Yakima Fruit Market - Fresh Picked News

Strange Things are Happening

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000

Little does Alisa know she's being hugged by DAIKON MAN!

That's one of the many uses for this interesting vegetable. Although I'm not quite sure what else to do with one. Any ideas?

(are you following @yakimafruitmkt on Twitter yet?

Craving Sprouts - Brussels Sprouts

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000

Brussels sprouts! I crave them like no other this time of year. Do you have a favorite way to serve them?

We usually cut them in half and steam them in our steaming basket. Then dip those suckers in lemon butter. (Lemon butter great is for artichokes as well.)

2 containers for $4 at the market!

For the Weekend- Plants

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Thanks to El Nino, we're enjoying a sunny and mild winter. There's no excuse on the weekend to sit inside and complain about your yard. Get out there and get it done! We bought a house last June, so this is our first year to really get our landscaping in order. This will involve some new flower beds, and a huge herb garden in our back yard.

I'm a brand new gardener, so I need some tips. Which flowers are hard to kill, and which herbs are hardy and easy to grow. And oh, have you seen this new Topsy Turvy strawberry pot-thing?

The fruit market already has a great selection of herb starts, seeds, pots and flowers to inspire you. It's March, after all.

Get outside!

Twittering it up

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:50:00 +0000

If you have not already noticed the block to the left of the page with real-time Twitter updates, please let me direct your attention to it now.

I'm aware that some of you have no idea what Twitter is. Maybe some of you tried Twitter and it wasn't your thing. But there are a good many people (including myself) who enjoy the real time focus of this service - from our computers, iPhones and Blackberries, and a gazillion other internet connected devices.

For those of you who are Twitter-minded, follow @yakimafruitmkt for real time updates from the market.

New products, great deals, random fruity thoughts... what are you waiting for?

C'mon In

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:00:00 +0000

We're OPEN! C'mon in.

The shelves have gone from bare and lonely

To full of color and life!

We're back! You've missed us, haven't you?

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

One More Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:17:00 +0000

They're putting the final touches on the market as we speak. Produce getting piled high and ready for the first customers tomorrow morning. The nursery is in budding, the cash registers are (almost!) ready to go, and be sure to compliment the awesome new checkout tables. They look really sharp.

Tomorrow is the day when we start eating healthy again and transitioning from our hearty winter menu to the colorful, light menu of spring and summer. Sharpen your chopping knives and get out your favorite cutting boards; it's time!

What's good in March?

It's early for many of the feature crops yet, but one of the first things I'll probably bring home will be asparagus. Probably not local yet, but still very good. I checked with Dale yesterday, and he says it's too early to give his pick of the early March "best bet". I bet Karin could chime in the comment section and tell us more.

Hope to see you all tomorrow! Come show your support for an awesome local business.

Open March 3!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:15:00 +0000

Yakima Fruit Market re-opens this Wednesday, March 3rd!!!!

(Are you as excited as I am?)

Welcome Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:20:00 +0000

Hello YFM friends! Believe it or not, the Yakima Fruit Market re-opening is just a few weeks away. After a nice month off, Dale and the crew headed back to work this morning to begin the annual set-up process. I just realized last night how much I missed having fresh produce around - and how horribly we eat during the winter months! We're craving melon for breakfast, berries over ice cream, homemade pico de gallo, grilled zucchini, steamed asparagus and tender brussels sprouts.

Soon.... soon!

(In the meantime, here is a picture of our newest family member, "General Patton the Catton". You can blame Dale for the name.)

Open for Trees - Black Friday!

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:07:00 +0000

If you're like me, you can't wait for Black Friday. Not for the shopping. Nope.

What then?

The annual opening of The Christmas Box! The box I don't open all year long until the Friday after Thanksgiving. The box my kids know they are not allowed to touch during any other part of the year. November 27th, 2009 will be when the decorations come out, I start humming "Jingle Bells" (to the dismay of Dale) and the kids have an entire month to annoy me with the singing snowman decoration. I love Black Friday.

Also on Black Friday, the Yakima Fruit Market will re-open for Christmas trees. Get your bargain shopping out of the way, put on a good pair of shoes, and stop by to grab a tree. Santa's elves* will be ready to assist you!

*Elves: Median age of twenty-something strong young men and women who brave the cold and the sap and the needles to make sure your trees are securely tied to your roof.

JP Patches Day 2009 - Recap!

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:44:00 +0000

Did you visit us on JP Patches Day? Did you wait in line for your picture?

Maybe your children left tatooed. Don't worry, its washable. However, not all of Katie's tattoo art is washable, she's actually quite skilled with ink.

Every year the kids get these great balloon animals by Monica. They usually pop them before we get back to the car, and it's always such a surprise to them. Mom! My balloon popped! (insert tears here) But anyhow, watching Monica do these balloon creations is so cool.

Spencer was in charge of pumpkin bowling. We like Spencer.

Eventually we made our way over to JP. I wonder how long it takes him to get dressed every morning. Just imagine having to take off all those pins before doing laundry.

For once, the kids weren't too shy to stand for a picture. This was a big moment; a breakthrough. Maybe we'll get a succesful Santa picture this year too.

I can always hope.

Pumpkin Patch Party! 10/17 1:00 PM - J.P. Patches!

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Saturday, October 17th, 2009. 1PM.

You are all invited to the Yakima Fruit Market & Nursery's annual...

PUMPKIN PATCH PARTY!!

Featuring...

J.P. Patches!!!

For autographs and pictures.

Also featuring Monica, the amazing and talented balloon artist extraordinaire.

Games and crafts for the kiddos.

Thousands of pumpkins, all shapes and sizes. Your perfect pumpkin is HERE. Come find it.

Here's a couple pics from last year to refresh your memories. See you there!

Inevitably They Always End Up Asking...

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:58:00 +0000

Where do apples come from?

Well OK, they come from trees. From farmers. From right here in Washington this time of year. But then what?

At the Yakima Fruit Market, they do something unique to other area stores. First, the apples arrive in very large bins, like this one:

Now remember all of those nice stackable boxes you possibly bought some boxed fruit in? The fruit market saves those up all year long, for apple season. Look how many they have!

And then, one or two lucky employees goes to work, carefully boxing the apples. The bin starts full,

And sooner or later,

About the time you start coming up with new and corny apple jokes,

The bin is empty and you have a nice stack of boxed apples!

Then in to the cooler they go, (and of course, Karin is always smiling as she does it!)

And from there, out in to the market for us to EAT!

Happy Apple Season!

October One!

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Happy First Day of October!

School is in full swing, and I have been thinking mainly about Geography and Shakespeare since my quarter at Shoreline started 2 weeks ago. But I have also been thinking about Fall, and pumpkins, and planning my Halloween costume.

I've also been thinking about the pumpkins Dale and I love to buy for the kids' classes. Kids love little pumpkins, and the fruit market sells cool party packs of them. These are packed by hand, by the way. Not by corporate pumpkin elves.

(You know how we hate corporate elves.)

(Thanks to Bridget for taking all the pics here today!)

Of course, if your a GO BIG kind of person, there are opportunities for that as well. Notice the small pumpkin shown for scale.

Not in to orange? How about a creepy white?

Maybe you're not in to pumpkins at all. Check out this big ol' carrot.

Whether you like 'em big or small, orange or white, single or in party packs, or not even pumpkins at all, you'll find it here, at the Yakima Fruit Market!

P.S. I just spent the last 5 minutes trying to figure out if that last sentence sounded too much like a dating service ad. Ha!

A Little Bit of Fall

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:05:00 +0000

Even though the weather has been warm and sunny, it's hard not to notice the way the colors are changing. A little bit of Fall, everywhere you look.

Longer pants and longer sleeves.

Displays that look like harvesttime

and plants that remind one of the jack-o-lanterns yet to come.

Adios, Summer!

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:53:00 +0000

"Honey, you're taking pictures of this dinner I'm making, right?"

NOTE: How to stroke the ego of a cook - take pictures of his dinners and post them for the internet to see.

But last night really was exceptional. The colors! The flavors! The music!

Cuban style (?) pork tenderloin with SMILING LEMONS (don't they look happy there on the plate?) and roasted bell peppers.

And a cold black bean/fresh corn/lime/cilantro/jalapeno salad, with a generous helping of Spanish rice with yakima tomatoes and sweet onion.

Fruit and vegetables are sometimes just as important as side items as they are to the main meal. Case in point:

For one final night we savored the flavor of summer, forsaking the new crop of apples, potatoes, squash, and yellow fall leaves for their more sassy summer counterparts.

And with that, I welcome you all to Fall Season at the Yakima Fruit Market. Come and enjoy!!

Fall Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:47:00 +0000

Right now -Come in! Come in! Come in!

Fall Squash
Apples of all kinds. Try the honeycrisp.
Sugar pie pumpkins
Corn stalks
Pears
Nectarines (get 'em soon!)
Peaches (get 'em soon!)

My current favorite dinner-veggie is acorn squash, halved, seeded, and microwaved face down for 10 minutes. Scoop it out in to a bowl, add some butter and brown sugar, and tell yourself it's healthy because it's squash!

Breaking News: Fruit Fosters Love of Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:51:00 +0000

Every September, a few of the fruit market employees will inevitably leave the World of Fruit for the World of Education, and this year is no exception. Some of you may have met Jo and Eric... wish them luck as they head off to school this fall. Jo will be heading to Western, and Eric to culinary school.

The Yakima Fruit Market has a tradition of supporting their valued employees in these endeavors, and these two were awarded scholarships to help with their expenses. We are so proud of them, and wish them the best of luck!

And speaking of luck, our own school district is going to need some. There's a new kindergartner on the block, at least on my block.

(The question is not "Is your daughter ready for kindergarten?" It's actually "Is kindergarten ready for my daughter?")

Of course confidence was not as high once we actually got to school...(sniff sniff).

One day down, many years to go!

Mission: Tomato

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:42:00 +0000

A couple of days ago Dale brought home 2 boxes of tomatoes. After putting it off for the weekend, we have no choice. All of these tomatoes need to be processed tonight; we will not have another chance until Tuesday.

So project #1 has commenced: Easy Freezer Sauce

I followed the inspiration of Susan (read her recipe here!) I have combined olive oil, garlic, basil, and lots of tomatoes. No skinning the tomatoes needed! Once they've cooked down a bit, I'll use a hand blender to smooth out the texture. Then once the mixture cools, in to the freezer (4 cup increments) it will go.

3/4 box of tomatoes down, 1 1/2 boxes to go. Later tonight: canning.

Quick weekend update - Elberta boxes - 19.99 - New hours!

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:53:00 +0000

Elberta peaches - 19.99/box!

New hours- the fruit market is now closing at 8pm, Fri-Sat 9pm. It's getting to be that time of year.

It's raining outside. A nice day to make some soup, right? Or to stay in and get that canning done. The market should have almost everything you need!

NOW: Elberta Peaches - .99/lb!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Elberta peaches are the reason we have not canned any peaches yet this year. Why? Because Elbertas are simply the best. Now it's time.

What a deal - these are going for only .99/lb, or ~~19.99~~ (sorry, this is produce, prices change constantly)/ 22.99/box (24 pounds). Get your freezers cleared out, and your canning jars ready to go!

Attack of the Killer Salad Baskets!

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:46:00 +0000

And by killer, I mean, wow, cool dude, awesome, killer!

Killer Salad Baskets are not to be confused with me; I would be classified as a Salad Basket Killer.

I still don't do well with plants. I like them, though.

Mark, the grower, took these pictures for us. The deal with these baskets is that you keep them close to your kitchen, and just lop off some lettuce leaves whenever you're in the mood.

For salad.

And obviously, if I'm talking about them, it's because they are available for a limited time at the Yakima Fruit Market!

(By the way, did anyone notice that it's now SEPTEMBER????)

Bothell Riverfest Tomorrow!

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:14:00 +0000

For any of you who follow me on Twitter or Facebook, my apologies, Riverfest is TOMORROW, not today. :) The Yakima Fruit Market will be hosting a booth and there will be fruit kabob making for the kids.

Speaking of kabobs, have you ever put out a beautiful platter of fruit at a barbecue and ended up with tons of leftovers? Like the fruit platter is nice, but everyone seems to be eating all the potato chips instead? Here's an idea: set out some skewers, and let people build their own fruit kabobs. Then... barbecue them!

At the market this weekend:

LOCAL peaches
LOCAL pickling cukes
LOCAL blueberries
LOCAL corn
LOCAL nectarines
Also italian prune plums, mission figs, Gala apples, transparent apples, Walla Wallas, the best part of the hot pepper/jalapeno season, oy.. what am I forgetting... oh, heirloom tomatoes, and awesome black plums and green beans. This is the best part of the season. Don't miss it!

Why You Should Make Black and Tan Cobbler Tonight

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:42:00 +0000

Might I suggest making the best of the situation today and finding a wonderful use for those blackberries and peaches you pick up from the market?

Easy Batter Fruit Cobbler is not only very quick (seriously, 1 bowl, 5 minutes max + time to wash and peel fruit), but it's very good. Egg-free as well, so great for any guests with egg allergies. Don't forget, you can get your milk and butter at the market as well.

I recommend doubling this recipe and putting it in a 9x13 baking dish. Be sure to keep it in the oven until the top is nicely browned. I have added up to 15 minutes to the cooking time to get that nice brown, carmelized crust on top. Our favorite variation so far: 2 cups blackberries, and 2 cups peaches. Black and tan, right?

Today at the market you'll find pickling cukes, dill, and plenty of canning supplies. We still have berries, and the best of the local peaches at the best price in town. No one comes close to the value you'll find at Yakima Fruit Market. Do some comparison pricing in the weekly ads and you'll see - the quality is the best because that's what the fruit market is all about. And because of the volume and 70 years of established grower/vendor relationships, the prices are THE BEST IN TOWN.

Thank you to all who subscribe to this site, shop, and show support for this local business that is such an important part of the community. To subscribe to this website by email or feed reader, click here.

Weekend Canning Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:53:00 +0000

My favorite blogger (aside from myself, of course) Pioneer Woman, has just added a user-generated recipe section to her website.

If that's not cool enough, just wait...

There's a CANNING category, with 8 pages of recipes!

Enjoy. :)

Peach Juicin'!

noreply@blogger.com (Darby) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 04:14:00 +0000

NOW is the time to be buying peaches from the Yakima Fruit Market. These are the peaches that summers are made of.

Dale's idea this weekend was to make peach juice spritzers. We finally unpacked the juicer!

If you've never tried a juicer before, they're a lot of fun. You end up with two products: juice (the white bowl) and pulp (the green plastic bowl). You can rejuice the pulp to get even more juice.

In the end you get this, which looks something like a nice blonde ale, doesn't it?

So then you pose for the traditional "holdin' a beer" picture...

...your friends will never know the difference. Until they see your kids drinking the same thing...

And your cover is officially blown.