To Market, To Market

I love the farmers' market.
OK, flashback 3 years. A friend of mine is wishing the local community had a farmer's market. She goes to another market in the region to check things out and suddenly she's the coordinator for the first ever farmers' marketplace in our depressed mill town. Inspiring to say the least. Last year, I lugged my massage chair downtown every other week and did back massages for a buck a minute. I alternated with another massage therapist in town. Mostly, I did it because I wanted to be in the market scene. I made a few bucks and left most of my earnings back at the market with the food and hard cider vendors. My business is pretty well established in town, however, and it seemed that folks thought I wanted to build up clientele. They'd refer me to folks thinking I needed more business. Not to complain about abundant business, especially in this economy, but I have been doing massage for 11 years and intend to do it for many more, so overworking myself is not on my to-do list. Also, since moving my business to my at-home office, I have been more discerning about who I let in to my space, and frankly, I didn't need every market client coming home with me.
So this past summer, I let the market go. Instead, I visited as a customer when I could, and liked it that much more (except that I often stopped by between in-office massage clients and rushed through so fast I barely got to say hello to those fantastic market vendors I've grown so fond of.)

My friend the market coordinator could not be stopped at a simple weekly outdoor market. She decided that the community also needed a harvest market in November just before Thanksgiving, and a Holiday market in December as well. So we moved indoors. Last year, I lugged my massage chair over and did the back massages and sold gift certificates. This year, I decided to devote my harvest market day to the ski club. As we're in the middle of a membership drive, I figured I could get some new and returning members on board and sell a few t-shirts as well. Plus, I can bring my 4 year old to sell t-shirts where she'd be distracting for massage.

Although I made no money for myself today, I brought in nearly enough to buy groomer fuel for the season. That makes me happy. 

Aside from the monetary gain for the club, I was able to talk up our events and programs, and shmooze with folks that may or may not have local influence and even money to help our cause. 

I also get to meet folks with Nordic ski history that puts my meager kick and glide abilities to shame. Today I got to meet a guy that won first in his division in ski-jumping in '68. From this 171 foot insanely steep jump.  

On top of all that, I got some amazing multi grain bread from a local baker, fresh local cranberries, and some leeks. All in all, a good market day.

Oh, and while we were at the market, (and the 6 year old's birthday party immediately afterward) the Mr. was installing the base for the new shower and some backer board for the fancy tile job we're doing. What a productive day! 

The Unitasker

I've been reading the Unclutterer blog. Every Wednesday, they feature a "unitasker." That's an item that was created and marketed for one purpose. Usually, it's an unnecessary item as other items can accomplish the same task and take up less space in your home. 

We went to a Pampered Chef party at my Mom's house today.

They do offer a few useful items, mostly overpriced, but the thing that caught my attention was the amount of "unitaskers" they have available. Mango slicer, Corn kerneler, pineapple corer, peeler, slicer. 

These items will take up space in a cabinet or drawer, and a single knife can do as good a job while taking up less space in the kitchen. 

The thing is, this company is making these products and it seems someone is buying them, as they have been in business for a while. I have this mental image of some middle aged woman with kitchen cabinets overflowing with "unitaskers." 

Today, I bought a vegetable basket for the grill. It's something I didn't have, and makes a lot more sense to me than an avocado peeler.

Do you have a favorite kitchen gadget?

Looking Up.

This has been a wacky, stressful and overwhelming week. Rather than complain about the things that went wrong, here's a few things I'm psyched about.

Lil' One's room is painted. She picked pink. Caught us in a weak moment and we let her pick the color.

It's done and that's what's important. 

 We now have a "high efficiency" washing machine. We were able to go to the store and pick one out and take it home today. My dad lent us his truck so we wouldn't have to wait on delivery, and a dear friend helped with the install. (That's the guy that looks like Mr. Clean here.) This machine should help with the electric and water bills. 

 Kiddo went apple picking today with her cousin, aunt and uncle. We have 2 apple pies and this lovely apple & blueberry pie to show for it. 

Winning.

Up the River.

Today was one of the rare days where work was slow and the weather was absolutely lovely. I had to fight the urge to go running, or on a strenuous hike. I'm just getting over a tummy bug and not interested in being sick again any time soon. So I took a drive "up the river" to see if there was any impressive foliage yet.

 Although it was a lovely drive, foliage is not quite at it's peak.

Then the low fuel light came on in my car. Meandering home, I started thinking of breakfast for dinner. Then I remembered about some wild mushrooms at a nearby state park that would be great in omelets. Yeah, my stomach is often my guide.

It was a perfect day to climb the fire tower.

 Nice view! 

And check out the fungi. We call these "puff balls." When they get all ripe and sporey, they make a green explosion. You've got to get them before the spores come in. 

 Add butter, garlic, onions, kale, fresh garden herbs and local eggs. Oh, and lots of cheese.  

Voila!

Shovel ready.

No complaints from me about having a slow day at work. The next couple of weeks will make up for it, and it can be oh so sweet to just take off and spend a little time alone every now and then. 

For the love of soy.

I love me some soy beans.

As a person who doesn't eat meat, these little things are a necessity in my household. Usually we get soy in the form of well-seasoned tofu, or this product called "textured soy protein". Now doesn't that sound appetizing? It's actually not bad, like ground beef without the fat. We use it in tacos and pasta sauce and the like. On rare occasions, I get my hands on some edamame - whole soy beans.

These little treasures came from our local farmers' market. 

There's lots of ways to eat edamame, but in our household, finger food is king. We boil the pods for a few minutes and toss 'em in a big bowl in the middle of the table. Then we have a big empty bowl for the pods. Similar to the experience of eating steamer clams at a New England cookout, we shell those babies and pop 'em in our mouths. Easy. Yummy. And the lil' one loves it so. That's a big plus. 

Soy beans are one of the most genetically modified crops out there, so if you're concerned about eating GMO foods, talk to the farmer, or read the labels carefully. More and more farmers are growing non-gmo soy these days, so it's not too hard to find. 

Soy is considered a "complete protein", basically meaning it contains enough amino acids to count as a suitable protein substitute for meat. Plus, it's loaded with fiber, calcium and other nutrients. Learn more about soy here.

If you haven't yet tried these tasty treats, I highly recommend it.