Cheese and Market Bags? Oh Yeah!

Happy Friday! Last week I mentioned that we were going to have Raffael from Amelia’s Farm at the market. He was bringing cheeses and other Italian items, and my plan was to taste and tell. OK, now for the cheese report!

Let me tell you, Raffael brought one cheese better than the next! Along with his usual farm fare, he presented the Buratta di cotte, which was so creamy and so fresh, I was at a loss for words. The Pecorino, Parmagiano and Grana Panada were delicious and the ricotta was the real deal: packed in the metal containers with the little drain holes. Along with the cheeses, Raffael brought sausage: sweet and hot, yummy sausage and delicious soppressata. Well, after sampling as I did, I ended up with a bag of goodies. I took a Buratta, sweet sausage, half of the olive foccachia, gorgeous, big juicy tomatoes from Raffael’s farm, (I had the basil growing on the patio) a bastone (long Italian bread) and apricots that were so sweet they were like candy. This was our dinner Saturday evening. It was wonderful!

For the past three weeks we have been doing a craft with the children at the farmers market. It has been so successful that we have decided to continue this for the next couple of weeks. This activity has the children designing and decorating a white paper market bag with loop handles. The kids love doing it and they love using them. At one point, while a child was decorating her bag, I saw a man enter the market with his daughter who came carrying the market bag that she did the week before. She brought it with her and her dad used it. She was delighted and so was I! After seeing this, I took photos of some of the children who did bags this past week. I had some trouble loading these pictures on the computer. Finally, success! Please take a minute and view the pictures. You can see the joy and pride in their faces. It is a great thing!

At the moment, we are without some of our regular vendors since the kids working the stands are returning to college. Even though we have less stands, we are still up and running. Remember, we have Amelia & Raffael’s Farm, Omar’s Farm, Delancy’s Peanuts, Meredeth’s Breads, Rue De Crepes and Dolce Denise, LTD. Hopefully, Dr. Pickle can find someone to work his stand! We also, have the crafts table for the kids to enjoy.

We have some great things planned for September and October, as well. We are going to have more demos, tastings and children’s activities. I am so ready for the fall with its apples, pumpkins and cool breezes. BRING IT ON!

Hope to see you tomorrow. Stop by and say hello! Happy Marketing!