Wisconsin Vacation

        For our anniversary trip this year, we decided to fly to Madison, Wisc. to see our dear friends, Dean and Cindy. While this was the main reason for going out, the subplot quickly became a Brewery and Brew pub tour of the area. I will do follow up posts about all the great pubs we visited but this first post will be about another event we went to. Alot of you,(OK most everyone), would not want to visit a farmers market but we are a strange couple and find farmers markets fascinating. So when I read that the Madison farmers market was one of the, (if not THE), biggest in the country. and then Dean mentioned they hadn't been in years, well our Saturday morning was set. Hi ho, hi ho its off to market we go.

      We parked at the world famous Monona Terrace.originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1938 and finally opened in 1997 (just goes to show the workings of government hasn't changed much in the last 70 years). This is a beautiful convention center situated right on Lake Monona. From the upper deck, there is a terrific view of the capitol building. Here are a few pics of Monona Terrace, the capitol and the street we walked to get to the market;

     The market wends it way ALL the way around capitol square. We were told there were over 300 vendors and I believe it. Some of the sights, (too bad we don't have smell-o-vision, the smells were incredible), we saw;

     After walking around for what seems like hours and all four of us having bags FULL of fresh produce (and a nice anniversary present, if I do say so myself), we decided to take a short cut through the capitol on our way back to the car. I don't know about the rest of you but all capitols look the same to me, (it may just be me, I feel the same way about babies). So here are a few shots of Madison's fine, (if generic), capitol building;

      We left with bags full and legs weary. Dropping off our goodies at the house,we then proceeded to have a light (HA) lunch at Tofflers and then a tour of the New Glarus Brewery (posts coming for both). Then, back to the house where we all crashed (except Dean who made us an incredible supper, Thanks again Dean and Cindy for the incredible hospitality). To finish this post here are a few pictures of the flowers and critters around their house, including (if I do say so myself) my best picture, so far, of a bird in flight (Man do I have problems with them). Enjoy !

Container Gardening

      Or as I like to put it, fresh herbs and vegetables, NO WEEDING! For a few years we did the giant vegetable garden, but when our little slave , oops daughter, flew the coop, it came down to Wifey or I to weed. As neither of us list this as one of our favorite outdoor activities, the garden had to go. Off it went to return as a beautiful flower garden,( see previous posts for pics of this years blooms).  And since flowers are strictly the domain of the wife (I get to help plant BUT only where I am told to plant), the weeding falls out of my jurisdiction, WOO HOO. What I am in charge of are the containers on the deck, every year these hold a variety of fresh herbs, hot peppers and what ever else catches my eye on our annual plant shopping trip.

     This year has been a bumper crop for tomatoes , ( seriously we had three ripe ones already, which is three more than last year). a new pepper crop called Caribbean red hots, ( not a lie, had the first on Saturday, wooo hoo a bit spicy ), basil is nice, Rosie is doing great, ( year round rosemary plant, we bring her in every winter), mint has exploded (this has to be a weed, I grow good weeds). Lemon grass (what?? sounded like a good idea at the time) and fennel are both doing great (OK ,seriously, anyone know how to tell when the fennel bulb is ripe and ready to pick?) . Not doing so good, serrano's, (plant died), habaneros, I JUST got flowers, we may never see peppers,  jalapenos are OK but very small crop, only 3-4 this year.

 A look at this years crops;

                                                   Jalepenos

Caribbean red Hots

Mint,and two basils

Rosemary

      All in all not a bad crop. Update, Wifey decided that the fennel must be ripe (it wasn't) So now we will never see if we can grow fennel to bulb size (at least until next year). And I still have to figure out what I am going to do with the lemongrass, but it looks cool. Finally a few more late summer blooms;

                                                       Balloon Flower

Day Lily

Cosmos

Hydrangea

      Until, next time happy gardening.

BFM's Forever

      OK, I believe the phrase is BFF, but in this case we aren't talking about best friends but rather the Burlington Farmers Market. Here in Vermont, we are very lucky to never be far from a farmers market, no matter which town you live in. But the granddaddy and probably the biggest of them all is the Burlington Farmers Market. This is a great combination of fresh produce, ready to eat foods and of all things, Arts and Crafts. With such a great variety of things to see and taste and smell, one can easily spend hours wandering the booths.

Garden if front of City Hall and a few booths from the market;

      Fresh produce and prepared foods are the highlight of any market. And you will be hard pressed to find greater diversity than the Burlington market. Just a quick walk around and we found ready to eat food from Tibet, Africa (Samosaman YUM), Jamaica, Nepal, Morocco, China and food items like Barbecue, desserts, brownies and homemade root beer,  numerous baked goods, breads and lots more. In the produce department, every kind of fruit and vegetable you can imagine, fresh eggs, incredible cheeses, Vermont wines, organic meats, poultry and lots of fresh cut flowers.

      We had company coming for supper otherwise I could have spent several hours exploring. We had a quick bite to eat at Orsini BBQue, (try the Porky, half a serving of homemade mac and cheese , half incredible pulled pork DOUBLE YUM !!) And of course, a big shout out to Samosaman with a full offering of samosas and chicken curry and rice.  Next time we visit, we will bring the in-laws (Bro and Sis) and eat our way through the market, offering reviews on all the food. Just a quick thought, if you are planning on coming down to the farmers market to get bargains, think again. From what a couple of vendors told us it is VERY expensive to have a booth here, maybe the most expensive in the state (Thanks Burlington). So prices will be higher than your local mega-mart grocery store. But the trade off is, nothing will ever be fresher, the corn we saw was picked that morning, the eggs we bought laid the night before, the cheeses (Boucher Farms INCREDIBLE blue) fresh from the farm. For us it worth the extra money to A) get absolute farm fresh produce and B) to give money directly to the farmers who are working so hard to supply us with quality ingredients.

      So what did we come home with? Lets see, three different Boucher Farm cheeses, fresh eggs (Eric's I believe?) blueberries (Willow farm), Moroccan Delight Deserts, Stuffed breads (sorry can't remember the booth). These breads were great by the way, mine was a bread roll stuffed with blue cheese and pears YUMMMMM.  Some just picked organic arugula, and of course the BBque we ate while there. I am sure I forgot something, as the bags were quite full. A perfect way to spend a few hours in the sunshine of Vermont.

      Here are a few more pictures;

      A great time was had by all and an activity I suggest everyone participate in. Just think ahead, bring a cooler with some ice (or cooler packs, we did neither, of course, BUT I did remember the camera YEA) and after wandering around the markets, stop for a lunch at one of Burlington's many fine restaurants. We recommend Church and Main, Ri Ra's , Daily Planet and we are soon to try the New El Gato and we still haven't made it to Farmhouse Tap. What's missing? Well off the top of me head, fresh seafood, ( I know the ocean is a ways away but someone should drive to one of the big fish markets and bring back whatever is fresh for the Farmers market), pies, cakes, cookies , whoopee pies, I saw none of these and a HUGE miss is Ice Cream, the PERFECT summer treat and not a bite to eat. If anyone takes me up on these missing offerings, just send me an email and I will gladly let you know where to send the commission checks.  As far as activities go, I rate this one an A.

Summer Blooms

            My last gardening post included pictures of Spring blooms (once the rains stopped). This past Saturday dawned bright and beautiful, so I took the trusty Nikon and snapped away.  all pictures were taken with the Nikon D5000 with my new Tamron 18-270 mm lens. Its been a bit of a learning curve getting bright clear pics but I seem to be getting there. What do you think?

Coming soon, We attempt to make a Souffle, watch to see if we succeed.

Gardening in Vermont

         Todays post will be about our gardens. As many of you know,  Vermont had the wettest Spring in our history. And while it made for a VERY soggy April and May, it certainly helped the gardens. We had more blooms this year than ever. So as this blog is Food and PHOTOS, here are my favorites of the spring;