Aquidneck Farmer's Market

Another long day done, at least we got some sunshine in. We were on a mission first thing this morning, another stop on the farmer's market tour. This time we hit a really nice market in Middletown RI, just outside of Newport. There were 2 vendors selling meat, another with a raw bar and lobsters, 2 cheese vendors, 2 bakeries and a handful of produce vendors along with some other specialities vendors such as imported olive oils and vinegars, jellies, etc. This is a market you could do almost all of your shopping at for the week.

Market bounty:

• Divine Providence cheese, $9.00
• Salty Sea Feta, $5.50
• Bayley Haze Raw Cows Milk Blue Cheese, $4.62 ($22/lb)
• Shelburne Farm 1 yr Farmhouse Raw Cows Milk Cheddar, $4.48 ($14/lb)
• Olgas's Pizza Crust- 9 crusts total, $11.25
• Baguette, $3.00
• Free Range Chicken (whole, 5lb), $20.00
• 1 1/2 lb breakfast sausage links, $13.33
• bag of organic mixed greens & organic bulk strawberries @ $5.50/lb, $10.25 total
• rhubarb, $2.50
• 2 bunches asparagus & bag of garlic scapes ($1), $9.00 total
• (1)pint red, (1) pint yellow new potatoes, $6.00

Grand Total: $98.93. I was a little shocked by the prices, particularly on the meat and cheese. I actually double checked to confirm my meat total for 4 links of sausage and a chicken, coming in at over $33.00. As much as I would like to eat this type of meat all of the time it is just not an option. I think I will continue to purchase local beef in bulk, but stick to big store "natural" chicken and chicken sausage.

We had Grilled BBQ chicken pizza for lunch using Olga's crusts (awesome!), leftover chicken shredded w/Q sauce, garlic scapes, and the Divine Providence cheese which has a gouda-cheddar like flavor. BBQ chicken pizza shows up on the menu quite frequently at my house, but this version was a bit lighter and a welcome change from the smoked gouda, mozzarella and caramelized onions I typically use. Oh, and home made strawberry ice-cream for dessert tonight, it was rather effortless considering how good it tastes. Erin- you must take the ice cream plunge!

S. Dartmouth Farmer's Market Bounty

Just came home from our farmer's market adventure. It involved me getting twisted around (even with GPS), two dogs ( one of which sat on the horn for a 20 seconds straight as I was unloading 2 kids into traffic and required 2 e-collar/cone repairs (she was just spayed)), and lots of sticky strawberry fingers that were not happy with the lack of wipes and thought is was fun to shred the lettuce leaves the whole way home. Ahh, serenity.

I did manage to fill my basket with some good eats:

• 12 oz bag locally made Fig & Nuts Granola, $6.50


• head of lettuce, $2.50


• pint of the juiciest strawberries I have seen all season, $3.00


• approx. 1/2 pound of peas, potted rosemary (frost tolerant variety), potted pineapple sage, $9.00


• Caramelized Onion Focacia loaf, $6.00

S. Dartmouth Farmer's Market Grand Total: $27.50. I have to frequently remind myself that I am paying for quality from these vendors and that this food will nourish my family. I have never been one to skimp on food quality, but eating on a more local scale is definitely more expensive- like $7.oo/lb heirloom tomatoes and $6 breads. There was a farmer with lamb and beef products today, breakfast sausage was $8 pound; also live lobsters, the best value there for sure. My little man was quite ticked we didn't bring home any "lobbas"- but I explained Big Mama was out of cash, maybe next week.

I may check out Fairhaven tomorrow, I have decided I am going to skip my town's market this year, I have just not been that impressed in the past.

On another note, our ice cream/frozen yogurt/sorbet maker came today and I had two VERY excited kids who couldn't wait to open box. We got to some ice-cream making straight away only to realize the tub needs to be frozen first. So, the strawberry ice-cream to-be is in the fridge waiting patiently to be churned into some creamy, sweet goodness.