2013 Farmers’ Market to Open this Weekend

            Saturday, May 4, marks the first Farmers’ Market of the 2013 season at the Muskingum County Fairgrounds.  As usual, the market will open promptly at 9:00 am and last until noon.  Slowly but surely the spring weather is growing warmer and people are ready to have a reason to get out of doors.  Why not make it part of your regular Saturday morning routine for the next sixth months to get up and head over to the market?  Not only is it a great place to buy fresh local goods, it is a social event.  Farmers’ Market is as much about catching up with old friends and making new ones as it is about checking off items on your shopping list.

            A trip through the market building provides customers with a wide variety of products including fresh cuts of meat, fresh cheese in many flavors, delicious baked goods and sweet treats, handmade crafts and various other goods.  Fresh food, great gifts and useful items--you never know what kind of great deal or hidden treasure you will bring home from market each week.

            Spring weather has everyone planning their gardens and flower beds so visit our outside vendors to purchase your vegetable plants, bedding plants, perennials, and hanging baskets.  The nice thing about buying them from farmers’ market is that you know they are locally raised and  you can ask advice right from the expert on where, when, and how to plant them. 

            Compared to the spring of 2012, which was unusually warm early on, this year has been cooler and wetter.  Most farmers probably planted their early crops a little later this year, but the warm weather this week should really help make things “pop.”  The early vegetables such as greens, radishes, and asparagus will show up more and more at market over the course of May.

            The week’s recipe is a simple quiche recipe from Paula Dean.  I like to make quiche in the spring when fresh eggs are abundant.  Some farmers had spinach that lasted through the winter and is now ready to be cut.  The other two main ingredients, bacon and cheese, are a weekly staple at our market, available from many vendors.

Spinach and Bacon Quiche

Ingredients:
6 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Salt and pepper
2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach, packed
1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 (9-inch) pie crust, fitted to a 9-inch glass pie plate

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the eggs, cream, salt, and pepper in a food processor