Weekend Shopping

As we've previously mentioned, we did a fair bit of shopping last Saturday, and were in fact so busy with shopping that we ended up making lunch a lot later than planned.  Since our shopping was food-related, we thought we'd go ahead and share a bit about our shopping, and show off what we found.

First off we went to our local Saturday farmer's market.  It's fairly small, and we were unfortunately unable to get what we'd gone there to purchase that morning, as the lady that sells fresh eggs was sold out.  I did pick up some fine habanero peppers, though (something I'll use in some chili I'm planning to make in the near future).  We also got to see and listen to a local bluegrass band, and we met an a local-area artisan who makes and sells pottery.  Her name is Lisa Jontz, and this was her first time at this market.  We really liked her work, and we ended up picking up a serving bowl and two mugs.

You can see the bowl pictured above in one of my posts from Sunday (http://jeffreyandjulicook.blogspot.com/2010/09/squash-soup-lamb-curry-and-pudding-yum.html).  We used the bowl to serve up the lamb meatball curry. 

Lisa is currently preparing for a big arts and crafts show, but after that show, we're hoping to commission some larger bowls and other items from her.  Lisa is working on a website, and we plan to post a link once she's got it up and running.

Bluegrass at the Saturday morning farmer's market

After the farmer's market, we headed to Pella.  We went specifically to check out the local Wal-Mart, as the double boiler we were looking for had sold out at the local store.  While in Pella, though, we also stopped at some of the more distinctly local stores.

Pella was originally a Dutch immigrant community, and it maintains a strongly Dutch identity and image.  Pella is perhaps best known for the Tulip Festival held there every spring, but when we go there, we are usually more interested in the bakeries and butcher shops.  This time around we stopped at a quilt shop and at the deservedly famous Ulrich's Meat Market.  Check it out at http://www.ulrichsmeatmarket.com/history.php .  We picked up some delicious smoked cheddar brats, some tasty imported crackers to go with the cheesy sausage and some ham bones for some soup I plan to make in the near future.  

We did find the double-boiler (already shown here:  http://jeffreyandjulicook.blogspot.com/2010/09/new-to-kitchen-well-new-to-our-kitchen.html ), and while we were out and about we also picked up some apple brandy I needed for a recipe.  Although we were looking for Calvados, the liquor store we stopped at didn't carry that, but it did carry an apple brandy made by Cedar Ridge Vineyards, Winery and Distellery of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Check them out at http://www.crwine.com/ . 

All in all, the shopping trip was successful, and it made for a pleasant Saturday morning.