Taking Time for What's Important
Beautiful sungold cherry tomato starts from Crossroads Community Farm
Taking Time for What's Important
We've come to the beginning of that long, wonderful time of year filled with sunny days, cook outs and of course, lucrative trips to the market! It's a great time and one many of us look forward to during those long winter months. As we're enjoying these days, starting off with this nice long Memorial Day weekend, we'd like to encourage you to take the time to appreciate it all. Firstly we give our thanks to those who gave all in their service. We celebrate with family and friends this weekend, reveling in this lush life with good food and plenty of fun. That privilege is due in large part to the great sacrifice made by others. For that, we are eternally grateful. Next, we give our thanks to the farmers here in Wisconsin, bringing us so much of that wonderful food we get to enjoy this weekend. Their efforts are challenging and often unsung, despite the undeniable importance of what they do. It's not an easy life to be a farmer, and in a way it's then not surprising to hear that the highest rate of suicide by profession is amongst farmers. We offer you two stories to consider this week, the first is a StoryCorps piece from NPR that offers an intimate telling of an Iowa farm couples' story, while the second comes to us from News 3 here in Madison. Their story covers a Wisconsin farmer's experience with mental health, shedding some light on the support services being offered to our farmers. - StoryCorps - News 3 "Everybody Needs A Tugboat" Sharing these stories is a means of reducing the stigma surrounding mental health issues, giving us an opportunity to relate and understand one another. When we have the chance to recognize the difficulties one another face, we are better equipped to offer support, gratitude and understanding. Looking forward to this weekend, we've got a lot to appreciate and we don't wish to miss a moment of it. From the pleasant tunes of the Starr Grass Band, to a day of fun kids activities for our Gear Up for the Garden event, the fun will start down at the market. Just as we nurture our seedlings in the garden, we also nurture and give thanks to each other. Remembering those efforts that came before and the efforts being made today to give us a life of peace, comfort and good food. See you at the market! Ben Zimmerman Market Manager
Vendor Notices:
- Fizzeology/Nami Chips will be at market this Saturday. - Due to the predicted heat this weekend, Roots Chocolate will be absent from the market. - Urban Gourmet will be absent from the market this Saturday, but will return the following week.
Tasty King Oyster mushrooms from Herb n' Oyster
Please note not all vendors present every week. Please check newsletter for anticipated absences.
Recipe Corner
This week's Recipe Corner is prepping for all those fun Memorial Day cookouts. Bring something fantastic y'all!
Morel Burgers
(From My North Magazine) Ingredients: - 1/4 to 3/4 pounds fresh morels—cleaned and chopped or minced - Butter or olive oil (or a 50-50 mix) - 1 to 2 pounds ground beef or turkey - 1/2–1 cup bread crumbs - 1 to 3 eggs - Italian seasoning - Thyme (fresh or dried) - Salt and pepper Directions:
Sauté morels in butter or oil for about 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Add morels and remaining ingredients to the ground meat and mix using your hands—the best tools for the job here! Form into patties and fry or grill as you normally would. This same recipe can also be used as a meatloaf mix.
Grilled Spring Onions
(From Charlotte J & Genius Kitchen) Ingredients: - 2 bunches spring onions - Olive oil for brushing - Salt and pepper - 2 ounces feta cheese - Lemon wedges Directions: 1. Heat a grill or grill pan to low heat. Trim off and discard just the inedible portion of the root of each onion, making sure to leave enough at the bottom to hold the onion together. Then trim off the dark green tops of the onions and reserve. Slice the bulb and light green portion of each onion in half lengthwise from root to tip. 2. Brush each onion half and the greens on all sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the onion bulbs on the grill, cut-side down. Grill for about 5 minutes, depending on the size of the onion, until lightly charred on the underside and beginning to soften. Turn and grill 2 to 5 minutes more, until the whole onion is softened and nicely charred. Remove the bulbs to a plate and place the dark greens on the grill. Cook for just a minute or so per side, watching carefully, until nicely charred but not burned. (Alternatively, you can reserve the greens to use raw in another dish.) 3. Plate the onions and sprinkle with a bit of additional salt, a drizzle of lemon juice, and some crumbled feta cheese.
