Summer may be coming to an end, but summer fruits and vegetables are at their peak this week.  Believe it or not berries are still available and in excellent condition!  Don’t miss out on peaches and nectarines this Sunday.  They are perfect!  Sweet, tasty, vine ripened tomatoes, peppers and corn will be in abundance at the Market.  Bring an extra shopping bag, you are going to need it!

At the Music Stage:  Joe Ross and Friends

At the Children’s Table:  Sweet Smells of Plants

Today at the Market I was shopping for a quick dinner.  With our June weather, I wanted something comforting and easy.  La Pasta had the answer.  They recommended cheese ravioli with a puttanesca sauce.  The pasta cooked in 6 minutes and the sauce heated in less time.  The pasta was excellent, so fresh it retained a bit of springiness after cooking.  The sauce was even better, loaded with capers, olives and fresh tomato flavor.  We all loved this combination and can’t wait to try more pasta next week.

Piccola Wines, Bordeaux Blend in returnable bottle

No Italian dinner would be complete without some wine. I was so happy to discover Piccola Wines, a newcomer to the market this summer. They sell 1.5 liter totes of wine (equivalent to two bottles) and 1.0 liter reusable bottles.  The tote is particularly attractive for a household with only one wine lover–once opened the wine in the tote remains fresh for a month.  I ended up purchasing a tote of syrah.  They wine was tasty and a perfect compliment to the ravioli.

Titan Cherries from Collins Family Orchards

Our excellent dinner was rounded off with a large bowl of Titan cherries from Collins Family Orchards.  These cherries are huge, delicious and a perfect dessert for a quick Sunday dinner.

Today at the market I discovered cheese:  fromage blanc, 9 year old cheddar, chevre with honey, queso fresco, gouda, labneh, pheta, crème fraiche, mascarpone and many more.  The market has three excellent cheese vendors all offering an amazing assortment of cheese.

Jacobs Creamery

My first stop was Jacobs Creamery.  I started out sampling an aged Gouda.  It was creamy, flavorful—and sold out!!!  I knew I should have gotten to the market sooner today.  I’ll have to pick-up some of this cheese next week.  Another excellent aged cheese I tried was the cheddar.  This cheese was very smooth, flavorful and sharp.  As I talked to the vendor, I told her I wanted to try something really different.  She suggested the herbed fromage blanc.     It was the consistency of cream cheese, but packed with flavor.  Tonight I spread it on some fresh bread from Snohomish Bakery and produced a truly unique and delicious garlic bread.

Some friends had told me that Little Brown Farms produces excellent goat cheeses.   I was excited to try the pheta (yes, it is spelled correctly), but once again I was too late and they had sold out of this cheese!  Nonetheless, I sampled a nice selection of cheeses and learn about each product from owner and cheese maker, Vicky Brown.  For a quick dinner, Vicky suggested combining the herbed chevre caprine cream with fresh pasta.  It’s on the menu for this week!  For a more upscale presentation, Vicky suggested serving the chevre with honey and freshly ground black pepper like they do at the Walrus and the Carpenter restaurant.   Next week, Little Brown Farms will be introducing a new product, “Cajeta”, a Mexican-style caramel sauce.  When I asked Vicky how to eat this sauce, she replied, “with a spoon”!  Can’t wait!

Sampling cheese from Samish Bay Creamery

Samish Bay Cheese produces a variety of yogurts and fresh and aged cheeses.  I had no idea that aged cheese could mean aged seven to nine years.  For instance, the montasio on sale today was aged for nine years.  The vendor suggested pairing this special occasion cheese with a great bottle of wine and eating it unadorned.    She said, “this cheese deserves to be eaten and enjoyed by itself”.

A very different product made by Samish Bay Creamery that caught my eye was Labneh.  A few years ago in Israel I was introduced to this cheese yogurt.  It is often a component of an Israeli breakfast. Labneh is the consistency of cream cheese, but has the sharp bite of yogurt.  I like it spread on bread with a little honey.

Next week I’ll be at the market before 11:00 am and checkout the pheta, gouda, cajeta and montasio!