Yakima Fruit Market Blog - Fresh Picked News

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 19:16:00 +0000

                                                   GRAND OPENING MARCH 1, 2023

   I gave the fruit market a Christmas gift this year—bought one of those E-photo frames and loaded it with a fraction of my zillions of pictures of hot peppers, raspberries, Christmas trees, hanging baskets, farmland, pumpkins and YFM staff. My hope is that Matias can connect it to our big screen TV at the market and it can scroll through the photos for all to see.
   It takes me down memory lane, and tells part of the YFM story. I threw in a few “behind the scenes” photos that will only be special to those of us who are behind-the-scenes, but my hope in all the communications I do for the market is that I lift the veil just a little bit and give our customers a behind-the-scenes glimpse.
   A lot of it is too private to share, a lot of it is joyful, some of it is heavy with sorrow, some of it is hilarious and some of it is just…mystifying, but it’s all part of the beautiful experience we’ve had when we put on green aprons.
   Mystifying, indeed, was one customer’s angry reaction to this sign:

(Everything on our walls had to come down for painting this week and is all jumbled in heaps in the office including this sign)

   This sign deserves its backstory to be shared, so here goes. When Sound Transit was planning on gobbling up our property to add a bus lane, we were overwhelmed and out-witted. Struggling to find our footing, we hired an attorney who specialized in eminent domain. He flat-out told us to give up, because what Sound Transit wants, Sound Transit gets, end of story.
   That was a bitter pill to swallow, and we knew we couldn’t come to work every day and tell customers that we were at the end of our run, so we had to keep a glimmer of hope alive that somehow, some way, we could prevail. We went down a lot of dead-ends, chasing fruitless solutions, but along the way a marvelous, wonderful thing happened and people began coming out of the woodwork offering help: an architect, an engineer, others who’d battled Sound Transit’s plans for their property, journalists, customers beyond counting.
   One day I went to the post office to pick up our mail, stood at the sorting table and opened a hand-addressed letter. Out fluttered a check for one thousand dollars.
   It came from a Seattle business owner who had faced similar land-use battles. Her case had made local media as well, and was a David vs Goliath story. While she was in the thick of her battle, an unsolicited check came to her for one thousand dollars from an Eastern WA apple grower. She didn’t know this man, but he’d read about her battle and was moved to help fund her fight. She tried to refuse the money; he insisted. She told him she’d pass it on to the next business she felt was fighting an uphill battle.
    I burst into tears right there in the Bothell P.O. It was a long, hard slog, but as our customers know, Sound Transit eventually decided that the highway didn’t need to be 7 lanes wide with a planting strip running down the middle in order for a bus to drive on it. We’ll never really know the actual reason for their decision, but I have no doubt that the TEN THOUSAND postcards our customers sent to ST played a role. In the end, I think it was a perfect storm of several factors. But that’s another story.
   Anyway, long-story-long, once the pandemic eased up we were able to visit the Seattle business owner who’d given us the thousand dollars. To my delight, she was a passionate and compassionate, whip smart, practical minded, trail-blazing idealist. A role model if ever there was one.
   It was clear that she was a people -loving patriot, who wants our country to live up to its stated ideals of liberty and justice for all. To that end, she created a business that helped others turn their dreams into reality. No handouts from the government for her to do this, no non-profit status. Just hard work and a sharp eye. One of her slogans was “hate has no place here.” In her phrase, I hear vibrations of “Love one another as I have loved you,” so it resonated.
   We wanted to give her a gift, and had a sign made with her phrase, and we made one for the market as well. Most customers probably never even notice it, but then again, we made an image of the sign into a greeting card, and it’s one of our more popular cards. However, last fall my husband opened a hand-delivered, several-page screed from an angry customer. Knowing that I’d be hurt by the letter, dear husband shredded it and didn’t tell me about it until much later. The customer vowed never to set foot in the market again because of that sign.
   The letter was anonymous, so no way to have a rapprochement with the writer. These times we’re living in are prickly and challenging to navigate. I don’t seek controversy, and I’m sure not out to offend people. Perhaps “hate has no place here” is strongly worded, but to me it’s a clear statement of community values.
   As we prepare for the market’s 85th season and our family’s 52nd year of ownership, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude: that this little market survived 85 years, for ALL the people who’ve crossed our path, that the market has given us such a wide diversity of experience, surrounded all the while by freshness, color, beauty and bounty—and all of it highly perishable, making it plain that everything, everyone will eventually…evanesce.
Grand opening is Wednesday, March 1 at 6 a.m. Let’s appreciate each other and everything that comprises the “it” of our experiences, together, in 2023. You know where to find us!

Fruitfully yours,

Karin

*Do not offend others as you would not want to be offended.—Buddhism

*None of you are true believers until you love for your brother what you love for yourself.—Islam

*What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.—Judaism

*I am a stranger to no one and no one is a stranger to me. Indeed, I am a friend to all.—Sikhism

*Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.—The Golden Rule

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 18:34:00 +0000

Seems like if you’re going to have a blog, you should…write some things in it! It’s been a low-output year, blog-wise, but busy in every other department around here, and now we’re thinking ahead to NEXT year. We open on March 1 in 2023, but there’s still the end of this season to see through, and Christmas Tree season to accomplish.
  Several of us are compiling lists of what to reimagine for next year, small tweaks and big items are on the list. We’ll see what we accomplish. Seems like mindsets are the most difficult thing to change, so maybe we can work on those. It’s comfortable and easy to say, “that’s how we always do it,” when circumstances behind the “always” change, and change might be needed.
  One project I took off my to-do list was compiling a book which was published late this summer. I say “compiling,” not “writing,” because the book is really a collection of letters that a relative wrote to her twin sister in 1918, so I really only wrote an introduction. If you’ve ever done a home remodel, I can tell you that compiling a book is a lot like that: you start out really excited about the project and discover it’s very time consuming, inconvenient, a lot of decisions have to be made that are outside of your wheelhouse, a lot of research has to be done. Eventually a kind of blanket of grim drudgery falls over you and you think it’ll never be finished. Also comparable to pregnancy!
  But it’s in print now, available at YFM, on Amazon and in the museum shops of the Skagit County Museum and the Sedro-Woolley Historical Museum, and in the hands of family. Preserving that relative’s story for our family and for local history was the goal, so I feel good about that.
  Yesterday as I was ready to check out early for the day, I went to explain myself to our younger generation. “Well, I accomplished what I set out to do today,” I said. “I cleaned the sign closet and I had that meeting with the kid who got busted for vandalizing and stealing from the market.”
  “Why would you put yourself through that?” was the reply. I knitted my brows but understood the reservoir of good-deeds-gone-punished that caused that question.
  “Because it’s the right thing to do?” I said. “Because maybe I can make a difference for that kid?” I didn’t really believe what I was saying, because I’ve been there, done that a hundred other times with no appreciable results. Little had I realized that as I was meeting with the kid, staff members were taking bets on whether or not I’d punish the kid by hiring him to work at the market! It wouldn’t have been the first time that happened, by the way.
  My dear one laughed and said, “No, I mean why did you clean the sign closet?”
  Truly, it’s a thankless job, that unless you keep up with on a regular schedule, is pointless. The sign closet is where we toss huge sheets of Corex that have “organic” or “local” or “69 cents lb.” written on it, along with random pieces of lumber, cardboard or sheet goods that “could come in handy later” for future signs. Old signs that could be reused on the “other” side, lots of that. An actual skeleton (Halloween decoration). Pieces of wire and metal that could either poke your eyes out or be fashioned into a sign hanger, charts about dahlia tubers, flocked Christmas trees and seed potatoes. In short, a colorful, chaotic mess.
  Exactly like life. If I’m honest with myself, I don’t think that bringing order to chaos, doing the chores, hoping that my actions will create a better future, are ever really futile gestures, so I guess changing-the-mindset is exactly what’s needed, starting with me!

Fruitfully yours,

KARIN

OCTOBER BIRTHDAY CAKE—APPLESAUCE SPICE CAKE WITH MAPLE BUTTERCREAM
  This is an old favorite of mine, from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, and I use applesauce I’ve made from Jonagolds, with no sugar added.

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (I use fresh ginger)
1/4 cup softened butter
1/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup applesauce
  Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 baking pan, set aside. If you don’t have buttermilk, make the substitute now: in a glass measuring cup place 3/4 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar and fill with regular make to make 1/4 cup liquid. Let stand 5 minutes before using.
  Stir together flour and dry ingredients, including the fresh ginger if that’s what you choose. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and shortening together with electric mixer on medium speed about 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla, mixing till combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
  Alternately add dry ingredients, buttermilk and apple sauce until just combined. Pour into prepared pan.
  Bake 35-40 minutes or till cake tests done, cool on a wire rack. When cool frost if desired, or sprinkle with a sifting of powdered sugar mixed with a little ground cinnamon. I love maple buttercream for the frosting:

MAPLE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
1 cup softened unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch salt
  Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add syrup, vanilla and salt. You may need to add additional powdered sugar if texture is too thin.

"A party without cake is just a meeting" - Julia Child

Wall of Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 20:49:00 +0000

THE YFM WALL OF WISDOM

With nearly 50 years of produce industry employment under my belt, I’ve run into some fascinating characters. And fascinating characters usually say stuff worth paying attention to, so I started writing down memorable quotes on a wall in our file storage room (a fancy way of saying “an un-used hallway stacked higgledy-piggledy with banana boxes full of old check book registers, time cards and threatening letters from the IRS”).

The easily-reachable space on the wall is running out, so now you have to either write really tiny or climb over that box that’s stuffed with gunny sacks to find a fresh spot, and I just noticed that staff members have been adding their own observations as well.

The quotes reflect on the people and the circumstances, some are strong PG to R rated. In no particular order here’s a tiny fraction of the WALL OF WISDOM:

PEOPLE CHANGE BUT YOU CAN’T CHANGE PEOPLE.—Olivia S., staff member, and its very inspirational corollary:

NOTHING CHANGES UNTIL YOU DO.—From N.B., a staffer who made life changing choices that put her on a path to sobriety and wellness. N.B. was the first and last staff member I ever yelled at in anger, and it taught me a valuable lesson: don’t yell at people in anger! N.B. would be the first to admit that she pushed us to the absolute limit during her tenure here. We are proud of the work she’s done and all she’s accomplished since leaving YFM.

HANGOVERS ARE FOR AMATEURS—Kevin, 10 year YFM vet! Enough said!

THE POLICE ARE EVERYONE’S FACEBOOK FRIEND.—Detective Odegaard, former YFM employee who retired from the BPD, who let us know that whatever you post online can be seen by anybody with the gumption to find it, including the police. And sure enough, Facebook postings helped crack the case he was working on for us.

Van Der Akker Alaska cedar

EVERYTHING WORTH HAVING GOES A LITTLE BIT WILD.—Gradeschool classmate, long time Bothell Parks Dept. staffer Bob Van den Akker. We were discussing plants and gardening. His parents owned a nursery in Bothell in the 1960s-70S. They propagated trees and shrubs themselves and have a cedar they developed, a cultivar of chamaecyparis nootkatensis, called the Van Den Akker weeping cedar, the absolute narrowest cedar you can plant!

DON’T GO WHERE YOU DON’T BELONG.—Richard F., who was a 1950s pioneering hotdog skier in the NW and worked on farms in Mt. Vernon to supplement his skiing habit. He spent winters working at a low key tourist resort in Mexico, and promised (threatened?) to take me “swimming with the sharks,” if I ever came to the resort. Unfortunately, the one time I was in Mexico, and found his resort, he had gone to the town 40 miles away, so I never did get to swim with the sharks. And the corollary to this is:

DON’T WEAR SHOES YOU CAN’T RUN AWAY FROM SOMEONE IN.—Practical advice from me, learned the hard way in the 1970s.

like these vintage shoes

TRAVELING AROUND THE WORLD IS EASY. COMING HOME IS A TRIP.—YFM staffer Bridget Kennedy who continues to travel the world, and returns home with fresh perspectives.

FAILURE IS A PROCESS, NOT AN OBSTACLE.—Catherine Hinken, YFM staffer who went on to earn degrees in viticulture and works as an agricultural advisor.

DON’T WASH YOUR HANDS IN MUDDY WATER.—Wise words from staffer Kyle.

ENJOY THE RIDE. IT DOESN’T LAST FOREVER. ENJOY THE MUSIC.—lifelong friend Timothy Cochran on appreciating the here and now.

Woodland Park carousel

THE BOYS DOWNTOWN AREN’T GOING TO LIKE THIS.—Julian Karp, first superintendent of Northshore School District. He said this to my father who was a junior high school principal, in response to a change my dad wanted to make. it referred to the “Main Street” business owners who really ran the town and all its doings in those days. And the modern corollary to this:

THAT SHIT WON’T FLY IN PORTLAND.—Evan Peterson on regional differences.

ALWAYS MAINTAIN YOUR WET EDGE.—Win, YFM staffer, on paint flow techniques for auto body restoration, but applies to keeping your attitude fresh for any endeavor.

IT’S ALL TITS AND CHROME.—Montgomery. Montgomery was a wholesale nursery fixture at several long-gone greenhouse operations. I don’t even know if Montgomery was his first or last name, but I knew him for several decades. He was speaking about the design motifs of 1950s cars and why they appealed to men. Whenever I have to ask if something is being marketed to me on the basis of superficial qualities, I think, well, it’s all tits and chrome!

THE FIRST AND THE LAST DAYS ARE ALWAYS HARD.—Alex, our egg man, said to console me during our Sound Transit fight.

DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE PARADE OR BE THE PARADE?—This is all me. I love being in a parade; it’s the essence of life, distilled into a bright and disorderly line, snaking its way through town in a beautiful spectacle.

Bothell parade 1915

THE WORLD IS PAVED SOLID GOLD WITH BULLSHITTERS. IF YOUR WORD IS NO GOOD, BURN THIS CARD.—J.S.—verbiage on the business card of a retired nursery owner. He’d been cheated a time or two in business dealings and was “over” shady people.

IF IT FEELS WRONG, IT IS WRONG.—Stuart, YFM owner gives this advice to every new hire about trusting your gut.

…and there’s plenty more where these came from ! You could do a lot worse than these aphorisms when looking for solid life advice!

Fruitfully Yours,

KARIN POAGE

THE EDIBLE YEAR

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 19:21:00 +0000

THE EDIBLE YEAR

Local berry season is now!

Unlike our ancestors, and unlike other parts of the world, we’re so lucky to have reliable access to food, 365 days a year. I blame my weight issues on my primitive DNA: if there’s food around, I better eat it, because there might not be food tomorrow! Of course intellectually I know that’s not the case, and like a responsible person living in earthquake country, I’ve stockpiled emergency food stores, hedging against the Big One that they tell us is overdue.

Being part of the food distribution chain, however, I understand the rhythms and the flow of produce from our region, and also from the far distant farms and orchards where we source much of our abundance in winter. The growing season in our climate is defined by the time of year when conditions are right to allow for plant growth and food production, from the earliest crops that emerge in late winter, to the final crops that are harvested in late fall, and by these two ends of the spectrum, I’m principally referring to asparagus and apples. There are other early and late crops, of course.

With decades of fruit-marketeering under my belt by now, it seems that as a society we’re increasingly losing touch with the reality of seasonality in food. It’s not our fault, it’s that staggering abundance we exist with, where nearly every thing is available all the time. If California orange season is over, we have only to look to Australia for juicy citrus. When local asparagus gives up the ghost when temperatures climb too high in the fields of Sunnyside, it can be sourced from South America.

Strawberries are a year ‘round commodity, something we would never dream of not having here at the market, but that wasn’t always the case, and I well remember when strawberries were a one-and-done in the month of June. It’s a blessing, all this abundance, but despite more people taking up food gardening than ever before, we’ve obliterated the boundaries between what’s sustainable for our region, and the abundance that modern infrastructure provides.

It’s just marvelous to have New Zealand apples on our tables in spring, but if you ask me when the “best” time to make applesauce is, I’ll say that depending on your favorite locally grown apple, that time is between August and October, when it’s local apple season, the apples are just-picked-fresh, the price is best, and you’re contributing to the local farm economy with your purchase. I’m so looking forward to the Washington Galas, Gravensteins and Transparents that will start showing up here in August. The sweet juicy crunch of a sun-warm Gala! The sublime apple crisp I’ll make with tart, flavorful Gravensteins!

We have resources to help folks figure out what’s locally grown and in season and when: our free newsletter is on the checkouts, freshly written each month, and they’re archived to a certain degree on our website (www.yakimafruitmarket.com); we have free local crop calendars available, we showcase the local and the seasonal on both our Instagram and Facebook accounts, and of course, we welcome your visit to the market! Read the signs, look at the boxes, smell the things—those are all ways to know what’s gloriously local and in season.

I know I’m a dumb bunny about a lot of things, and when I’m out of my depth, I rely on what people knowledgeable in their respective fields have to say. Couldn’t tell you anything about car tires, so I trust that my favorite tire store knows what they’re talking about. Don’t know much about air conditioning units, so after late June’s heat spell, I called our alumni employee who now works in heating and cooling, and I took his advice. I’m not saying we give perfect advice, or that surprises in crops aren’t a routine occurrence, but if you call us, we’ll tell you the info we have about a crop, and it’s usually straight from the farmer’s mouth. Today, July 19, a woman on the phone angrily called my husband a liar when he told her that the local asparagus season was over. Would be funny if it wasn’t so ugly.

(This was taken in April during local asparagus season)

All of 2020 was taken up dealing with the ramifications of COVID 19 and Sound Transit’s threatened land grab, so I didn’t have any bandwidth left to post anything here. The daily struggle was real and arduous and emotionally draining, but by the grace of God we had no cases of COVID in our family or among our employees, and Sound Transit decided that the highway didn’t need to be made seven lanes wide by taking our property after all.

Mid summer here in 2021, I feel like we’re all newly hatched butterflies, emerging from our cocoons, looking around at all this beautiful abundance. May we understand it, and never take it for granted.

Fruitfully yours,

KARIN

Retail is Detail, But It's Mostly People (and the World's Easiest Ice Cream Cake)

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 18:35:00 +0000

RETAIL IS DETAIL, But It’s Mostly People (and the World’s Easiest Ice Cream Cake)

With a perishable product, it’s so easy to do a bad job! Truth be told, we miss stuff all the time: signs with incorrect information, sub par produce occasionally left to languish, the list of omissions is too long to go into, but our hope is that most of the time we get it right, because the produce is the simple part. Simple and easy often go hand in hand, but they’re not the same.

It’s the people part that’s the challenge, and of course, our own foibles are the most difficult to surmount. I know one produce manager who insists that when local peaches are in season, we shouldn’t sell mangoes (??). And I know two local produce managers who had to be pestered for two years before they’d add broccolini to the regular rotation of produce. Still, we fight the good fight, and yes, we have mangoes in peach season, the occasional table of asparagus when it’s no longer local asparagus season, and who’d a thunk it: broccolini is a hot seller. I won’t go into the foibles of the old lady who manages the office and the nursery here.

My delight was complete this morning when I went down to the nursery to grab a cart of canning jars to put near the pickling cucumber display. There, backlit from the morning sun, glowing like a beacon, was a tall bar stool with a cushiony, faux leather seat. A gift from an unknown source. And a thoughtful one at that—this season I’ve relied on the high wooden bar stool you’ve probably seen by the main nursery hose. I can’t stand so long anymore—funny what 50 years of standing on asphalt does to your feet/knees/legs. But there it was,

And I could only think of one name: Richard, even though I knew it wasn’t from him, because when we last spoke on the phone, he said, and I quote: “Bothell shall never see my earthly body again.” I have a whole treasure trove of gifts from Richard: brass candelabra, fireplace andirons, books, a microwave, plywood Christmas cut-outs, and my favorite: ancient beads with magical properties. I had my daughter in law Alisa make the beads into earrings, so when I feel the need for extra magic, I wear Richard’s beads.

If you’re getting the impression that Richard may have a crush on me, or that Richard might be eccentric, I think that’s the right impression, and he would freely admit to both.

Years ago, Richard blew into Bothell from Sedro-Woolley and who knows where else. Tall and handsome, gregarious and whip smart, but detached from the mainstream, he believed in the live and let live philosophy, but enjoyed a scrap with local police who were often tasked with responding to complaints about Richard, who roamed our town and had no fixed address.

Kindly Mr. Sidie of Sidie’s Pharmacy on Main Street had a soft spot for Richard, and paid him to do landscaping and odd jobs. Richard found his people here in town, and often showed up at the crack of dawn to “help” around the market. He would hang out here until it started getting busy, then leave, returning at closing time or again early the next morning. This went on for years, and was mostly fine, but it was obvious that he had real challenges and some anger issues, despite his often charming personality.

Small retailers often provide safety nets for people on the margins like Richard, and every farm I’ve ever been to has people working and sometimes living there who are able to provide a degree of useful service to the operation, but who wouldn’t fare very well in the wider world.

My favorite Richard story is one I witnessed one summer day at the Walla Walla sweet onion display. Richard was deeply engaged in conversation with a woman, and everything he was discussing with her was completely rational and factual. Until he concluded by telling her that he was a doctor at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Had he not been barefoot and unkempt, I bet she would have believed him. And who knows—maybe she didn’t judge a book by its cover: paging Dr. Richard; Dr. Richard to the Walla Wallas.

So from time to time when miscellany turns up at the market, like the stool today, I like to remember all the good parts of my friend Richard, and believe it’s him, still bringing me useful tokens of affection. You start out thinking that retail is all about how well you stack the apples, or having the right kinds of things to sell, and yes, you have to do that right most of the time. But it’s really about the people. And that seems like it should be simple to understand, and it is, but it’s not always easy.

Thank you for clicking on my click-bait ice cream cake so that I could tell you about Richard. Multiply him by 100 and that’s a fraction of the times my heart has been stolen by someone I’ve encountered in the course of stacking apples at the fruit market.

Unlike people, the ice cream cake recipe is both simple and easy.

WORLD’S EASIEST ICE CREAM CAKE

I haven’t purchased Cool Whip since the 80s, but sometimes you go with the flow. You could substitute home made whipped cream. Thank you to my friends Debra, Pam and Janelle for sharing this. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts!

1 box of 12 ice cream sandwiches

2 large tubs of Cool Whip

Caramel sauce

Chocolate sauce

Spinkles

Unwrap ice cream sandwiches and return to freezer. Defrost Cool Whip. When ready to assemble, work quickly and stack layers of ice cream sandwiches, frost between layers with Cool Whip and drizzle each layer with chocolate and caramel sauce.

Build your cake as many layers high as desired. Frost top and sides with Cool whip, drizzle with sauces and fling sprinkles on. Freeze until firm. Perfect for a 6 year old’s summer birthday.

Normal/ Not Normal

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 20:56:00 +0000

Dear Friends,

Things are normal and not normal here at the fruit market this year, as you might expect. We opened on the first Wednesday of March, just like normal. On the first sunny day we were open, we got a phone call from someone wanting local strawberries, just like normal. Had to remind her that it was still winter, and local strawberries aren’t in season until June. Completely normal!

Just like normal, we’re watching crops transition up the west coast as spring proceeds: crops that are grown in Mexico during the winter are beginning to flip over to California -grown, and Oregon and Washington crops will follow California’s. One example: field grown Oregon rhubarb is here now, so Washington rhubarb won’t be far behind.

Sometimes these transitions between growing areas mean a temporary gap in supply, as the more southerly crops tail off and the northerly crops aren’t at full production. And sometimes the weather throws a monkey wrench into things, as we’re seeing with California lettuce right now. These are all normal things.

What’s not normal are the mad scrambles you can’t see behind the scenes. With produce wholesalers sending sales staff home, it’s often difficult to place orders; processes aren’t fully ironed out; deliveries are delayed; prices fluctuate wildly. With sales staff out of the wholesale warehouses, our guys can’t ask for an eyes-on quality assessment of the produce we purchase, and at this time, we can’t return mis-shipped or low quality items, although we’re doing our best to keep those off our sales floor. There really haven’t been produce shortages, save for garlic, which we assume is being purchased by consumers in mass quantities because of its healthful attributes. However, we have garlic!

Normal is happening in our nursery, and in addition to the cold hardy herbs and veggies, more tender ornamental annuals are beginning to slip onto our tables. Still waiting on tomatoes, basil, squash, beans, corn, peppers and the other heat loving plants we all want growing in our gardens. Like normal, those lovelies will be in around mid-April, when it’s still too early to plant them outside without protection. Our growers who produce veggie starts are classified as essential workers, so expect to find us well stocked for your garden projects, just like normal.

While we’re accustomed to daily cleaning, we’re following the King County Department of Public Health recommendations for cleaning, sanitizing and employee wellness. We appreciate your recognition of the social distancing concept, and to help reinforce the “feel” of that six foot distance, Kyle painted marks on the floor for reference, and you’ll notice our modifications at the checkout to put a barrier between customer and cashier.

Unlike normal, we haven’t been able to purchase basic items like hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes, but we’ve made our own hand sanitizer out of isopropyl alcohol and Aloe Vera, and as always, we use bleach/water mix for surface sanitizing, which includes shopping carts, hand baskets, knobs, tables, doors, handles, fixtures, etc. We have designated “sanitizers” for each day and we’re working hard to keep things clean.

Also in short supply for a while were non latex gloves. You might be tempted to think, well why not just use latex? We have a staff member with a latex allergy, as well as customers who could suffer a life and death reaction to contact from latex. Although gloves are not a requirement for use by grocery personnel, we finally have a supply of nitrile gloves for employee use, and of course, we’re all washing our hands more frequently throughout the day, just like you. When you wear gloves and masks into the market, or bring your own wipes, please take them home with you for disposal. Much appreciated!

There’s so much to look forward to in the coming spring months: local asparagus season often starts at the end of March or first part of April; local greens and salad fixings arrive in late April/May. Apricots are the first local soft fruit to ripen, look for them to kick off a whole luscious season in June. Summer will be here before you know it, just like normal.

One sweet bonus we’ve experienced has been an influx of alumni employees, furloughed from their normal jobs, who want to pick up some extra hours at the market. Since we’re licensed as a grocery store, our market is considered “essential,” and we plan to remain open, clean and fully stocked unless directed otherwise.

Bridget, one of those alumni employees has started her own YFM division: the “Local Market Box” delivery service. She offers a pre-packed, standardized box of produce for delivery within a 5 mile radius of the fruit market. This is entirely her domain, so for more information, scroll through the market’s Facebook page to find Bridget’s posts. Because prices fluctuate and sometimes items are unavailable, she changes the contents of the box from week to week, and sometimes substitutions must be made. She’s working on a pick-up box program, and that may debut the last week of March. Again, check our Facebook, and remember, your produce is hand selected by Bridget, a 14 year YFM veteran.

Just like normal, we’re open 7 days a week, open at 6 a.m. every day. You won’t have much company in the market if you shop between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., so come on down! We may consider rolling back our closing time to 7 p.m. but for now, we’re open till 8 every night.

Normal for us means maintaining close relationships with our growers and suppliers, some of whom have been with us for decades. We’ve already sent out deposits to growers for products that we won’t see for months, to help them keep their operations afloat.

We are all in this together, and the market is a family business, with all the perks and quirks you get in families, but I hope it’s obvious to everyone that for us, relationships matter. Let’s work to stay well in body, mind and spirit, and we’ll get through this together. I do know this: we need each other now more than ever, and just maybe that knowledge will transform our world. That’s my prayer anyway,

Fruitfully yours,

Karin Poage

We already are what we need to be.—Joseph De Folco

Here is a great Rhubarb pie recipe for a cozy day at home.

Double Crust Rhubarb Pie

Pastry for Double Crust Pie

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup shortening or lard

6 to 7 tablespoons cold water

In a mixing bowl stir together flour and salt. Cut in shortening or lard till pieces are the size of small peas. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the water over part of mixture; gently toss with a fork Push to side of bowl. Repeat till all is moistened. Divide dough in half. Form each half into a ball.

On a lightly floured surface, flatten one ball of dough with hands. Roll dough from center to edges, forming a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Wrap pastry around rolling pin.Unroll onto a 9 inch pie plate. Ease pastry into pie plate, being careful not to stretch pastry. Trim pastry even with rim of pie plate.

For top crust, roll remaining dough. Cut slits to allow steam to escape. Fill pastry in pie plate with filing. Place top crust on filling. Trim top crust 1/2 inch beyond edge of plate. Fold top rust under bottom crust; flute edge. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

RHUBARB PIE FILLING

4 cups rhubarb cut into 1 inch pieces

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pastry for Double-Crust Pie

Sugar (optional)

Mix ingredients for filling. Transfer to a pastry lined 9 inch pie plate. Adjust top crust, cut slits in top crust to vent steam. Seal and flute edge. Sprinkle with sugar, if desired. Cover edge with foil. Bake in a 375 degree over 25 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for 20-25 minutes more or till the top is golden and fruit is tender. Serves 8. Bonus points if you serve it with vanilla ice cream.

We are OPEN for the season

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Fri, 06 Mar 2020 19:46:00 +0000

We are back! We are so excited to be celebrating our 82nd season.

Open daily from 6 am -8 pm

Feel free to call us with any questions.

(425) 486-6888

Thank you for all your support this year! We are now closed for the season.

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 16:19:00 +0000

Thank you for a wonderful 2019 season. We are now closed for the season. We look forward to seeing you for our opening day March 4th 2020 at 6 am. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at Yakima Fruit Market!

We open for Christmas trees Friday Nov. 29th 8 am!

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Fri, 22 Nov 2019 06:48:00 +0000

Welcome to Yakima Fruit Market’s blog! Our website is under construction, so for current information, please visit us on Facebook or scroll through our Instagram, and of course we’d be delighted for you to browse the topics in our blog.

As a seasonal market, we’re now preparing for our Christmas tree season which begins Friday November 29. Tree season hours are 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. We’d love to help you choose a Christmas tree, wreath or holiday greenery, so please come see us when we’re open.

A Few FAQ’s for Christmas Tree Season

Q: What are your hours? A: 8 a.m.- 9 p.m. 7 days a week.

Q: When is the final day of your tree season? A: When our trees are all gone, we close; it’s different every year, but usually between the 15th - 20th of December.

Q: Do you load the tree in my car? A: Yes, we have stout twine and elves trained to load the tree in or on your car. Safety first! Inside the vehicle is always safest, but at your direction we’ll load and tie the tree onto your roof rack. It’s your responsibility to make sure the load is secure. Never transport a tree on top of your car with a stand attached, and if you must put a blanket on top of your car under the tree, you must secure the blanket to the car to avoid a potential loose load hazard.

Q: Do you deliver your trees? A: We have one employee, Kyle, who has a side job of delivering trees. Talk to Kyle or ask for one of his cards when you’re in the market. This is a service he offers on his own; the fruit market isn’t part of it, so delivery arrangements and payments must be made with Kyle.

Q: Where are your trees from? A: Most of our trees come from Washington State; a few are from Oregon. All have been custom cut for us just before delivery, and are grown by small scale growers who care about the quality of their trees, and we receive deliveries of trees throughout our season.

Q: Do I have to cut the base of my tree before I put it in water? A: We can do that for you if you can get the tree into water within 30 minutes.

Q: Do you have flocked trees? A: Yes, we do.

Q: When do you open up for fruit and vegetable season? A: March 4, 2020 at 6 a.m. Come celebrate our 82nd year with cake and coffee on that day!

Apples in summer!

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 20:38:00 +0000

Apples in summer! Yes, it's the natural order of things, even though we think of apples as a fall crop. Summer apples are one of August's treasures.

Early apples include Gravenstein, Transparent, and the Transparent lookalike Lodi. Gingergolds and Gala/Royal Gala make their appearance in August too. One thing I think they all have in common is that they're best enjoyed at the time of harvest. True, Galas are available year 'round, but their mellow texture makes them best eaten fresh off the tree.

Good luck finding any of the others at any other time of the year, because none of them are great candidates for long term storage even with modern means, and their comparatively low crop volume makes them fairly scarce.

We neighborhood kids in 1960s Bothell had a precious treasure right across our street: the original farm of the Quartman family. Adolph and Doris Quartman retired to a new house they built on part of their land, and our 1950s ranch houses popped up on what had been their pastures. Our street was a former tractor path between crop parcels, potholed and nearly impassable in the wet, muddy seasons. Drivers had to rev their engine at the foot of the street and take a running start to get their car up the hill, slaloming around the giant holes. Kids didn't routinely wear shoes in summer back then, and when the road was coated with oil and topped with gravel, we trod barefoot across that slimy, smelly, oily layer to reach the agrarian paradise that was the remnant of the farm.

And what a paradise: the old farmhouse with its generous porch had been burned in a practice drill by the fire department after the Quartmans moved to their new place, but the granite foundation remained, ringed by the rhododendrons and pines that survived the volunteer fire fighters' inferno. The well was there, uncovered and mysterious, but understood by kids to be a hazard to avoid. We'd watched enough episodes of Lassie to know that Timmy being down the well wasn't a good turn of events.

In spring, crocus and daffodils still popped up in the tall grass, and we had the run of the woods and the fields. Under our bare feet, the land was still furrowed in rows like waves, a memory of the final crop of corn planted there. The orchard yielded a bounty of apples, pears and plums, and grapes wove through the trellis row that was starting to give way to blackberries.

We climbed it, picked it, ate it all, and every August when I have my first bite of Gravenstein, so floral and sweetly tart, I'm transported to those moments of kid perfection. Of course, no childhood is perfection in reality, but the process of memory smooths out the potholes, and the things kids were shielded from make the Cuban Missile Crisis and our duck-and-cover drills seem frightening only with increased age.

By the time we were a little older, the world wasn't shield-able anymore, and our consciousness expanded to include the horrors of assasinations, the struggles of the Civil Rights era, violence in the streets, starvation in developing nations, and a war served up to us on the nightly news. Innocence lost; that's the natural order of things. But for a moment there, we had golden moments, and every summer apple I eat now, brings with it wispy hints that there are times when all seems right with the world.

GRAVENSTEIN APPLE BARS

---I adapted this recipe from my mom's old "New Better Homes and Gardens" cookbook, where it lives as "cinnamon-Raisin Bars. Use your favorite apple. You see what mine is.

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

Apple filling

Cinnamon frosting

Prepare filling and set aside to cool:

In a medium saucepan, combine 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Stir in 1 cup water and 2 cups diced, peeled apples. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly, cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar. Sift together flour, soda and salt, combine oats with sifted ingredients and mix together. Add 1-2 teaspoons of water and combine until crumbly. Firmly pat about 2/3 of the mixture into an 8" cake pan. Top with the apple mixture, and sprinkle remaining crumb mixture on top. Bake at 350 about 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and drizzle with cinnamon frosting.

Cinnamon frosting: mix 1 cup sifted powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons softened butter with 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in enough milk, about 1 tablespoon to reach drizzling consistency.

ABOUT SUMMER APPLES---enjoy them when you see them!

GRAVENSTEIN: an orchard antique from the 1700s. Short season, limited crop quality, does not store well, so enjoy it for sauce, pie, cidering and eating if you like tart apples.

GALA/ROYAL GALA: In the 1970s, Gala was introduced to the US from New Zealand, a sweet and mellow descendant of the Golden Delicious apple. The Royal Gala is a larger, redder cultivar of Gala, and was called "Royal" after Queen Elizabeth took a fancy to it. Galas have a very large crop volume and are available year 'round, but we think they're best summer thought fall.

TRANSPARENT/YELLOW TRANSPARENT: Transparents have thin, greenish-yellow skin and are a European heirloom apple with different countries claiming them as their own. Their flavor can range from sharp and tart to pleasantly sweet, and are most often used for cooking.

LODI: A 1924 cross between Yellow Transparent and an east coast apple called Montgomery Sweet. Like its Transparent parent, the skin is light green, the flesh is open textured (also called "coarse") and is used as a cooking apple.

GiNGER GOLD: a Southern US apple from the 1960s, a cross between Golden Delicious a pippin, with bright yellow skin often flushed with a pink blush.

Fruitfully yours,

Karin

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 21:00:00 +0000

THAT TIME I WAS WITH SANTA IN THE PARADE

Merry Christmas to all our friends! This is the time of year that customers wander into the fruit market, stand stock still in their tracks and gaze about them in wonder. I’d like to think it’s because our Christmas trees look so majestic and our decorations are so festive, but it’s usually because they were looking for kohlrabi and didn’t know that the fruit/veg aspect of the fruit market is seasonal. We can fill your kohlrabi needs once again starting March 6, 2019 at 6 a.m., but for now, the fruit market is a Christmas tree forest.

And it’s brimming with beautiful, NW grown trees. Yes, there’s still a shortage of trees, nation-wide, but we’ve been able to get most of what we’ve ordered, and the trees look beautiful. Talking to our growers, we can see that the shortage will linger into the future; this year’s drought and high temperatures were very unkind to recently planted seedlings, and there still aren’t enough young people willing to take up the tree-farmer lifestyle as the older farmers retire. But right now, it’s nothing but fresh beauty here at YFM, so come on down!

We’re open 7 days a week from 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. every day during tree season. It’s reasonable of you to ask how long our tree season lasts, and our answer is: when the trees are all gone, so are we! Typically we’re here until 4-5 days before Christmas, but last year we wrapped up earlier, so we just never know.

Our motto at the market is “Celebrate the Seasons With Us,” and we like to enjoy the here-and-now of every season in its turn, but several year ago just as cherry and apricot season were beginning, I felt the urgent need to celebrate Christmas: the Fourth of July parade was rapidly approaching and I still didn’t have a plan for our float.

Rummaging through a closet in late June I discovered our Santa suit, and thought, Ah-ha! A Christmas theme float complete with Santa! I drafted a very reluctant employee named Kevin to play Santa. He really didn’t want to do it, but there wasn’t much waffle room, especially since he was not only an employee, but a friend of the family.

Because she’s always up for a parade, I drafted our employee Bridget to be Mrs. Santa and gave her some cash to go get a Mrs. Santa costume. Of course she came back with a Sultry Mrs. Santa costume, but honestly, what else was I expecting?

Quickly, our fabrication department cobbled together our float on the market’s flatbed trailer. It was one of our less elaborate efforts, but it looked really good: green trees, red flowering mandevilla baskets, wrapped gifts, and a patio lounge chair for Santa. Turns out there had also been an elf costume in the Santa costume box, so our employee Justeen was tapped to be head elf, in charge of our interns Alisha and Olivia, who were old pros at passing out parade candy. My plan was all coming together nicely, and with 100 pounds of Walla Walla Sweet Onions and 200 pounds of parade candy to distribute, we were ready to hit it on the very warm, sunny morning of the Fourth.

Mind you, for the week preceding the parade, I’d been exposed to Kevin’s grumbling about his role as Jolly Old St. Nick. Truthfully, Kevin had a sweet twinkle to his eye, but he was not natural Santa material. And Bridget began to express her reservations about the whole Santa concept. She felt that Santa was a near sacred figure, and perhaps we were exploiting him in a too-commercial manner. I argued that we weren’t saying that Santa SHOPPED at the fruit market, merely that Santa was our honored friend. But in time, I came to wonder if my idea was going to be a bust.

When you’re in Bothell’s 4th of July parade, you spend a lot more time in the pre-parade line-up than you do actually parading. The parade itself is over in a glorious swoosh of color and motion, but you’re parked for about 3 hours at the UW/Cascadia campus, which is an excellent opportunity to trade candy with other paraders, admire every one else’s floats and steal ideas for next year. And also, to begin to stew with apprehension that maybe, just maybe, Bridget was right. That Santa was a pure concept of childhood innocence and perhaps our presentation would be viewed as cheesey.

In the parking lot before the parade, Justeen had her hands full wrangling the interns who were both in grade school then; Kevin stalked off to look at the hot rods in his full Santa regalia, and Bridget was trying to figure out how to hike up her Sultry Mrs, Santa skirt so it was even shorter. Me, I was in the back of the pickup truck with my onions and candy, fretting abut how our float would be perceived.

Lots of time to ponder and worry! Even when your section of the line begins to move, you wend slowly, through the parking lot, past the headstones, lilacs and big firs of the Bothell Cemetery, until you hit Sunrise Drive and burst onto the parade route at Kaysner Way and Main. The folks who live on Sunrise are your first audience, and although they were happy to get our candy, they weren’t too vocal about Santa, making me even more nervous.

But the minute we rolled onto Main Street, the waves of love began to wash over us. Frantically shoveling candy and onions from the back of the truck into the baskets of Justeen and the elvish interns, I could hear people shouting “It’s the fruit market! They have Santa!” and “Santa, I love you,” shouted by kids and adults alike. “Santa, I love Rudolph!” “Santa, did you like my cookies?” “Thank you for the bike Santa!” and over and over, excitement and pure love for Santa.

I caught Santa’s eye, and Kevin gave me a knowing nod. How could he not? All the love was for him. I’m sure there was also great appreciation for Sultry Mrs. Santa, and who doesn’t love getting a Walla Walla Sweet onion or some candy from an elf?

As we rolled past McMenamin’s, I heard a little boy exclaim: “Look Daddy! Santa has a tattoo!” Kevin had refused to wear Santa’s boots on that very hot day, and the Santa breeches were knee length, so he was wearing flip flops and the tattoo art on his leg was there for the world to see.

I will always cherish the memory of that little boy’s discovery that Santa was into body art, and I will always cherish the time I spent on that float with my elf, my interns, sultry Mrs. Santa and Santa, the man himself.

Kevin, the man himself is a legendary figure here at the market. He was a poet, a pirate and a produce man. His pickles were incredible; he loved to fish and hunt and can his own homegrown produce. Home-smoked meats were his forte. He loved history, had a college degree and was a certified mechanic. He was a friend of the family and worked with us for ten years, dying unexpectedly of natural causes at age 29. We miss him every day, but he is part of the fullness of every season here at the market, and as we celebrate each one in its turn, Kevin’s place in those seasons endures.

Wishing you the fullness of joy to cherish in the here and now, and in every season in its turn.

Fruitfully yours, KARIN

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Thu, 18 Oct 2018 18:44:00 +0000

THE NEXT BIG THING! YFM’S MILLION DOLLAR IDEA—REVEALED FREE TO YOU!

If you’ve read our monthly newsletter (The Grapevine, available free at our checkouts), you know one of my foibles is believing that I’ve single-handedly invented the next million-dollar food trend or completely unique recipe. After reveling in my imagined glory for a few minutes, I google the thing I think I just invented, and discover that it’s already a major trend, and I’m simply the last person to get the memo.

Such was my experience last week when I invented the concept of Squash Jerky. When I was inventing the concept, I theorized that I should use a squash with a tender, edible skin, which put me in the Delicata camp, and I thought that marinading and pre cooking my squash would be the right method.

Excitedly, I scrubbed a Delicata under cold, running water and cut it into jerky-size strips, then put it in a plastic bag and poured in a glug of soy sauce, some fresh ginger, hot pepper flakes, some powdered turmeric, curry powder and a sprinkle of Johnny’s seasoning salt. There was probably some kind of garlic in there, too. After a couple hours, I microwaved the squash in the marinade for about 2 minutes, until it was hot and barely tender.

I drained the squash and put it in the dehydrator overnight. Next morning, I had a winner! Squash jerky! The lads at work were all fired up about it, so I brought my dehydrator in for them to experiment with. By now we were all enthusiastically on board with the Squash Jerky concept, but we realized that the idea didn’t originate with us.

Undaunted, the lads pioneered on, and improved on my try—no pre-cooking— and Tyler used a commercially prepared pineapple teriyaki marinade.

Here’s Tyler’s Improved Squash Jerky for your enjoyment:

RAW VEGAN JERKY

Delicata squash

Marinade (use your favorite commercial marinade, salsa, or oil and vinegar salad dressing, or come up with your own concoction, see above) Tyler used the Tom Douglas "Rub With Love" Pineapple-Teriyaki sauce tat we sell here at YFM

Scrub squash under cold running water, cut in half lengthwise. Scoop seeds. Cut in half-rounds or strips.

In a plastic bag, marinate squash at least two hours in your favorite marinade. No need to pre-cook.

Drain squash, place on dehydrator and dehydrate 24 hours, plus or minus, depending on size of pieces. Squash will be dry but pliable when done. Store in airtight containers.

____________________

Are squash pumpkins or are pumpkins squash? Both are members of the cucurbitaeae family which includes cucumbers and tender summer squashes like zucchini, There’s a rainbow of “fall squash” varieties, so next time you’re in the market, pick up our Fall Squash Guide and eat your way through the quintessentially autumn flavors of squash, which is technically a fruit.

Apples are also quintessential fall favorites, so conveniently, when you pick up the Fall Squash Guide, on the reverse will be our Apple Guide! Want to combine squash and apples? How about a batch of pumpkin butter? Enjoy it on pancakes, scones, ice cream, toast, whatever your heart desires.

PUMPKIN BUTTER

4 cups pumpkin puree*

1/4 cup apple cider

1 cup brown sugar

4 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon lemon juice

pinch salt

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and stir constantly over medium high heat until mixture comes to a boil. Be careful, it spatters! Reduce heat to medium, keep partially covered and continue cooking until mixture is thick, about 45 minutes. Remove from heat, cool completely and store in the refrigerator.

*To make pumpkin puree, scrub a cooking pumpkin pumpkin (Sugar Pie, Cinderella or other cooking pumpkin variety) under cool running water, cut in half, scoop seeds and microwave on high until pumpkin is tender. Cool, scoop flesh and mash with potato masher, food mill, immersion blende or run through food processor.

Happy fall! We stay open and fully stocked until Halloween! Kids, be sure to enter to win the drift trike, pictured above. Come see us for your Christmas tree or holiday wreath in November and December, Our tree season starts on Green Friday, November 23, and lasts …until we sell all our trees! THANK YOU for shopping with us and helping us celebrate the 80th anniversary of YFM!

Fruitfully yours,

Karin

BRIDGET'S BLOG

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Fri, 20 Jul 2018 19:40:00 +0000

Our crew consists of a lot of young people, and we love it when local students snag their first job at the fruit market, working their way through college and career training with us. By now we’ve employed thousands of kids who’ve dispersed into the wider world as police officers, teachers, ministers, tattoo artists, nurses, produce managers, retailers, massage therapists, software millionaires (more than just one!), fruit market owners, contractors, chefs, and into nearly every sector of working life. It’s a beautiful thing so see, and worth more than gold to hear how their time at the market touched their lives.

We call this legion of folks our alumni, and this blog post is by one of our dear ones, Bridget. We’re so lucky to stay in her orbit as she travels the globe, and welcome her back between stints on the high seas. In her words, here’s…

BRIDGET’S BLOG

Dill does it for me. A delicate, yet hardy fragrant herb that makes me think of spring and summer days stretched out past their due date. A gentle and familiar scent that adds freshness to dishes begging for an extra touch.

Before I left Washington and traveled the world on my own, I spent years down at Yakima Fruit. I never knew all the scents would download into my brain, causing me to stop in the middle of nowhere on my travels and be mesmerized by home,

When a faint peach note would hit my nose, I was suddenly biting into them back at the market, peach fuzz on my lips, laughing into the day without worries. The smell of basil in the middle of Italy transported me back to early mornings, watering the herbs I sold with cases of local tomatoes back in Bothell.

I can’t walk by big displays of corn out on the East Coast without having my hands feel itchy from selling bins and bins of the sweetest corn in the whole world. Making displays of corn is the divine summer treat: a time consuming job often paired with a friend and an earful of gossip. Because ‘I heard it through the grapevine’ could not be more true down here at YFM.

When I’m in crowds of people and I smell a certain perfume from that time I lived in Paris, I close my eyes and I can feel the French spring air kissing my cheeks. A hungry smile stretches across my face when I smell a certain curry that I served in that crazy vegan restaurant in Australia. The smell of crisp apples in that cider from Ireland: heavenly.

But dill makes my soul twitch, makes me think of the endless summer daze I was in, the job that still makes me homesick. It reminds me of the bustle of the market, a place that I really never clock out of. Dill makes me feel like it’s time to head home, because there’s no place like home.

***Have some friends over, set the table full of flowers, bottles, and laughter. How about this Divine Dill Summer salad to bring it all together. Remember, use two bowls! Toss the salad in one bowl and transfer to another for luxury plating.

1/2 bag arugula

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

1 medium red onion

2 small avocados

4 hard boiled eggs

2 handfuls of green onions

1 bundle fresh baby dill

Chop everything up! It’s nice to make everything a little different size to make our salad more attractive. You can store this salad all day in the fridge, and when you’re ready to serve, toss with lots of olive oil and big pinches of sea salt. Dill is the real superstar for this dish. Any dressing would drown it out. Add grilled chicken, steak or salmon for a complete meal. Serves around 4—just add more arugula to make it bigger.

How about baguettes with butter or olive oil. I love to GRILL baguettes in summer. If you can’t grill, try toasting it up. A big party piece of bread looks great with this salad.

FLOWERS ON THE FAMILY TREE

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 19:42:00 +0000

Have you ever loved somebody so much you’ve said “I could just eat you up” ? That’s how much I love flowers. Of course, I love people more than flowers, and while the sharpness of grief over the loss of my mother and my mother in law has passed, they often crop up in my mind as if they’re still just a phone call away. I’m always surprised a split second later when reality intrudes.

Both bald hip and rosa nutkana are native to the Pacific Northwest maritime corridor.

Picking my luscious roses this morning, I wanted to savor them in a special way, and I remembered that my mother in law made rose petal jam once, but before I could whip out my cell phone, I realized that I’d be on my own for this project. I could have used wild rose petals for my jelly but it would have involved climbing into too many ditches and up slippery embankments so I used my domestic roses. Highly fragrant roses will produce more intensely flavored jelly.

So I opened up a package of MCP pectin, read the recipes enclosed, thought about it, and winged it. Here it is:

ROSE PETAL GODDESS JELLY

I’m going to walk you through all the steps of boiling water bath canning for jelly here. Newbies, it’s not difficult, just a bit of rigamarole. Experienced canners, skip to the scones!

5 cups washed, firm packed rose petals (from roses grown with only sunshine, love and water)

5 cups water

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

7 1/2 cups granulated sugar measured into a bowl and set aside

1 package MCP pectin

1/2 teaspoon butter

1 glass pink zinfandel or other blush wine, set aside*

Drag out your boiling water bath canner (yes, you can use a sufficiently large pot if you don’t have a canner) fill with water, cover and bring to a boil while you prepare the mess I mean rest of the items.

Bring a tea kettle of water to boil, and start a small saucepan of water to boil. (All this boiling water is like home childbirth preparations from a 1940s movie.)

Wash and sterilize 18 half pint pint canning jars (running through the dishwasher will suffice, or wash in hot sudsy water, rinse and air dry). Place jars upright on a dishcloth and fill with boiling water from the tea kettle.

Wash and rinse lids, drop into small saucepan of boiling water, reduce heat to low.

Place 5 cups rose petals in a stockpot. Pour 5 cups of water over, bring to a boil. Don’t be sad if the color looks lackluster—just you wait! Reduce heat to a simmer, pour in 1/4 cup lemon juice and see the color change! Science magic! Continue simmering, covered, 10 minutes.

Carefully strain petal and lemon juice mixture through a fine mesh sieve over a large bowl. Measure 5 cups of juice back into stockpot.

Stir 1 package MCP pectin into the juice in stockpot. Add 1/2 teaspoon butter and bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly.

Add sugar to juice, return to a full rolling boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar andonce you’ve reached a boil, boil exactly 2 minutes.

While the juice mix is on the boil, dump the hot water out of the jars and drain the lids.

After 2 minutes of boiling, remove from heat and ladle hot jelly mixture into jars, filling within 1/4” of the tops of the jar.

With a clean, damp cloth, wipe the rim of the jars, place lids on jars and screw on the rings. Using tongs or a canning jar lifter, place jars in boiling water bath canner and process 5 minutes. Boiling water must cover jars by 2”. After 5 minutes, remove jars from canner, set on a dry kitchen towel and let sit for 24 hours. As jars cool, you’ll hear the lids make popping sounds as the vacuum seal is complete. This is normal and desirable.

Store jars in a cool, dark space up to 18 months.

*Lastly, locate reserved glass of wine amid the kettles, pots, bowls, sticky spoons, jelly pools and wet towels on the counter, and take internally while you clean up the kitchen. Congratulations. You are a regular Domestic Goddess, just like your foremothers before you.

What are you going to do with your jelly? Give it away as gifts. Spoon it over ice cream, incorporate it into cake frosting or filling. Eat a sandwich made of almond butter and rose petal jelly, or get all British and make …

Patting the dough out with a hump in the center makes a classic scone shape.

CREAM SCONES

—Recipe from Pat Diaz, another dear lady I wish I could call. “Neatness Counts,” her words.

2 cups unsifted all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons butter

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup heavy cream

Additional scant amount of cream for brushing on scones

Additional sugar for dusting scones

In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, 2 tablespoons sugar. With a fork cut in the butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs.

In a bowl, combine the eggs and 1/3 cup cream, whisking until eggs are incorporated. Add the egg and cream mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until dough clings together. Turn dough out on floured board and knead lightly, about 30 strokes. Divide dough into 2 balls. On floured board, pat balls into 6” circles making a small hump of dough sticking up like a golf ball in the center of each circle.

With a knife, cut each circle into half, then into quarters.

Place quarters on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush tops of scones with the additional cream and sprinkle each with about 1/4 teaspoon of sugar.

Bake at 400 about 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot with butter and your lovely jelly. Makes 8 scones.

***Next spring, smell the blossoms on your apple tree and you’ll realize that apples are members of the rose family, along with plums, cherries, peaches, apricots almonds, pears, quince, nectarines, raspberries, and many other fruits. It’s a beautiful family tree! Just like yours and mine.

Fruitfully yours,

KARIN

Roots and shoots on the family tree. Grandma Jane and her great granddaughter Sedona Rose.

SPRING FORWARD WITH US

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Thu, 15 Mar 2018 19:27:00 +0000

This 1967 painting of YFM by Robert Bock came back home to us last fall.

Welcome back, friends! How lucky we feel to be celebrating Yakima Fruit Market’s 80th birthday with you, right here in Bothell. We’ve had just over a full week to iron out the normal snafus, and to jump back into the YFM lifestyle, which starts each year on the first Wednesday of March, a special day for us, when we pay homage to our fruit forefather who chose the first Wednesday to open because the Northshore Citizen newspaper came out on Wednesdays, and the market opened with an ad in the paper.

How’s that for an example of sentimental adherence to irrelevant tradition, since the Northshore Citizen no longer exists, and its descendant, the Bothell-Kenmore Reporter can be accessed online 24/7?At least you know the mindset of the people you’re dealing with here! Still, that first Wednesday is a moveable feast, and a special day for us YFM staffers.

In the year’s roster of special days, I tend to favor the non-holiday holidays, like May Day, Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day. The ratio of fun hoopla to obligations for the non-holiday holidays is just right, and while I claim Irish heritage, I love that Americans say that everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s day, and I love our ridiculous penchant for eating green foods on March 17.

In that spirit of inclusivity and ridiculousness, I offer you two green things to eat this week!

PEA SOUP

Scant amount of olive oil

1/2 cup diced onion

2 stalks diced celery

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1/4 cup chopped mint

1 12 oz package frozen peas

1 15 oz. can drained white beans, your choice

4 cups vegetable or chicken stock

2 teaspoons lime juice

Salt and pepper

Garnish: cream or sour cream and chopped chives

Saute onion and celery in oil until tender, add parsley and mint, stir until herbs are wilted; add peas and beans, stir to combine add stock and lime juice. Add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and using an immersion blender, blend until soup has a mostly creamy texture. Taste and season with fresh ground pepper and more salt if necessary. Serve hot or cold and garnish with a swirl of cream or sour cream and a sprinkle of chopped chives if desired. Serves 4-6.

IRISH WHISKEY CAKE

Ok, I admit: this is just my pound cake with a tipple of Jameson and a swirl of green colored batter, but when I sought out a recipe for Irish Whiskey cake, I didn’t want a fruit cake or a chocolate cake, and my pound cake recipe is foolproof and pretty darn good.

Preheat oven to 350

Grease and flour a tube pan or do what I did and buy a silicone bundt pan. No greasing ever, no torn, ruined cakes ever.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, toss all the cake ingredients: except green food coloring

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

Pinch nutmeg

4 eggs

2 sticks room temperature butter

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup Irish whiskey

Additional whiskey for flavoring and frosting, cake if desired

Optional green food coloring, reserved

Turn mixer on lowest speed to incorporate ingredients with least amount of spatter, mix about 1 minute. When ingredients are just combined, increase speed to medium and continue mixing for 9 minutes. Don’t skimp on the mixing time.

Place 1 cup batter in a small bowl and tint with several drops green food coloring, mix well.

Pour white batter into prepared pan and plop dollops of the green batter on top, swirling it into the batter with a knife. This creates a marbled effect.

Bake for 1 hour or until cake tests done. If you do spring for the silicone bundt pan, place it on a baking sheet before you fill the pan, and bake on the sheet in the oven.

Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out of pan. If a stronger whiskey flavor is desired, use a skewer to poke holes in the cake and drizzle with more whiskey. While cake is still warm, frost with

WHISKEY GLAZE

In a medium, microwave safe bowl, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add 2 cups powdered sugar, 1teaspoon vanilla, 1 tablespoon whiskey and enough milk to make a loose, liquid glaze, about 2-3 tablespoons. Whisk until glaze is smooth and spoon over warm cake. Of course you can omit the whiskey if kids will be eating the cake; simply increase milk.

NEW AT YFM :

Veteran YFM customer Tom made the conversion to staffer this spring. Pete is showing him the ropes.

We would like to call these hatchimals but we can't due to copyright laws.

24 feet of dedicated organic space new this year!

Check out the new products in the YFMercantile - here is Karin's favorite San Juan Island cedar bath salt.

One of Hellebore's common names is Lenten Rose.

Fresh paint

We got a serious bubble chair upgrade.

Fruitfully yours, Karin

The Art Of The Market

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 19:41:00 +0000

Watercolor by Robert Bock, 1967

Handmade and painted in the seasonal colors of fruits, vegetables and plants, we like to think of the fruit market as our own work of art, created fresh by all of us every single day.

We love that we've collected quite a few traditional works of art over the years, and we love that many artists have represented the market in their own paintings and photographs. It also shouldn't be a surprise that many of the people who work at the market are artists themselves. Some of them sell their artwork here; some of them have gifted us with their works. Here's a sampling of some of our YFM treasures!

The two images above were painted by Joanne Shellan - www.joanneshellan.com

We received this portrait of JP Patches when we contributed to the "Late for the Interurban" Fremont statue fund.

Lucky, the good luck rooster has worked at the market since 1986 and was painted by our friend Ted Pankowski. Remember, sitting on Lucky brings you good luck all day!

This is Sassy, a Sasquatch sculpture commissioned by our kissin' cousin Cliff Crook, legendary Bigfoot hunter.

Our alumni Tim McVickar created this pencil portrait of Kevin Counard, our dearly loved and missed friend and coworker. After Kevin's death we created a scholarship in his name and Tim was the first recipient. We have since awarded two other memorial scholarships.

Shannon Danforth, YFM alumni painted this picture.

Win and Harla Poage work at the market and create art together. Harla designed this years sweatshirt and they collaborate to make commercial metal signs. We are proud to sell Handmade LaConner products where we have this sign in our grocery department. www.maltbymetalworks.etsy.com

We appreciate the handmade quality of this vintage Fruit Market sign, and you can even see it in the painting from 1967 pictured above.

Walk on our handprinted rug!

Barbara Kerwin painted this mural when she was still a student in the 1970s. She is a California artist and University instructor. Look up to see the whole mural next time you are in the market. www.barbarakerwin.com

This meadow lark was painted by one of our nursery growers who prefers to remain anonymous. But you've enjoyed his living floral master pieces for years.

Renata Dollinger is a local woman who survived the Holocaust and began painting scenes of 18th century Jewish village life. She is herself a living treasure.

The two paintings above are also by Ted Pankowski, and show our spring and fall life at the market. Ted is a gifted teacher, and I had the privilege of taking painting lessons from him. When you learn to paint you're actually learning how to see, and how to adjust your sight for the unique vision your art brings to the world.

Fruitfully yours,

Karin

TIME AND SPACE

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Fri, 12 May 2017 19:27:00 +0000

TIME AND SPACE

It’s time for my annual herb pot re-do, and I think my old clay pot is in its final season; it’s spalling and flaking away at the edges because it’s spent about 20 years living on my deck in rain, snow and sun. Even back then, it was an expensive pot, so I actually treated it with water sealer so it would be more durable. I’m not complaining, 20 years is a good run!

This spring I’ve talked to a lot of customers in the nursery who are replacing their rosemary plants; this winter’s snow and rains were a little much for some of the Mediterranean herbs we love, but I’m pleased that my oregano and rosemary, sage, chives and thyme survived.

Of course my chocolate mint endured, and I’ve ruthlessly ripped out a lot of its roots and pulled up most of its spriglets, but I’m under no illusion that I’ve taken it all out. Mint is a survivor! I had my fling with chocolate mint, and I find it a little too…minty. This year I want to try strawberry mint, so I’ve planted some of that. It has a much gentler flavor, although the tag says it has notes of chocolate. I’ve eaten a few leaves and I’m on the fence about its chocolate properties, but it definitely has berry tones.

I have herbal favorites that are annuals and don’t survive the winter so must be replanted every year: pineapple sage, rose scented geranium, and lemon verbena. Lemon verbena usually shows up in our nursery in late spring, so I’ve left space for it and perhaps one more wild card herb that catches my fancy.

And speaking of space, you can see that my 20” pot will be jam crammed by July, because I like to break the rules. If you look on the back of nursery tag you’ll find a wealth of information, including how far apart to space plants. Pineapple sage alone wants 24” of space between it and its neighbors. If I followed the rules, I’d need a horse trough to plant my herbs in.

Are there down-sides to breaking the planting rules? Yes, there can be, but most herbs are very forgiving. I probably have to water my herb pot more frequently in the heat of summer because of all the roots competing for water. One problem I might have anticipated has been a non-issue: the drought tolerant Mediterranean herbs and the thirstier plants actually seem quite compatible. Some plants can be susceptible to mildew if they’re spaced too closely, but again, that hasn’t been an issue.

Gardening is a beautiful experiment where you observe and participate in the cycles of nature, and with the information you gain, you can learn when to bend and finesse the rules.

We’re in the run-up to Mother’s Day this week, which is the high point of the flowering basket season for us. Our nursery is beautifully draped with lush, colorful baskets, and literally overflowing with carefully cultivated plants for your garden. Every year for…decades, Linda and I have said that we need to step back after a month of hard work and take a moment to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us daily.

It can be difficult for us to appreciate when there are trucks to unload, days off that get missed, signs to be made and thousands of plants to water, but tonight we’re actually doing it, having an after-hours YFM party. Amongst the flowers we’re going to see what our nursery looks like by candlelight, with glasses of Champagne in our hands, and appreciate our hard work and each other. Flowers are special. They speak to us. Their short and colorful life cycle reminds us that ours is, too.

Thank you to all our customers who give us the opportunity to do work that we love, that is fulfilling and beautiful. Thank you to all our growers. You have to care a lot and make sure you produce a quality product when your name is literally on the pot. I’m thinking of you, Steve and Lisa Hoskins, Chris DeSanto and Steve, Taylor and Brenda Thompson, and our friends at Henry’s Plant Farm. We’ll toast all of you all tonight.

So: space and time. When you come right down to it, it’s all we really have: the space we occupy and the time we’re here. Mother’s Day is not an unalloyed joy; it can be tinged with sadness for many reasons. Two of my friends have buried children this year, and several friends have lost their mothers.

Take a deep breath on Sunday and appreciate the beauty around you. Feel the love that’s sent your way. This is your space and your time. Break some rules, face the consequences, and do what brings you joy. You don’t need anyone’s permission, but I give you mine.

Fruitfully yours,

KARIN

The life so brief, the art so long in the learning,

The attempt so hard, the conquest so sharp,

The fearful joy that ever slips away so quickly—

By all this I mean love, which so sorely astounds my feeling

With its wondrous operation, that when I think upon it

I scarce know whether I wake or sleep.

—Geoffrey Chaucer

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 22:19:00 +0000

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY AND WHAT THE HYGGE?

Dear Friends,

My dear friend Oprah (isn't she everybody's dear friend?) woke me up one morning in January. She was shouting at me from the family room, yelling something like "You can DO it!" She was going on abut Weight Watchers, and doing it loudly. Lying in bed I had to smile: this was literally a wake-up call. So a couple days later (because time is…fluid…when you're trying to make changes) I signed up for the online version of WW. This is not an ad for WW. I've been on WW twice before, and I'm fatter than I've ever been.

But. Or should I say: butt? It's past time to take responsibility for my situation, to think about what got me to this point, and make those changes and stick. with. those. changes. As dear Oprah says, it's not about being on a diet. It's about living well while losing weight.

So here we go, starting out with a rich and decadent recipe for…creme brûlée. The point is, I could eat creme brûlée on the WW points plan, because nothing is off limits. Nothing is forbidden. I've had birthday cake, guacamole, pizza and champagne while hewing to the plan.

A buzzword that's entered the inter webs lately is "hygge," a Danish word, pronounced "hue-gah," that defies a straightforward definition. It's a concept that involves doing small things well, creating domestic coziness, fostering a greater sense of community, and embraces charm, simplicity and feelings of comfort.

My family tree is a little gnarly, but I tell myself that since my name is spelled "Karin" with an "i," and that's the Danish spelling, I may as well claim Scandanavian heritage. In the 1950s-60s my parents rocked that whole Danish Modern furniture movement, so it kind of makes sense. Am I on to something here, Dad? Dad is waiting on the results of his Ancestry.com DNA test, so some mysteries of my heritage will be revealed soon, but that's my Danish Modern theory, and I'm sticking to it.

Anyway, I'm clinging onto the hygge concept to help me in my changes. Cinnamon spiced tea in a floral china cup. Fruit sliced and nibbled from a pretty plate, not gobbled out of hand. Swapping comfort food like ice cream with frozen bananas, which satisfies a desire for sweet, cold, creamy textured treats. Gallons of cozy homemade soup!

We'll be surrounded by chocolate confections and lovely cakes and cookies in the grocery store in the run-up to Valentine's Day, but what could be more hygge than creating homemade valentines out of construction paper and lace doilies? Or a bowl of beautiful strawberries? Or foraging in your yard for branches of forsythia, flowering plum, quince or salmonberry to cut and bring indoors?

I'm so looking forward to the market's opening, to the inspiration that comes from being surrounded by the beauty of produce and plants, the inspiration that comes from talking with our customers, my co-workers and our vendors every day. March 1 is our Grand Opening Day, and yes, we'll still be serving cake on opening day---the market is 79 this year, and we're celebrating!

BURNT LEMON CREAM

Makes 6 servings

5 egg yolks

2 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 teaspoons extra granulated sugar

2 teaspoons lemon extract

1 teaspoon lemon zest

kettle of boiling water

-additional zest and whipped cream for topping, if desired

Preheat oven 325; prepare a teakettle of boiling water

Put a teakettle of water on the stove to boil. While it's heating, in a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar until well blended. Add cream, lemon extract and zest, and whisk till thoroughly blended.

Fill 6 small ramekins with an equal amount of cream mixture, set ramekins in a 9x13 baking pan. Place pan on middle oven rack of preheated oven, fill with boiling water halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake 45 minutes. They will look jiggly when you remove them, that's ok. Let cool on a wire rack, refrigerate overnight.

Remove ramekins from 'fridge, preheat oven to broil. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar on top of each ramekin. Place individual ramekin on a long handled wooden spoon and carefully hold directly under the broiler for about 40 seconds until sugar is caramelized. Return to refrigerator.

Serve with tiny dollop of whipped cream and additional lemon zest if desired. Next time I'm going to experiment and see if fresh lemon juice will work without curdling the cream, but I was pretty pleased about how I McGyver'ed the broiling scheme.

Fruitfully yours,

KAR"I"N

In-laws and outlaws, the fruit market is a family business where every Sunday dinner at Grandma's is a meeting of the Board of Directors, and even this blog is a cooperative venture between Karin (mother-in-law) and Alisa (daughter-in-law).

Snow Day Valentines and Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

I wanted to make some valentines day cookies with my girls and so of course I started down the slippery slope that is pinterest for inspiration. I went with the 5 ingredient oreo cheesecake cookies (which is actually 6 ingredients since I added red food coloring to turn them pink). They are so very easy and delicious and my girls loved adding the dye.

I wanted a bright pink festive valentine cookie but used an all natural dye. It looked perfect before they were baked but turned out very pale pink after baking. Next time I'm adding more dye and hoping they stay a bit brighter shade.

5 ingredient Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

Ingredients

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

8 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

10 oreo cookies, broken into pieces

optional red food coloring to turn them pink

Instructions

1. In the body of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed.

2. Add the sugar and beat well.

3. Add in the flour, a small bit at a time, beating in on low speed, just until incorporated. Fold in oreos until evenly distributed.

4. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes, and up to 2 hours.

5. 30 minutes prior to baking, preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).

6. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

7. Using a cookie scoop, scoop out 2 tablespoon sized balls of dough, roll them into rounds, and place them on the cookie sheet. Lightly press down on each cookie.

8. Place pan in the oven to bake for 10-11 minutes, or until *just golden at the edges. They will still be very soft when you remove them from the oven - that's a good thing!

9. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 full minutes, then very carefully transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy :)

Original recipe found at http://bakerbynature.com/5-ingredient-oreo-cheesecake-cookies-2/

While I was in Pinterest land I found a sweet little hand print valentine that was perfect for making with small kids. My 6 year old was able to cut them out herself and the 2 year old loved tracing her fingers. My virgo self struggles with flying flour, glue fingers and major clean up from projects like these but I for sure know that this is some of the best memories our kids will have. They love being included in the kitchen and were so proud of their pink cookies.

These valentines are so easy - Just trace their little hands on the folded edge of the paper and it will open up like a card. I let them decorate the inside however they wanted. Sedona put little hearts inside and we still have to fill them out. They are a nice reminder of how small they are still, especially junipers little hands could fit both on a single sheet.

Stay sweet,

Alisa

DR. KARIN'S RELATIONSHIP ADVICE FOR SPOUSE B WHILE CHRISTMAS TREE SHOPPING

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 20:48:00 +0000

One of our concierge level elfs - Dale

DR. KARIN'S RELATIONSHIP ADVICE FOR SPOUSE B WHILE CHRISTMAS TREE SHOPPING

For our purposes, you're Spouse A if:

---You have strong opinions about decor and design

---You can tell the difference between taupe and greige (duh)

You're Spouse B if:

---You're down for Christmas tree shopping because Spouse A wants you to go, but you think any of those trees over there would be ok. And you are correct about that, my friend, but that opinion isn't going to trim your tree, so give a listen to Dr. Karin's Relationship Advice for the Tree Lot!

Preparation is impressive: When you come to the tree lot, bring your tree stand, bring a tape measure. Know how tall the ceiling is in the spot where the tree goes. Make sure the ride you're in has a roof rack, or just bring the pickup.

The ultimate goal is to leave with a tree that Spouse A likes, and since you like them all, you'll be happy with whatever you get. Freud may or may not have said that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but trust me on this, a Christmas tree is never just a tree. It's layered with emotional resonance for Spouse A, and it's imperative for you to recognize this, and participate in the process without gumming up the works.

Walk into the tree lot with a smile! You're having a fun outing with Spouse A! Hold hands, maybe.

When Spouse A says "What do you think about this one?" Do not, under any circumstances say "Yeah, it's great. Let's get it." Tree #1 is merely the appetizer to the meal.

About Tree #1, say something neutral such as "It looks well balanced." This gives Spouse A the springboard to revisit the pros and cons of the tree you got last year.

Remind Spouse A about a charming detail of last year's tree, such as "There was plenty of room for presents under that tree," or "The ornaments hung nicely on that tree." Choose your detail carefully, because there's a 50% chance that Spouse A will come back with the opposite opinion about last year's tree, and it's a certainty that Spouse A will be right.

If that happens, knit your eyebrows, tilt your head slightly, and with a faraway look in your eyes, say "You know, you're right about that."

Elf Dale demonstrating how glossy grand firs are.

Moving on to Tree #2, ask the Helper Elf what kind of tree it is. This gives the impression that you're interested in the different kinds of trees. There are so many!

When Spouse A says about Tree #3, "Do you think this is too big?" You can whip out your tape measure and announce, "Well, it's less than 5' wide, so I think it would fit." Try to add extra emphasis to the word "fit." This gives Spouse A the ability to reject the tree.

Approaching Tree #4, hold a branch to your nose and take a sniff before Spouse A has a chance to say anything about the tree. This is your opportunity to solicit Spouse A's opinion about the fragrance.

After processing Trees 5-8, Spouse A will have a good fix on the height and variety of tree desired.

The Helper Elf will have honed in on this, and will be able to show trees that more particularly fit the specs.

Trees 9 through 13 will be practically perfect. Suggest that you should see #12 and #13 side by side. The Helper Elf will gladly do this. Listen to Spouse A's comments, agree that they are both nice. You will be able to discern which tree Spouse A prefers by the number of times he/she touches it. The tree touched the most is the preferred tree.

Touch the second choice tree and say something complimentary but ambiguous about its color, such as "That's a vibrant green!" When Spouse A points out that both trees are the same shade of green, agree and say, "What about that one we looked at over there?" Gesture obliquely to the area where you inspected Tree #6. In football, this gambit is known as a Play Action Pass.

When Spouse A asks if you really liked that tree over there, pause, and say, "Well I did, but you know, I think these trees have more presence." When Spouse A agrees that Trees 12 and 13 are nice, ask the Helper Elf which tree will fit your stand best.

Spouse A will then choose the tree that's too big for the stand. Just go with it. There are stands for sale up by the checkout.

Congratulations! You've shown Spouse A that you respect the process and validate the emotional component of selecting the tree. You've done a solid for the health of your relationship, and hey, that tree smells good and is a really vibrant green!

DISCLAIMER: Dr. Karin holds diplomas from Bothell High School, Seattle University and Pear University, the educational arm of the NW Pear Marketing Board (Motto: "Carpe Piria"). She has worked the tree lot since 1973, is not any kind of doctor, and is in no way qualified to give relationship advice beyond "be nice to each other." She thinks every tree is perfect.

Fruitfully yours,

Karin

A is for Apple (sauce) B is for Baklava

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 19:01:00 +0000

A IS FOR APPLE (SAUCE) B IS FOR BAKLAVA

Now that Northshore has two weeks of school wrapped up, and we anxious grandmas can breathe easy about our little kindergarten Zebras and Kittens getting on the correct bus, let's take a moment and say thanks to the school folks: bus drivers, aides, administrators, custodians, maintenance crews, groundskeepers, administrative assistants, crossing guards, cooks, recess teachers, nurses, coaches, librarians, volunteers, and of course: parents and teachers. If I left someone out, please know that it wasn't intentional. You all deserve an apple and an A+ for your efforts, because a successful school year takes all of us!

Nowadays, teachers are more likely to receive a coffee card than an apple as a gift of appreciation, but we can certainly give ourselves an apple as a reward. Apples are beautiful and varied; apples figure in arts and literature. Apples are delicious and versatile and healthful. Apples are portable and practical. I'm even creating this document on an Apple.

The start of the school year finds us in the season apples are harvested. This is the time of year you should be eating apples. This is the time of year that you should be cooking with apples, and preserving apples.

Not only are they absolutely fresh and at the peak of perfection, you can find great prices on apples, too. I can't promise that they'll remain at this price for the rest of our season, but currently new crop, locally grown Golden Delicious are just 69 cents per pound, and the 22 lb. box is 12.99. So, sauce?

"What's the best apple for applesauce?" is a FAQ for which there is no single answer. It's like asking "Which is best: chocolate or vanilla?" It's personal preference; some people like sweet apples, some people like tart apples, and most apples make great sauce. Eat some apples, see which ones tickle your fancy, and use those for sauce.

For silky texture and tart, complex flavor, you can't beat Gravenstein. They're an apple of late summer, and may be gone by the time you read this. Their season is fleeting because they aren't a good candidate for long term storage, so you need to enjoy them when you see them in August and September. I love sauce made from Gravenstein.

My second choice for a sauce apple is Jonagold. Jonagold is everything I like in an apple: sweet with a tangy kick, crisp and juicy. Some people like to make sauce from a blend of apples, but in my opinion, Jonagold is the perfect sauce apple because it's pre-blended---it's a cross between two heirlooms: Jonathon and Golden Delicious, so the tart and the sweet are naturally present.

(ask Tyler about his favorite apple, it'll surprise you)

But don't let my favorites deter you from experimenting! You can be a small batch, artisinal sauce maker quite easily, and put up batches of different varieties, sampling to see which you prefer. About 5 large apples yields a pint and a half of applesauce, so it's easy to do a batch a day, especially if you use the slow-cooker method.

Another labor saver is the fact that applesauce is a great candidate for freezing, which couldn't be easier. Simply ladle sauce into freezer containers (bags, jars, plastic storage containers) and freeze. Quality will be best if eaten within a year.

SLOW COOKER APPLESAUCE

I have a small size slow cooker, and it's perfect for small batches of sauce. Wash, peel and core about 5 large apples, chop into uniform chunks, about 1”. Place in slow cooker with a scant amount of water or apple cider (about 2 tablespoons). Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon if desired. If you think you should use sugar, might I suggest that what you really want is a sweeter apple? Personally, I don't think sugar belongs in applesauce.

Cover cooker, set it on low, go to work, work hard all day, and come home to applesauce! Remove the lid of the slow cooker and carefully stir the apples to reduce the lumps. Perfectionists may like to run the sauce through a food mill or sieve, but that's not something you'll find me doing. Ladle into a container, cool to room temp, put a lid on it or zip it up. Label it with the date and apple variety, toss it in the freezer, and you're done.

(ain't using this device)

Saucy Suggestions:

Sweet apples for sauce: Gala, Golden Delicious, Cameo, Transparents

Tart apples for sauce: Gravenstein, Granny Smith

Sweet/tart apples for sauce: Jonagold, Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Pink Lady, Gingergold

BAKLAVA

Whenever I have baklava, I remember the first time I ate it: in Everett on a 7th grade field trip to a Greek restaurant with our history teacher, Mr. C. Williams. That year at Canyon Park Junior HIgh we had two Mr. Williams, so when speaking about your teacher named Williams, you had to say Mr. C or Mr. T. Williams.

Mr. C. Williams was an Everett native and had been a firefighter who came to teaching in his 30s. He was so handsome, and such a mod dresser---plaid bell bottoms! A favorite with all the students, he was kind and thoughtful, a wonderful teacher and a great fit at CPJH. We studied under him for two years, until he lost his life just before the start of the school year, in Venice, Italy, drowning when a storm hit the town.

Though our relationship was short and his life was too brief, he made a deep impression on a lot of us CPJH Knights of a certain vintage. Thank you teachers---you never know how long your influence reverberates down the life of your students. So, here's to you, Chester A. Williams III, and to the memories I revive every time I eat this treat.

l lb. finely chopped walnuts (I used two of YFM's 7.5 oz bags of walnuts, close enough)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

phyllo dough (find it in the frozen dessert section in grocery stores; one 16 oz. package contains two tubes of filo sheets. You only need one tube.)

1 cup melted butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup water

1/2 cup honey

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla

preheat oven 350

Finely chop walnuts, place in a medium bowl and toss with cinnamon, set aside. Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl.

Using a pastry brush, coat bottom of a 9x13 pan with butter. Carefully open and unroll one tube of filo sheets. Lay a single sheet in bottom of pan, brush with butter. Lay another sheet on top, brush with butter. Sprinkle with a scant 1/2 cup of nut mixture, repeat with more butter brushed sheets (2 sheets each time) and nut layers, and continue alternating buttered sheets and nuts. For final layer, use 4 filo sheets.

Before baking, cut baklava into diamond shapes, working on the diagonal. If you're a visual learner, sketch some diagrams for yourself on paper before cutting. It helps me to see it before I do it. There's 2 reasons it needs to be cut before baking: the filo shatters and is messy if you try to cut it after it's baked, and the syrup needs the cuts to absorb into the pastry. Bake 50 minutes at 350, check after about 10 minutes and cover with foil if necessary to prevent over -browning.

Abut midway through baking time, combine water, sugar, honey and lemon zest in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat and simmer for final 20 minutes of bake time.

When pastry is done, remove from oven, place on a wire rack. Stir vanilla into hot syrup and immediately spoon syrup over hot pastry. Let cool completely. Serve from baking pan or carefully remove diamond shaped pieces, place in cupcake papers and serve individual pieces.

*Baklava isn't difficult to make, it just looks complicated. Choose your favorite honey, light, dark, flavored. Pistachios are also a traditional nut, used in place of walnuts, and many versions are flavored with rosewater or drizzled with melted chocolate when cool.

Enjoy apple season and back-to-school season! Here's wishes for a great school year!

Fruitfully yours,

KARIN

ROCKET HORTICULTURE---IT'S EASIER THAN ROCKET SCIENCE!

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 17:52:00 +0000

TIPS FOR TOMATOES

Can we talk? Gardening should be fun! It should be a learning experience every year, and it should provide you with a sense of accomplishment as well as home grown produce. It should be a skill you pass along to your kids.

Should, should, should! Somewhere in all those shoulds I've noticed a problem, especially in the Generation X and Y cohorts. Customers are coming to us concerned and stressed out about their gardening choices and methods, and I blame the internet and its information overload.

Take a deep breath; it's not rocket science.

PLANTING: Planting tomatoes too early in spring is an easy way to fail. Until night time temperatures are reliably in the 50 degree range, why not just wait to plant? Sure, get your favorite varieties early, but don't plant them too soon. May 15 is reckoned to be our last frost date, but I usually plant mine the first week of May.

Plant tomatoes in an area where they'll receive the most sun possible. Planting against a house or retaining wall provides the added benefit of reflected heat. Tomatoes can be planted directly in a garden bed, or grown in containers.

When growing in a pot or grow bag, make sure the container is adequately sized, about 24" wide and at least 12" deep. You could probably get away with a slightly smaller container, so experiment this year to find out. Hanging baskets that are at least 10" in diameter could also be workable.

Most importantly, you need to know that the 5.5" pot that large tomatoes are sold in is not intended to be the pot the plant remains in all season; nor are the 3.5" or pack size containers adequate for cultivating tomatoes.

WATERING: Tomatoes want quite a bit of water, but they don't want to be in soil that's constantly saturated. Confusingly for the new gardener, the symptoms of over and under watering can look the same: yellow leaves, a limp and droopy appearance. Water frequently, especially for container grown tomatoes. Containers dry out faster than the soil in your garden beds.

Proper technique for watering: water at the base of the plant. Don't splash the leaves with water.

FERTILIZING: Choose a fertilizer formulated for food crops and follow the package directions for tomatoes. We use Dr. Earth fertilizers, and I make a diluted "tea" out of the fertilizer feed our tomatoes with it about every two weeks.

So really, those are the basics. If you want more information, here are some of our FAQ's:

*What does "determinate' and 'indeterminate' mean?

Tomatoes labelled determinate are generally compact in growth habit, but they may still require a cage or support. Determinate varieties produce one crop of fruit all at the same time.

Indeterminate tomatoes get large and sprawl, and will require a cage or support. Indeterminate tomatoes continue to bloom and set fruit all through the growing season.

*What does the reference to "days" mean on the tomato tags?

Once the tomato plant has flowered, the "days" on the tag refers to how long it will take for the plant to produce a mature fruit. For instance, Early Girl produces tomatoes 52 days after flowering.

*What are heirloom tomatoes?

Heirloom is a term that generally refers to varieties of tomatoes that are antiques, about 100 years old. Heirloom tomatoes are not difficult to find. Our growers provide us with many different heirloom varieties throughout the tomato plant season (April- June).

*Can I save the seeds from my tomatoes and plant them next year?

Most modern tomato plants aren't suitable for seed saving; because modern tomatoes have a large family tree, the seeds produced may be a throwback to an earlier tomato ancestor, not the variety of tomato you planted. Heirloom tomatoes are suitable for seed-savers.

*Are your tomato plants GMO?

No, they are not.

*Where can I get some GMO tomatoes?

We don't have a clue. It's not a "thing" for the home gardening sector, or for the commercial agriculture sector for that matter. The "Flavr Savr" was a gmo tomato introduced a number of years ago. Ironically, its "flavr" was pretty bad, and it was a flop.

*Is it ok to plant tomatoes in the same spot every year?

Not the best idea; it's good to rotate crops through different spaces in your garden to avoid depleting the soil's fertility and to discourage the spread of soil-borne, crop-specific pathogens. If you're re-using a container from last year's tomato crop, clean it thoroughly with hot, sudsy water.

*Is it true that tomato plants can see the color red?

Studies out of Clemson University in SC show that tomato plants mulched with red colored fiber were more vigorous, flowered earlier, and ripened faster than plants mulched with other colored material. Per the 1989 study, "…the beneficial effects of mulch color are related to its effects on spectral distribution of upwardly reflected light as well as soil temperature."

Further experiments conducted in the greenhouse tomato industry seem to show that even hanging red material near tomato plants increases yield and speeds ripening, so yes, tomato plants can sense the color red.

*How can I prevent pests?

Bait for slugs and snails. We use Sluggo, it's pet and bird friendly. Follow package directions, and also, clean up gastropod habitat! Pick up un used lumber, containers, toys, tools, anything the slimy critters can hide under. Consider planting "companion" plants that attract good bugs and repel bad ones. For tomato plants, good companions are: basil, bee balm, chives, calendula, garlic, marigolds and parsley.

*If I do get pests, what pesticide should I use?

Identify the pest and start with the least invasive pest control methods: hand-pick and destroy pests, or use a blast of water to hose off harmful insects. You can make your own pesticide out of simple ingredients such as hot peppers (recipe follows), or use a commercial pesticide that's approved for use on food crops, such as neem oil, which is an oil made from the nut of the neem tree. Read and follow label directions.

*What are common tomato diseases and how are they spread?

There's the early blight, the late blight, the verticillium wilt, the fusarium wilt and about a dozen different spotty problems. Many are spread through soil, airborne spores or contact with contaminated plants. Tomato plants that are stressed from having been planted too early in cold, wet soil, or tomato plants that have been over or under watered are more susceptible. For more information, visit the Pacific Northwest Vegetable Extension Group---it's a collaboration between OSU, WSU and the University of Idaho and is a great resource.

*What kind of dirt should I put in my container for growing tomatoes?

Use potting soil or topsoil. Our soil products are locally and organically made. The potting soil contains additional natural fertilizer.

Are you still with me? I know it's beginning to sound a little like rocket science, but it isn't, not really. Just plant your tomatoes at the right time. Just give your tomatoes what they need for water and food.

Observe and learn! But most of all, enjoy. Enjoy a new connection between your labor and your food. Enjoy a new connection to the weather; you'll learn its relevance to the quality of what you eat and when you eat it. Enjoy the fruits of your harvest.

A 4-pack of tomato plants is 1.99. That's 50 cents per plant. A packet of seeds starts at 1.99 and will grow a whole yard full of tomatoes.

You can afford to learn how to do this! Take a deep breath, and engage in some…rocket horticulture!

Fruitfully yours,

KARIN

HOME MADE BUG SPRAY

---"Pesticide" is a word that simply means pest-killer, and that's what you're making here. "Spray" is a method of applying a liquid. Make your own pesticide spray with just a few common ingredients. Use caution when working with hot peppers as the oils can linger on your skin and cause irritation. Gloves and even eye protection are not bad ideas. Label your finished product.

1 clove garlic

5 hot peppers

4 cups water

a few drops of liquid dish detergent

In a blender or food processor, combine and process garlic and hot peppers until they are finely chopped. Transfer to a saucepan, add 4 cups water and simmer about 10 minutes. Let the mixture sit overnight at room temperature. Carefully strain the mixture, add a few drops of dish detergent (helps the spray stick onto plants) and fill a sprayer or storage container. Apply the pesticide as needed. Rain will wash it away, so you watch the pests and the weather.

--Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.---Brian O'Driscoll

BREAKFAST WITHOUT ORANGE JUICE IS LIKE A DAY WITHOUT SUNSHINE!

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 19:21:00 +0000

This second week of February has been full of sunshine! What a treat, and how much more pleasant it makes our pre-opening tasks, which are mostly un-lovely and involve shovels, buckets, scrub brushes, brooms, paint rollers hammers and power tools. We're very much looking forward to our March 2 Grand Opening, and to the day before we open when we get our hands on fresh fruits and veggies and really work a transformation in the empty market.

Our main mission at the market is to focus on the produce of our region, and while there are certainly local crops to enjoy in March, late winter brings the best of the California citrus season to our door. Please don't miss my favorite, the Minneola tangelo. It's that round orange with the funny knob on the top, tastes sweet and zesty, and is only in season for a little while longer. Folks who like a super sweet and super juicy citrus hit should enjoy Honey tangerines now. Squat and round, these little gems are a late winter favorite too.

Honey tangerines

Navel orange season runs from November to June. Called the "winter orange" in the produce industry, Navels are sweet and seedless, and have a reputation for being a better "eating" orange than the Valencia. Valencias are in season late winter through late fall, have a sweet/tart flavor profile, and are often preferred for juicing.

Even though their season is a long one and spans all the seasons, Valencias are called the summer orange. Remember, the produce industry is also the one that brought you the alligator pear (avocado), Pluot (refers to only some varieties of plum-apricot crosses) and the breadfruit (does not contain bread). So maybe the people in this industry should just stick to growing plants and stacking produce, not naming stuff.

Cara Cara : the pink navel

In both the Navel and Valencia category there are many different varieties, including the Cara Cara which is also called the pink navel (is it really pink? You decide). I like it because it has a bit of sass in the flavor which gives it a little more personality than the more common Washington variety navel, and whatever color you call it, it's pretty inside, and makes beautiful juice, too.

Blood oranges

Over our Christmas break, I was looking for a festive punch recipe and came upon a concoction called oleo saccharum (which pretty much just means "oil sugar"), made from citrus peels, and after using it in whiskey punch, I found lots of other uses for it: a teaspoon in buttercream frosting, a splash in salad dressing, over steamed Brussels sprouts, and as a secret ingredient in that brunch and bridal shower staple, the mimosa. I'll make it with lemon peels this summer for lemonade.

Minneolas

Last century when I was a girl, the Florida Citrus Commission ran a wildly popular ad campaign with the tag line "Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine." Can't you just imagine the Mad Men-esque conference room where they came up with that? Pretty sure they were having adult beverages while they brainstormed about orange juice.

Over our break, I was able to enjoy champagne and orange juice for breakfast a time or two, which is a pretty slick way to start the day. Mimosas made with Blood orange or Cara Cara juice are delightful to look at and delicious to consume. Put some sunshine in your morning!

OLEO SACCHARUM

2 cups citrus peel

1 cup granulated sugar

Using a vegetable peeler, sharp knife or cheese plane (cheese plane worked best for me) remove the peel from the fruit, taking care to leave the white pith on the fruit and not on the peel. Refrigerate and reserve peeled fruits for another use. Combine peel and sugar in a bowl or jar, stir to mix and let sit at room temperature about 6 hours, occasionally stirring and pressing on the peel with a spoon.

Strain through a fine mesh strainer, pressing on peel, discard peel*, refrigerate liquid. Makes about 1/3 cup.

*You could use the peels to make chocolate covered candied orange peel: place peels on paper towel, pat dry. Melt semi-sweet chocolate chips in a microwave safe container, dip peels in chocolate, place on wire racks to dry. Store in an airtight container.

BLOOD ORANGE MIMOSA

---Bonus points if you use Blood oranges to make the oleo saccharum. Make the oleo a day ahead, refrigerate the peeled Blood oranges, and bring to room temperature before juicing.

Prepare fresh squeezed juice from Blood oranges. Into Champagne flutes, pour about 2 oz. juice, fill almost to top of flute with chilled Champagne and top with a splash (about 1/4 teaspoon) oleo saccharum.

Not into alcohol? Substitute flavors from the Dry Soda brand in place of the Champagne. We especially love the Blood Orange, Ginger and Rhubarb flavors. Look for our Dry Soda in the refrigerated beverage section of the market.

CHOOSING AND STORING CITRUS

+ Citrus that feels heavy relative to its size will be juicer.

+ Limes that have patches of yellow on the skin will be sweeter

+Green on an orange peel doesn't mean the orange is under ripe; it indicates "re-greening," a function of temperature fluctuation during the growing season and is perfectly fine.

+Dry, leathery skin on citrus fruit means that it's starting to dehydrate.

+For juicing, keep fruit at room temperature for maximum juice extraction. To prolong freshness, store citrus in the refrigerator, and always refrigerate cut fruit.

+Some varieties have skin that clings tightly to the fruit; some varieties have skin that feels "puffy" and pulls away from the fruit. Both conditions are normal variations.

LEMON FAQ: Why do recipes sometimes specify the Meyer variety of lemon?

ANSWER: Meyer lemons are cross between navel oranges and lemons, so they're slightly sweeter than other lemons. You can certainly use "regular" lemons in place of Meyers; the taste difference is probably not something most people would notice in prepared food.

Fruitfully yours,

Karin

Orange Brownies

When I first came across this recipe I knew it would be delicious. Turns out that assumption was correct despite some temporary fears that a cup of butter was more than my little 9x9 pan needed. These brownies are moist and heavy and super delicious despite having no chocolate. I had to do a bit of research to understand what makes a brownie if one can have a brownie with no chocolate. According to the oxford dictionary a brownie is 'a small square of rich chocolate cake, typically containing nuts'. I guess it is a bit of a stretch to call these brownies as they lack both chocolate and nuts but I'm gonna let it go. Its all about texture and these have the texture of the best brownie you've tasted along with a hint of bright citrus flavor. Even my uncle who is extremely opposed to mixing fruit with baked goods claimed they were the best he'd ever tasted. So you should trust me - they are very good.

Cake Ingredients:
1.5 cups all purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
4 eggs
2 teaspoons pure orange extract
1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Orange cream cheese frosting :
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons softened butter
1 (1 pound) box confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons orange zest
2 tablespoons orange juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 9 by 2 inch pan.

Stir together flour, granulated sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add butter, eggs, orange extract and orange zest. Using a handled electric mixer, beat until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until light golden brown and set. Remove from oven, allow to cool and pierce entire cake with a fork. Spread the orange cream cheese frosting over completely cooked brownies. Cut into squares.

Frosting :

In a large mixing bowl, whip the butter and cream cheese together with a hand-held electric mixer. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until it is all combined and smooth. Beat in the orange zest and juice. Spread over brownies.

(Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen and cookingchanneltv.com)

Stay sweet,

Alisa

CHRISTMAS TREES AND A CAKE FOR BOB GREER

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 18:31:00 +0000

Thank you to everyone who's come into the market for a Christmas tree or a wreath, or just to smell the season. For those of you who walked into the market with a stark look of incomprehension and said, "Um, where are the apples?" well, thank you for giving us the opportunity to explain the seasons of our market to you!

We sell Christmas trees and festive greenery in December, and it's just us, the fruit market folks, bundled up in insulating layers and waterproof gear. In 2016 we'll be back as a fruit market wearing our green aprons on Wednesday March 2 at 6 a.m.

So let's talk trees! Washington State is the third largest producer of Christmas trees in the US and Canada. We think Washington State produces the best Christmas trees, and that's where all our trees are from. Makes sense for a market where the focus is on the local and the seasonal, right?

This year we have trees from near Mt. Baker, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and the Olympic Peninsula and Hood Canal areas.

Like a bouquet of fresh cut flowers, Christmas trees need special care to prolong their indoor lifespan. Each tree is unique, and every indoor situation is unique, but your tree will stay fresher longer if you follow a few simple steps. Here's the "Dos":

1. Start with a clean tree stand, washed in hot, sudsy water. Make sure your stand is adequate for the size of your tree.

2. No more than 30 minutes before putting the tree in the water, place a fresh cut on the base of the tree. 1" is fine; more is ok if desired.

3. Use warm water in the tree stand.

4. We have always used tree preservative. "Keeps It Green" was subjected to a test at WSU and was the only brand of preservative shown to prolong the freshness of the tree.

5. Place the tree in the coolest spot possible, away from all sources of heat and ignition.

6. Use LEDs or lights with tiny bulbs which produce less heat. Turn off the lights when you're not admiring the tree.

7. Never let the tree stand run dry. In the first 48 hours it's normal for the tree to draw a lot of water, so especially in the first few days, check and fill the stand frequently. After that, the tree's uptake of water may slow down, and that's normal, too.

For the "Don'ts:"

1. Don't shave the bark off the base of the tree to fit the tree into your stand or you will compromise the tree's ability to draw water. Lots of folks bring their stands into the market to make sure the tree they choose will fit their stand.

2. Don't let the stand run out of water. If stand has been dry for too long, you've compromised the tree's ability to draw water, and a fresh cut on the base will be needed.

3. Homemade preparations in the water such as sugar or pop encourage the growth of yeast, mold and bacteria, so just don't. Your tree doesn't have a headache, so it doesn't need an aspirin, either.

Until you cut the base of the tree and bring it indoors, the tree is literally asleep---dormant (from the old Latin, dormire, to sleep). Once awoken, even the freshest of fresh cut trees have a limited lifespan, but with your proper care you can extend it.

Last year I was determined to see how long the 2' tree I put in my kitchen would last, and I'm here to tell you that I decorated that tiny tree for Valentine's Day in February, by which time I was actually pretty tired of it, but the tree still looked good. A drafty, old house is probably a good thing in terms of keeping a tree fresh!

SORGHUM GINGERBREAD inspired by Bob Greer

---Sorghum is a sweet syrup made from the sorghum plant, and can be used interchangeably with molasses, which is made of sugar cane. At the market we've sold Bob Greer's Sunny South sorghum for decades. This year we lost our old friend Bob, a true gentleman. His daughters have taken over his business, and the sweetness continues.

1 1/2 cups flour (can be half whole wheat)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup shortening (can be part or all butter)

1/2 cup sorghum

1 egg

1/2 cup apple cider

Sift dry ingredients into bowl of an electric mixer. Add shortening, sorghum and egg, mix until just combined, then with mixer running, gradually pour in cider. Beat on high for about 2 minutes. Line a loaf pan with waxed paper, pour batter in and bake at 350 about 40 minutes, or until cake tests done. You may want to check and see if cake is browning too quickly at about 25 minutes in, and cover with foil if necessary.

Sprinkle cooled cake with powdered sugar or frost with your favorite buttercream, or glaze with a mixture of cider and powdered sugar, stirred together until lumps of sugar are gone.

Recent events of this season have shown us that the world needs our light and love, so since I celebrate Christmas, I'll wish you a merry Christmas, and I'll be honored and blessed to receive the best wishes of the holiday you celebrate in return.

"Light A Candle," painted by Ted Pankowski

Fruitfully yours,

Karin

Bon Voyage Bridget

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 18:16:00 +0000

BRIDGET'S TOMATO SOUP (was better than mine)

I read an article the other day that said the internet exists to make us feel inadequate: that we aren't buying the right stuff, living the right way, that our efforts in every department are lacking. You have only to look at your Facebook feed to see how much better your classmates are aging/vacationing/eating/living, right? And what does Pinterest exist for, if not to show you that as a cake decorator, you suck?

But, hey, it's natural to want to put your best selfie forward, the one that shows only one chin, and as my friend Benson says, it's ok to edit. So full disclosure: the first time I tried to make this fabulous recipe I wasn't on my A-game. I went back to the source, my coworker Bridget, and said, "Walk me through your incredible soup again." Because the soup she brought to work in September was so good it was nuts.

After conferring with Bridget, I was up for a do-over. I took the last tomatoes from our staff garden that nobody else claimed, oven roasted them and decided to tackle the soup again. In mid October I still have fresh basil in my front porch pot, so here goes:

BRIDGET'S TOMATO SOUP (is still better than mine)

If you want to oven roast the tomatoes first, here's what I did. Halve tomatoes, toss in a bowl with a glug of olive oil, spread evenly on a baking sheet, cut sides up and roast at 450 about 40 minutes. The Barefoot Contessa tells you to add some sugar, salt and balsamic vinegar. I'm sure she's correct about that, because today Facebook showed me that she and her husband Jeffrey are on a vacay in Paris, so obviously she's got things figured out.

butter or oil

3 cloves of garlic, peeled, chopped roughly

1/2 onion, chopped

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

about 2 cups roasted tomatoes, juice, seeds and all

3-4 cups veggie or chicken broth

1 large handful fresh basil

1/3 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper

In a saucepan, melt about 1 tablespoon butter (or oil). Over low heat, cook and stir garlic and onion until soft and translucent. Add seasoning, stir. Add roasted tomatoes, stir. Add enough broth just to cover veggies, simmer 20 minutes.

Add a large handful of fresh basil, stir. Carefully transfer soup to a blender or food processor and puree until desired texture. Bridget kept it a little chunky. Return to saucepan, and off the heat, add about 1/3 cup heavy cream (more or less as desired. Bridget's directions specified "add cream to the count of 3" which when I measured, was about 1/3 cup). Taste, season with salt and pepper.

Now, a critical eye will be able to detect that I didn't handle the cream correctly in the soup pictured above. To avoid having the cream curdle or separate, you can temper the cream by warming it in the microwave before adding to the soup, or adding a few spoonfuls of soup to the cream and stirring it before adding the mixture to the saucepan. How Ina would do it is anybody's guess, and she's in Paris anyhow.

And Bridget? She's got things figured out, too. We wish her smooth sailing on her next adventure!

We are open until the end of the month so if you have any applesauce to make, need to get a unique pumpkin, a stash of those fabulous eggs, or some squash to store for winter, or any of the hundreds of other delicious and beautiful things we have in store, come see us before the season is over. Otherwise we open for Christmas trees the day after Thanksgiving, and will be back for our produce and nursery season in 2016 on March 2!

(Like Bridget)

Fruitfully yours,

Karin

WHITE HOT AND MELTING

noreply@blogger.com (Fresh Picked News) — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 20:22:00 +0000

Wow! It's been a hot summer. Thanks to our big, old fashioned swamp cooler, we haven't melted yet, but we do have a variety of peach that's known as a "melting peach." If you've never heard it called that, no worries, it's mostly an industry term for white fleshed peaches which are a sub-specialty of the Prunus family of fruits (including, not limited to: peaches, nectarines, cherries, apricots). We have white peaches and nectarines in stock right now. Both are natural genetic mutations, as is the even-more-special sub-specialty, the white donut peach. That's the white peach we have today, the Galaxy donut peach.

Todays white nectarine variety is called 'white pearl'.

White fruit tastes sweeter not because it has more natural sugar---it doesn't. What makes it taste sweeter is a lower acid content. For this reason, white fruit is often called low acid or sub acid fruit, which doesn't sound as delicious as they are, but does indicate clearly, that for people with problems related to digesting high acid foods, white fruit can be a good choice.

White peaches and nectarines are high in vitamin C, fiber and vitamin A, and are a good source of other nutrients like niacin and potassium. They have the same caloric values as yellow peaches and nectarines, about 60 per medium piece of fruit. That "melting" term refers to their more tender texture. They're best for fresh eating, because they tend to "melt" when cooked.

August is peach season, and I'd like to remind you that this isn't a year to delay canning-freezing-jamming-eating anything that's a seasonal specialty. In a "normal" year, locally grown peaches are available from July through September, but I think this year's growing conditions have proven that this year is anything but normal. We can't predict how long juicy, sweet Yakima peaches will be in season, but they're here now, so enjoy them now.

Fruitfully yours,

Karin