunk in the photo above, a cup of tangy, thick tomato sauce with whole garlic that comes with two pieces of fresh foccaccia for dunking. And we couldn’t not try the Hot Sticky Mess, “griddled chai sticky buns with vanilla bean and cinnamon.” It’s warm, sweet, and sticky, and yeah, it’s messy too.

The selection at Smorgasburg was really wonderful, including many of the famous regular Brooklyn Flea food sellers, as well as many others. The Red Hook Lobster Pound was there, along with the wonderful people from Peoples’ Pops. We loved the savory brisket sandwich from the Meat Hook. Dough was all but sold out by the time we got there, which no surprise because their donuts are truly amazing. (Dough owner Fany Gerson’s cookbook, My Sweet Mexico was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award this year.) It was also great to meet Rich Awn of Market Share, selling food products by local food purveyors.

Jeff, Beth and I shared a serving of Sunday Gravy from Table Tales over pasta al dente with fresh grated parmesan. I first tasted this fantastic tomato meat sauce at the New Amsterdam Market, and it blew me away there too. We all made that food face.

It’s no surprise that Smorgasburg serves up such wonderful, innovative food. And it’s no surprise that New Yorkers and visitors are eating it all up. What is a lovely surprise is the flood of happiness that comes over you when you bite into something absolutely delicious. And then you make that food face.

Market Picks for June 4-5 and Happy Birthday to My Sister Andrea!

It’s my middle sister Andrea’s birthday! I thought I’d post a picture of the two of us on the way to the beach in Cape Elizabeth, Maine sometime during the latter half of the 20th Century. She’s will be coming to New York in a couple of weeks, and we’ll definitely be hitting the markets. She loves markets as much as I do! Please tweet her a Happy Birthday message @AndyMike01!

I can’t help but go on about the beautiful weather we’ve been having, which couldn’t be better for strolling through this week’s Market Picks:

Saturday and Sunday

Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit: The WSOAE is back on the list for its second weekend. There are some fantastic works of art on the sidewalks of the Village, as well as beautiful handmade crafts. Saturday and Sunday

Artists & Fleas: This market is full of carefully selected fleas and fine handmade jewelry, accessories, soaps, art, photography, and much more. And I’ll fill you in on a secret: they also have fantastic local food vendors! Satisfy your inner foodie without spending valuable shopping time waiting in lines. Saturday and Sunday

Saturday Only

Smorgasburg: This market is such a brilliant idea for food lovers and for the talented and tasty food innovators in the city. For my own sake, I am hoping the lines have calmed down a little at the Brooklyn Flea’s new food market. For the market’s sake, I’m sure it will continue to be jam packed with eager eaters! Saturday only

Sunday Only

New Amsterdam Market: The market opens this weekend for a season of weekly events. They are promising the return of our favorite food vendors and also some new ones we will surely fall in love with immediately. Thankyouthankyouthankyou. Sunday only
Fulton Stall Market: Back for the season too, this market is a wonderful service to the Seaport neighborhood. It features a lovely, balanced mix of food vendors, farmers, artisans, and even fine artist, Naima Rauam, whose paintings feature beautiful scenes from the Fulton Fish Market. Sunday only

Enjoy your weekend and Happy Marketing!

Guest Market: White Plains Farmers Market in the Paris Tradition

You know how romantic it is to stroll through the lovely food and farmers markets in Paris? The family-owned company that has run those markets for generations, The Bensidoun Group, also puts on several markets here in the US. Their flagship venue is the Chicago French Market, and they also run several other local farmers markets in Illinois, Michigan, and New York. I met brothers Pascal and Sebastien Bensidoun through my research and writing about markets and my passion for Paris.

They have run the mid-week White Plains Farmers Market for several years, and I went to Opening Day on May 11th. Based on the model of the traditional Parisian outdoor markets, this farmers market is the perfect place to pick up a fresh, healthy lunch and to buy local, delicious ingredients to take home for dinner.

These two photo galleries include some of the wonderful farmers. local food purveyors, and artisanal product makers that can be found at this market each week:

The White Plains Farmers Market
Mead Orchards in Tivoli, NY
Rolling Ridge Farm in Mifflinburg, PA
Mirabelle Cheese Shop’s Market Cafe: Cheese on Wheels
Merriweather’s Handmade Soaps, Bath Salts, and Oils
Dr. Pickle (I can’t get enough of their hot peppers!)
Big Girl Baking Co.
Pura Vida Fisheries in Hampton Bays, NY
Panzarella Gourmet Italian Foods (Made my very first Chicken Parm with Panzarella’s mushroom marinara and fresh mozarella. Superb.)
Westchester Greenhouses and Farm

If you can’t make it to Paris for the weekend, maybe a bunch of apple blossoms, a taste of soft cheese, some fresh bread, and a tub of plump strawberries will transport you, even if it’s just for your lunch break.

The White Plains Farmers Market is right downtown on Court Street between Main Street and Martine Avenue and every Wednesday from 11AM to 4PM through November 30, 2011.

Plums, Crumbs and a Great New Cookbook!

Who hasn’t seen Beth’s Farm Kitchen’s cheerful checked Greenmarket tables, covered in tasty jams, ample samples, and bow-festooned gift boxes, with ladies wearing garden toppers, santa hats, or sparkly deely boppers (depending on the season) ready to help you make a selection? Well, if you haven’t had the pleasure, do stop by for a visit at the Union Square Greenmarket on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays!

Lucky for us all, Beth Linskey has a new cookbook, Cooking with Jams and Chutneys: Recipes from Beth’s Farm Kitchen. My wonderful husband gave me a copy, and I read it through twice on the same day. Not only does it have recipes for making the actual jams and chutneys, but it provides many recipes for dishes you can cook using the products themselves. Now I have only participated in one attempt to make jam in my life. My dad took us strawberry picking and used the berries that made it home outside of our bellies to make strawberry jam. There was an issue with the pectin, and it became strawberry sauce, which was fine on ice cream, but not so easy with toast. So I was happy to pick up a jar or Beth’s Plum Jam, my very favorite, to try with her intriguing recipe for Aunt Gilda’s Plum Crumb Cake.

We have a group of friends who share dinner every Sunday. We take turns cooking, and two weeks ago it was our turn. James gets excited to make dinner, and I get excited about dessert. To me, the cake part of crumb cake is kind of irrelevant – it’s all about the crumbs for me. And Beth’s recipe is literally two layers of crumbs with a layer of plum jam in the middle. Can I get an “Amen”?

At the risk of splattering my GF-1 with crumbs, I took some pictures of Aunt Gilda’s Plum Crumb Cake from start to delicious finish. Want the recipe? Instructions are at the bottom of this posting!

Start with fine ingredients, including organic flour from Cayuga Pure Organics

Butter makes everything better!

Making the crumbs – no cake required here.

Lovely chunks of tasty plums in Beth’s Farm Kitchen Plum Jam.

Top layer of crumbs.

Into the oven it goes!

Voila! Plum Crumb Cake Topped with Blackberries

Voila! This gorgeous cake is topped with a mound of fresh blackberries and perched on my favorite cake plate by Daisy Dog Studio, which supports animal rescue organizations.

There was not a crumb left on this plate!

Trust me, there was not a single crumb left of on this plate!

BUY THE BOOK! You can purchase Cooking with Jams & Chutneys from Beth herself at the Union Square Greenmarket on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and you can purchase it on BethsFarmKitchen.com. If you would like to carry it in your shop, contact Beth’s Farm Kitchen directly at bfk@bethsfarmkitchen.com!

MAKE THIS CRUMB CAKE! Beth has generously shared the recipe for Aunt Gilda’s Plum Crumb Cake Recipe! Please send me an email if you would like a copy!