Hello, my Foodie Friends! 

January: The notorious month of New Year’s resolutions is officially here! Though you can obviously plan healthy meals for every month of the year, we’re betting that eating healthy in January tops your list of priorities. If you’re trying to eat clean this month, it can be hard to know where to start. One of the definitions of the word Resolution is: a promise to yourself that you will make a serious effort to do something that you should do. Though it’s a pretty well-documented fact that most New Year’s resolutions fail, we keep making them-and we’re not alone. The custom of making New Year’s resolutions is most common in the West, but it happens all over the world. Losing weight, eating healthier, getting fit, improving our health, or getting back in shape are among the most popular resolutions made every New Year. 

Unfortunately, this is a resolution that we tend to remake year after year. It can be daunting when your list of New Year’s Resolutions is as long as your holiday shopping list. In addition to the post-holiday slump, not being able to keep your resolutions by February, March or even late January may increase your anxiety. When your holiday decorations are packed up and stored away, the frustration of an unused gym membership or other reminders of failed resolutions can make the later winter months feel hopeless.

However, it is important to remember that the New Year isn’t meant to serve as a catalyst for sweeping character changes. It is a time for people to reflect on their past year’s behavior and promise to make positive lifestyle changes. By making your resolutions realistic, there is a greater chance that you will keep them throughout the year, incorporating healthy behavior into your everyday life. Making healthier food choices can help with improving the quality of your diet. However, regulating the size of food portions is a simple process that can help with weight loss. Weighing out food before it is eaten is a convenient method of controlling portion sizes and is something you can easily do at home with basic kitchen equipment. A digital kitchen scale helps with measuring. 

A pointer to assist with weighing: Weigh out the desired portion size. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a standard portion for most meats and fish is 3 ounces. Look for portion size information on packages and use online resources such as MyPyramid.gov to learn about the recommended portion size of other foods. Weigh the food before it has been washed or cooked. Place the plate of food on the scale. The calibrated scale will measure the weight of the food only. Remove or add more of the foods until you reach the required portion. You can remove the plate as many times as you like provided that you do not press the tally button for a second time. For Food Safety reasons, you need to wash the plate thoroughly with hot water and detergent between weighing different foods.

Keeping our Promise to scale down as a part of those New Year’s resolutions can require using the right tools to make it work. Stop by Compliments to the Chef, your neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store, located at 33 Railroad Place in Saratoga Springs to select a digital scale to assist with weighing ounces, pounds, fluid ounces, grams, and milliliters. We wish you all a happy, healthy, and fun in the kitchen year ahead. Remember my Foodie Friends: “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”

Take Care, John & Paula

The best way to stay healthy during cold and flu season is to take preventative steps before you feel that first sniffle. If you become sick, resting, staying hydrated, and getting proper nutrition are some of the most important things you can do to feel better and recover faster. Many locally grown and sourced foods can alleviate and support you during the healing process.

Pasture-raised chicken and grass-fed beef bones are available at the farmers’ market and can be boiled down to make nutrient-dense stock. Bone broth is rich in minerals, amino acids, and essential fatty acids and has many health benefits. To get started, place 1 gallon of water, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 2-4 pounds of animal bones, and salt and pepper, to taste, in a large pot or slow cooker. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 12-24 hours. The longer it cooks, the better it will taste and the more nutritious it will be.

Vitamin C is largely associated with a strengthened immune system and may help to reduce cold and flu symptoms. Brussels sprouts, potatoes, tomatoes, and fresh herbs like parsley and thyme are high in vitamin C and currently available from local farms.

Freshly harvested leafy greens like spinach and kale can also help boost your immune system as they contain vitamins E and C. A green smoothie or a raw salad can offer a daily dose of essential, health-building vitamins.

Whether your looking to alleviate a cough or boost your immune system, honey is the perfect food to consume on its own or in a cup of tea. Honey is known for its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Bee products such as propolis and bee pollen, available at Ballston Lake Apiaries, are high in zinc, magnesium, and B vitamins.

Garlic has been used in alternative medicine for centuries. Scientists have found that plant compounds in garlic are immune-supportive and anti-inflammatory even when consumed raw in small doses.

While no food alone can cure sickness, eating the right foods may help support your immune system and offer relief from certain symptoms.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is open on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the Wilton Mall Food Court. Find us online at www.saratogafarmersmarket.org, where you can sign up for our weekly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @SaratogaFarmersMarket.

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

It’s that time again for us here at Compliments to the Chef to thank all the wonderful acquaintances that have helped us throughout the year. As Clarence said to George Bailey in the film It’s a Wonderful Life: “No man is a failure who has friends.” We have foodie friends which is even better. So many great people have come through our door with questions and suggestions about cooking and culinary tools that are needed. We believe that we have a great extended family who shares in our joy of cooking and creating our own masterpiece meals. As we get ready to ring in the New Year and welcome 2022, memories of some New Year traditions come to mind. Upon meeting my wife Paula, I had the opportunity to be exposed to some of the southern traditions her mother made based on her father’s background growing up in Virginia. The serving of black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day has been considered a lucky New Year’s food that dates back almost 1500 years. The tradition arrived in America during the 1930’s in Georgia and spread after the Civil War. In the Southern states, the tradition of eating black eyed peas on New Year’s Day is considered good luck to bring prosperity to the New Year. The traditional meal includes collards, turnips, or mustard greens, and ham. The swelling of the black-eyed peas symbolizes prosperity; the greens symbolize money; the ham represents positive motion. 

Here is a great recipe that includes all of the ingredients we hope brings good luck to you. Add a slice of cornbread, and you’ve got “peas for pennies, greens for dollars, and cornbread for gold.” 

We have wonderful round cast iron Dutch ovens from Le Creuset, Staub, Chantal, and Lodge that can help you with this wonderful dish. Stop by Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store, to pick up your cool tools for cooks to help with your New Year’s culinary preparations. Cook up some good luck this New Years. Have a safe and happy New Year. Cheers to a happy 2022! 

Remember my Foodie Friends: “Life happens in the kitchen!”

 Take Care, John & Paula

The holiday season evokes traditions that create lasting memories while reinforcing our values and identity. This week, we look to our local farmers and producers as they share some of their favorite memories of their holiday traditions on the farm.

“When we were kids, Christmas Eve was always our big dinner and presents,” shares Laurie Kokinda of Kokinda Farm and Laurie’s Jams and Jellies. “Christmas morning, we always saddled horses and went for a trail ride through Luther Forest. Back then, it was a single dirt road and especially beautiful if we got fresh snow.” 

Christophe Robert of Longlesson Angus takes a traditional New Year’s Day family hike on their farm. “After a big New Year’s Eve celebration full of food and drinks, we hike to cure the hangover,” says Robert. They also bring their goats along as, according to Robert, “they hike better than the dogs.” 

At Slate Valley Farms, Gina Imbimbo happily anticipates the farm’s New Year’s tradition of making natural dyes from their farm-grown Christmas trees. The dye is a red-brown hue used to color yarn, socks, and linens. Their family also prepares for the maple season by tapping maple trees on the first full moon in January, the wolf moon, per Native American traditions.

Corinne Hansch of Lovin’ Mama Farm describes their family traditions as “land-centric.” “Normally, around Thanksgiving, we do cider pressing, and in the New Year, we help with processing maple syrup,” says Hansch. Processing maple syrup is just for their use, and Hansch explains their rustic tradition of carrying buckets of sap to be boiled.

Nettle Meadow Farm and the Kemp Animal Sanctuary celebrates Christmas with a big holiday bash hosted by the farm owners for the employees. The farm’s annual party includes a feast, a secret Santa gift swap, games, and good conversation. Farmworker Sean Dean jokes that the farm’s senior rescue turkey has the safest home.

This holiday season, we encourage you to build traditions of your own. Perhaps by sharing a favorite recipe, shopping for your holiday feast at the farmers’ market, or simply spending time with loved ones — which is where the true spirit of the season lays. The farmers’ market will be closed on Christmas Day and reopen on January 1, 2022.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is open on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the Wilton Mall Food Court. Find us online at www.saratogafarmersmarket.org, where you can sign up for our weekly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @SaratogaFarmersMarket.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market’s prepared food vendors offer a diverse range of cuisines: choose from Eastern European, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Indian, or Caribbean foods. We asked our international group of vendors the traditional foods they, the chefs, actually make and eat with their families during this time of year.

At Slavonian European Cafe, husband and wife duo Aladin (originally from Egypt) and Nataliya (from Ukraine) primarily bring offerings to the market that reflect her homeland, with a sprinkling of Egyptian and Italian-inspired (after the couple’s long residency in Milan) dishes. Although Aladin’s family doesn’t traditionally celebrate Christmas, it’s a big holiday for the Ukrainian Nataliya, who fondly points out their stuffed cabbage as a must-have holiday dish. Pick up some ready-made ones at their stand, or to give it your own spin, find cabbage and ground beef at our farm vendors and add your preferred seasonings.

Euro Delicacies, the market’s longtime Mediterranean food vendor, brings meals to the market that reflect the Hrelja family’s Croatian upbringing. Their classic dishes like moussaka, grape leaves, burek, and baklava are usually part of their holiday spread. Lamb shanks are also a traditional festive dish for the Croatians, which you can find at Elihu Farm.

For Sabreen Samman, owner of Petra Pocket Pies, her childhood holidays in Jordan would start with traditional holiday cookies: shortbread cookies filled with dates, walnuts, or pistachios. For the main meal, the family would gather over Mansaf, a lamb dish cooked in a yogurt sauce and served with rice or bulgur – considered the national dish of Jordan – or Msakhan, made of roasted chicken with onions, sumac, allspice, saffron, and fried pine nuts served over taboon flatbread. Find lamb, yogurt, chicken, and onions at our farm vendors and try creating these Jordanian dishes for yourself.

Daily Fresh owners Sneha and Sathya hail from Chennai in India and have brought their curries and dosas to the market for the past three years. Sathya fondly thinks of sweets, including rum-soaked fruit cake and Indian chocolates, as a major part of their families’ holiday gatherings

Vashti and Leon from Vashti’s Kitchen Delights enjoy a big glass of sorrel, a spiced hibiscus drink that is usually topped off with some rum to round out their Caribbean holiday meal. The couple quarrels about whose recipe is best, as Leon’s Jamaican family makes it with a ginger kick, and Vashti’s Trinidadian roots stick to the warmer spices like cinnamon and cloves. Other favorite drinks include fresh ginger beer and ponche-a-creme, a creamy, rich Trinidadian blend similar to eggnog. Fresh pigeon peas are an important part of the main holiday meal, and a rum-soaked fruit cake (or “black cake”) is a favorite at the end.

If you want to incorporate some new dishes in your Christmas and New Year’s lineup, try some of the items above to get you an internationally flavored meal. There are two more markets for you to stock up on ingredients, including Saturday the 18th from 9:30 a.m. to -1:30 p.m. and Wednesday the 22nd from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., both at the Wilton Mall food court.

The CDTA’s routes 450 (from Schenectady) and 452 (from Skidmore College via downtown Saratoga) run to the Wilton Mall on Saturday mornings. Find us online at www.saratogafarmersmarket.org, where you can sign up for our weekly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @SaratogaFarmersMarket.

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

Many of our foodies may be traveling to visit family or friends this holiday season or may be hosting a holiday breakfast or dinner. Often times we are not sure what to bring to add to the meal that is being made. One item that is always welcomed is Popovers. When it comes to holiday dining, a special place is held at the table for popovers. But aren’t they difficult to bake? Not at all. In fact, you could even consider them the easiest – and perhaps tastiest – item on your menu this holiday season.

Twisted, warm, light and buttery, popovers are muffin-like pancakes, popovers are baked in melted butter. They are delicious served beside a roast, and are also divine slathered with butter and jam, filled with a poached egg, or dusted with cinnamon and sugar.

Most people fall into a rut when it comes to bread options. However, popovers can be a deceptively simple item that will impress your guests and tickle their taste buds. Not only are popovers cost effective, they’re also a breeze to make as long as you follow a few simple rules: make sure the pan is hot before pouring in the batter, don’t fill the cups more than half full, and no opening the oven while they’re baking.

Having the correct pan is important to making airy popovers with golden domes. The secret is how the batter lies in the pan. Popover pans are used for making popovers. They are specially constructed to convey the heat directly to the batter, which needs to be added to a hot pan, similar to the way Yorkshire puddings are made. Popover pans are also made with tall, narrow cups, which create a distinctive shape. This creates steam that helps the popovers expand and become light and hollow on the inside. Then you can stuff them with things. A popover pan is deep with steep-sided wells. This forces the batter upwards creating puffy domes and crispy sides. Investing in a real popover pan eventually starts to feel quite justifiable. These tins are really only useful for making popovers, but oh, what beautiful popovers they make! The trick is to make sure the pan is very hot before you add the butter and the batter.

At Compliments to the Chef, we carry popover pans from Nordicware and USA Pan. Both the Nordicware pan and USA Pans are made in the U.S.A. These pans are designed to allow maximum airflow so popovers reach their full height.

This holiday season, if you are not sure what to pop on over with to visit a friend or a family member, think about a creative popover to serve with the meal. Come visit your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store located at 33 Railroad Place, where we have cool tools for cooks! Have fun with family and friends. Remember, “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”

 Take Care, John & Paula

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

It is officially the holiday season. What better way to celebrate and get into the spirit than to share your baked treats with family and friends.  Nothing gets you in the holiday spirit quite like making a mess in the kitchen with sugar, flour, and all of the sprinkles. Each year around this time, my mother would stock up on bags of flour and sugar to begin the process of making her treasured holiday cookies and goods. They were always a special treat in our family. Many of her recipes were handed down through generations before. Worn index cards have been handed down and shared with my siblings with recipes written in her perfect cursive, I am reminded of the winter days where we would watch her drop heavy balls of dough onto the floured counter in the kitchen and vigorously roll out the sticky batter until it was thin enough for cookie cutters. Santa’s, candy canes, Christmas trees, holiday bells, reindeers, snowmen, gingerbread men and women, and stars had to be carefully lifted from the thin layer of dough. 

As my wife and I exchanged childhood memories of making cookies, Paula shared that one year as a teenager, she made 72 dozen cookies. My stories were a bit more adventurous (due to five siblings trying to share a kitchen and help make cookies). In an effort to keep each of us focused, my mother would give each of us a specific duty that ultimately created the end result of a cookie recipe. My sisters were given the task of gathering, measuring, and putting the ingredients into a bowl; my youngest brother would stand on a chair and help my mother mix the ingredients. I was the keeper of the rolling pin and had the responsibility of scooping the dough (based on what recipe we were making), while my other brother would select which cookie cutter we were going to use. The assignments did not always result in a well oiled machine. Usually, heated words over who gets to stand closest to the mixing bowl would end with powdered sugar poofing all over the floor. Power struggles would occur between each of us on who would crack the egg, who got to hold the rolling pin, and who would do the dough-scooping (just try to pry that cookie scoop out of my hands). By the time the first batch came out of the oven, my bothers and I would wander off to play, while my excited sisters stayed around to help sprinkle sugar on warm cookies. How my Mom put up with us, I’ll never know. However, the cookies were so good that five children would be very quiet in order to receive a child’s handful of warm cookies! One of my favorite movie lines is from the movie “The Matrix:” “Take a cookie. I promise, by the time you’re done eating it, you’ll feel right as rain.” Still a good remedy for most stressful situations. Thanks Mom! 

This holiday season, use the secret weapon of cookies to win over your family. Stop in to see us at Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store located at 33 Railroad Place, Saratoga Springs. We have a large assortment of cookie cutters and baking supplies to help with making everyone happy. Remember my Foodie Friends, “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”

 Take Care, John & Paula

The cold, dark month of December calls for bright, warm decorations to make all that time spent indoors cozier and more enjoyable. At the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, local farmers and artists bring Christmas greenery and other seasonal decorations that you can cherish through the winter season.

If you celebrate Christmas, Scotch Ridge Berry and Tree Farm should be your first stop at the market. Charles Holub sets up outside the Wilton Mall and has tabletop trees, wreaths, kissing balls, and door swags available every Saturday through December 18. Their Norwegian and blue spruces, noble fir, and white pine varieties are naturally grown at their farm in Duanesburg.

For a less traditional wreath, Lovin’ Mama Farm offers ones made from dried flowers they grow on their land. “We plant rows of flowers interspersed between our veggies for diversity and pollinator habitat and bring fresh bouquets to summer markets and our handmade dried wreaths during the holidays,” says owner Corinne Hansch.

To brighten up any room, stop by Feathered Antler’s stand. Gretchen’s colorfully painted items include wooden ornaments to go in your tree, cards and stockings you can display on your mantle, and decorative throw pillows for on your sofa. Or grab a painted plant pot and add a poinsettia plant from J. Adkins Cultivation.

Lastly, add some smaller items to spruce up your home during the holiday season. Ballston Lake Apiaries makes candles from their beeswax in shapes like bears and Faberge eggs. Gather around their warm light on a dark night. Saratoga Suds ‘n’ Stuff’s holiday soaps, including snowflakes, gingerbread men, and many more options, will add some holiday cheer to your bathroom.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market offers three more opportunities to shop local before Christmas: on Saturday, December 11th and 18th, markets will run as usual. On Wednesday, December 22nd, a special market will run from 1:30 pm until 5:30 pm for a last-minute grocery and gift shop.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is open on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the Wilton Mall Food Court. The CDTA’s routes 450 (from Schenectady) and 452 (from Skidmore College via downtown Saratoga) run to the Wilton Mall on Saturday mornings. Find us online at www.saratogafarmersmarket.org, where you can sign up for our weekly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @SaratogaFarmersMarket.

“Plants need people, and people need plants” is a motto that Jay Adkins lives and works. “When you think about how plants give us life through food, medicinal herbs, our entire ecosystem, even flowers for joy and happiness… Why shouldn’t we care for plants the way they care for us?

Adkins is the owner of J. Adkins Cultivation, one of the newest vendors at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market. His winter market display is a lush abundance of tropical greenery with busts of red poinsettia arrangements special for the holiday season. Plants are displayed in decorative pots ready for purchase, and Adkins and his staff offer guidance and support to ensure plants flourish in their new homes. 

For Adkins, what began as a hobby turned into a passion he didn’t realize he had. He was working as a full-time contractor when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and work came abruptly to a stop. “I had some extra time on my hands, and since I always had an interest in gardening, I decided to start growing plants inside my house,” explains Adkins. “I grew way too many plants and sold the extra starters, and the business took off from there.”

One year later, J. Adkins Cultivation is expanding. In the spring, they grow various fruit and vegetable starter plants and herbs – all using organic growing methods. Adkins also grows flowering perennials, annuals, and arrangements with availability based on the season. “We care about the health of each plant, and mix our unique recipe of premium soil, and even play the plants music as they grow,” says Adkins.

For Adkins, plants offer a new purpose for living. “I believe in the benefits that come from caring for living things,” says Adkins. “Inspiring others to grow gardens and fill their homes with house plants is very meaningful to me.”

In the future, Adkins is looking forward to providing live plant installations at local businesses and restaurants. Customers can find J. Adkins Cultivation at the Schenectady Green Market on Sundays and Ink & Ivy’s House of Beauty’s pop-up Christmas market tomorrow, December 5, 10 am-3 pm. This coming spring, customers will shop for plants directly at J. Adkins Cultivation’s greenhouse located in Rotterdam. For more information, visit their website www.jadkinscultivation.com.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is open on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the Wilton Mall Food Court. Find us online at www.saratogafarmersmarket.org, where you can sign up for our weekly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @SaratogaFarmersMarket.

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

When I was a young boy the holiday season was my families’ favorite time of year. Of course my parents used it to its full potential to keep three boys and two girls in line. Our biggest thrill was the chance to go downtown and peek into the store front windows seeing the latest toys and letting Santa, Mom, and Dad know what we wanted under the tree. For myself and my brothers, it was especially hard to refrain from becoming the Three Stooges avoiding our usual antics and teasing of each other. If we didn’t get along then we risked getting nothing and my Dad was a man of his word. We also loved this time of year because Mom and Dad became a dynamic team and focused on our happiness instead of the day-to-day problems they faced with finance issues that were typical of the middle class back then. It seemed like Mom and Dad knew every shop owner by their first name and all the shop personnel always fussed over their children. Shopping downtown was a magical event for us. The snow covered trees, merchant’s store fronts decorated with animated figures, holiday lights, decorations, and music. Each of us would run free to pursue the treasures that we wanted from Santa. We loved every store. For us a clothing store was a place that kept us from the toys. However, the clothing store mom loved was located on the top floor of one of the downtown buildings and you needed an elevator to get to it. An ELEVATOR!!! Do any of you remember what the older style elevators were like? It was like a carnival ride. It even had an elevator operator (what I wanted to be when I grew up). Several of our downtown buildings in Saratoga Springs still have the old style elevators. At the end of our shopping day, we would have a wonderful meal as a family, sitting exhausted filled with memories that would last a lifetime. 

Consider shopping local this season. Shopping locally helps you connect with the people in your community and learn more about what is going on around you. When people come in my store during the holidays, they call out to me and exclaim: “Hello Mr. Reardon! We are some of your Foodie Friends!” Economically, spending money locally gives back to the community. Why not make holiday shopping a family event? Shopping should be an enjoyable experience with interactions that leave us feeling good versus feeling like we have to do a chore. I find that’s far more likely to happen when I’m patronizing local independent businesses. Learn and experience product quality and durability, getting expert advice without having to waste time doing your own research. Aside from the experience, physical contact with an item makes people feel more certain about a purchase decision. When you go to a store, you know what you’re getting. The price is there. There’s no shipping fee. You can see the item, hold the item, and get the instant gratification you desire from buying the item. Savor the sights, sounds and smells of the season while shopping. During the holidays the shops are filled with festive decorations, sounds and smells. When you step through the doors and hear “Jingle Bells” or “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” playing throughout the store, you can’t help singing along as you walk around. 

Another great experience of shopping in your local shops is to spend time out shopping with the family. Your holiday tradition may involve shopping with your children, your spouse, or your friends. This holiday season, visit our beautiful city of Saratoga Springs and all of the unique shops within the city for those special treasures. Make it an event where you actually spend time with people (and not the computer) to select those special gifts to give. 

Having the right tools to prepare your recipe is the key to making a pretty good dinner a great one. It’s much easier to cook when you are equipped with high-quality utensils that make your job as fun and easy as possible. 

Paula and I look forward to the holidays every year with our children. Cherish your moments together and stop by and fulfill your holiday culinary needs. At Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store, we have really cool tools for your favorite foodie. We are located of 33 Railroad Place, Saratoga Springs. This holiday season, shop local and nab those ideal gifts for the ones you love. Remember my Foodie Friends, “Life Happens in the Kitchen.” 

 Take Care, John & Paula