Sometimes you just have to play it by ear. Yes, I’m fixin’ to tell you that the plan has changed. Center Creek Bluegrass was scheduled to play at the market today – and they are a wonderful and authentic local group – but the forecast is just too cold for music. Now don’t get me wrong, it is definitely not too cold to come down to shop and pick up some delicious lunch, but cooler temperatures are just not good for acoustic instruments like guitars and basses and we sure want Center Creek’s instruments to continue to produce fantastic music. So be prepared for some great recorded music today at the market. Tomorrow which is supposed to be a gorgeous day, we’ll be back to live music.
When you’re the public face of a project like the farmers market you just have to develop a tolerance for being wrong. Not that I would deliberately mislead anyone, but I sure can misspeak. I always had a real sympathy for Dan Quayle and his unfortunate misspeaks – like the time he addressed the United Negro College Fund, whose slogan is “A mind is a terrible thing to waste,” and said, “You take the UNCF model that what a waste it is to lose one’s mind…” If anyone cared enough to record what I say and could drum up a national audience, I’d top Mr. Quayle for sure.
Even with my small audience doing cooking demonstrations on television, I’ve managed many omissions and mistakes. I can’t count the number of times I’ve forgotten an ingredient or that the dish should be seasoned to taste or at what temperature to cook it. Salads have often been my downfall. One time I was doing a recipe that required me to mix up the dressing in the salad bowl and then add the greens to be tossed. On live TV I emptied my bag of greens into the salad bowl only to realize that I could not now mix up the dressing in the bowl or get the greens back into the bag. I had to mix the dressing in the only other bowl I had, which was tiny, so small that the whisk I had for mixing wouldn’t even fit in the bowl. And then there was the time that I was enthusiastically tossing the salad and dumped most of it on the counter. Oh my, the stories could go on and on.
But I am not alone – and it’s so nice to have company. I was with a professional horticulturist yesterday who shall remain unnamed. I was commenting on how glorious the chats south of Webb City look with all the scrubby trees and bushes in full Fall foliage. He rolled his eyes and said “yes, it’s one of the prettiest Falls in years and I was on television just last month saying that we’d have no color this year.”
So back to the market plans. It’s hard to plan too far in advance but at least for this weekend, here are the plans. Today, no live music, but we have a very good lunch. Hazel’s Bakery is serving a favorite just right for the cool weather – ham and beans. You’ll have a choice of white beans or brown beans or a mixture of the two. A bowl costs only $4 and there will be take out containers.
Sunny Lane Farm will be back at the market after an absence of almost a month. So come stock up on your all-natural beef, chicken and lamb. We also expect Madewell Pork to be at the market today as well as our bakeries – Black Forest and Hazel’s. We should have a number of farmers as well with Fall produce and Cottage Small Coffee Roasters with freshly roasted coffee beans and Endless Bounty with raw food bars. There should also be mums and pumpkins. We’ll have a painting table set up for kids wanting to paint their pumpkins. The market also has free acorn squash for kids who don’t have their own pumpkins so everyone can paint.
Tomorrow the painting table will be up again, along with the acorn squash. William Adkins will play for us. The breakfast of pancakes, sausage and eggs will benefit the market’s music program. We’ll have several farmers with produce, mums and pumpkins.
Next week we’ll have our last Saturday market and go to Fridays only for the winter. And it will be a special Saturday because the streetcar plans to run from 9 to 11 and local photographer Lisa Lammey will be taking Fall photos. She’ll have several packages available to order. Here are a couple: one 8x10 & 4 wallet photos for $10; 20 stickers for $5.
Just remember on both activities next week, the weather could make a liar of me! Regardless of the weather, come enjoy the Fall produce at the market.
