Hello my Foodie Friends! 

Next week is Cinco de Mayo. Many of us foodies may be planning some type of festivity for this day. And what better way to celebrate than to eat delicious Mexican food. Our son lives in San Diego. The city is renowned for its wide selection of excellent Mexican restaurants and influence on the cuisine in that area. Mexican food is a major player on the San Diego food scene. Our son has also learned to add many Mexican flavors to his regular meals. One of his favorite things to do is to work with avocados and make guacamole or to get creative with salsas. To make the guacamole, the molcajete (a black volcanic rock) connects with making amazing and laborious Mexican dishes. One of those dishes is a salsa cruda, which is a red raw spicy salsa. The molcajete can be a very valuable object to assist when making your guacamole or salsa this Cinco de Mayo. The molcajete is among the world’s oldest culinary tools, volcanic rock mortars and pestles like these have been used by great cooks for thousands of years. Our molcajete (mortar) and tejolete (pestle) are hand carved from a single piece of basalt rock, so every piece is unique. In addition to being a great prep tool, the molcajete makes an impressive serving dish for guacamole and other party favorites. It is perfect for crushing whole spices and making spice blends, ideal for blending and serving guacamole—or for making pesto and other rustic sauces. You can line the molcajete with lettuce leaves to use as an all-purpose serving bowl. The rough interior texture of mortar helps crush and grind ingredients and it has a heavy pestle that does the work for you, ensuring efficient grinding, blending and mixing.

At Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store located at 33 Railroad Place, we offer various types of mortar and pestles including the beautiful molcajete. Stop by and view our many spices that can be used to help you with your Cinco de Mayo culinary creations. Have a festive Cinco de Mayo. Remember Foodie Friends, “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”

 Take Care,
John & Paula

Spring is in the air, and we are eager to move outdoors for our summer market season. May 1 marks the beginning of the 43rd outdoor market season for the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, the area’s longest-running, producer-only farmers’ market. The Saturday market will open at the current location, the Wilton Mall Bon-Ton parking lot, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Wednesday market will open at High Rock Park in downtown Saratoga Springs from 3 to 6 p.m. every week. 

The location split results from various factors, including COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, customer parking, accessibility, and community feedback. A recent survey with more than 700 responses resulted in an even split in public opinion on holding markets downtown versus the Wilton Mall. 

This year’s weekly Saturday markets will feature more than 70 vendors selling fresh produce, dairy products, eggs, meat, poultry, flowers, prepared foods, and more. The Wednesday markets will feature about 20 vendors with a similar range of products. Both markets will also include music, community guests, and periodic special events like Saturday’s Blueberry Festival in July and Power of Produce (POP) Club for kids on Wednesdays this summer.

We are excited to welcome new and returning vendors into the mix carrying a variety of products. Some to look out for include Capital Greens NY, Charlton Woodworking, Dancing Ewe Farm, Grazin’ Acres Farm, Leaning Birch Farm, Lovin’ Mama Farm, M & A Farm, Mirage Waterless, Native Farm Flowers, Night Work Bread, Old Tavern Farm, TogaNola Snack Company, Vashti’s Kitchen Delights, and Nine Pine Soup and Design. 

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market has remained committed to creating a safe environment for both vendors and customers, including handwashing and sanitizing stations, social distancing, and mask requirements. As we move into the summer season, we will continue to enforce these state-issued regulations for the health and safety of our community. 

The addition of an online ordering and curbside pickup program has provided an alternative for customers to safely and conveniently access local goods without having to shop inside the market. Orders can be placed online each week between Monday at 9 p.m. and Thursday at 9 p.m. for curbside pickup on Saturdays. Visit localline.ca/saratoga-farmers-market.

“Warming temperatures are a sign that the summer market season is about to begin, and we can’t wait for all it will bring this year: spring flowers, summer produce, live music, and community in the great outdoors,” says Market Administrator Emily Meagher.

Wednesday Market Vendors:

• Burger Farm
• Euro Delicacies
• Gifford Farms
• Gómez Veggie Ville
• Left Field
• Mister Edge Sharpening
• Nine Pine Soup and Design
• Old World Farm
• Owl Wood Farm
• Saratoga Apple
• Saratoga Garlic Company
• Scotch Ridge Berry Farm
• Squash Villa Farm
• The Chocolate Spoon
• The Food Florist
• The Mushroom Shop
• Underwood’s Greenhouse/Shushan Valley Hydro Farm
• Vashiti’s Kitchen Delights

Saturday Market Vendors:

• 518 Farms
• Argyle Cheese Factory
• Balet Flowers & Design, LLC
• Ballston Lake Apiaries
• Big Breath Wellness
• Bunker Hill Organic LLC
• Burger Farm
• Capital Greens NY 
• Charlton Woodworking
• Daily Fresh
• Dancing Ewe Farm
• Elihu Farm
• Euro Delicacies
• Feathered Antler
• Fossil Stone Farms
• Freddy’s Rockin’ Hummus
• Giovanni Fresco
• Gómez Veggie Ville
• Grandma Apple’s Cheesecakes, LLC
• Grazin Acres Farm
• Green Jeans Market Farm
• Hebron Valley Veal
• Junbucha
• Kokinda Farm
• Leaning Birch Farm
• Left Field
• Longlesson Farm
• Lovin’ Mama Farm
• M & A Farm
• Mariaville Mushroom Men
• Mirage Waterless LLC
• Moon Cycle Seed Company
• Moxie Ridge Farm
• Mrs Londons
• Muddy Trail Jerky Co.
• Mugzy’s Barkery
• Native Farm Flowers
• Nettle Meadow
• Night Work Bread
• Old Tavern Farm
• Old World Farm
• Owl Wood Farm
• Petra Pocket Pies
• Pleasant Valley Farms
• Puckers Gourmet
• Pura Vida Fisheries, Inc
• R&G Cheesemakers 
• Ramble Creek Farm
• Saratoga Apple
• Saratoga Chocolate Co. 
• Saratoga Crackers
• Saratoga Garlic Company
• Saratoga Peanut Butter Co.
• Saratoga Spicery
• Saratoga Suds ‘n’ Stuff
• Scotch Ridge Berry Farm
• Slate Valley Farms
• Slovonian European Cafe
• Slyboro Cider House
• Something’s Brewing
• Springbrook Hollow Farm Distillery
• Squash Villa Farm
• Talmadge’s Vegetables
• The Chocolate Spoon
• The Food Florist
• The Smoothie Shoppe INC
• TogaNola Snack Company, LLC
• Underwood’s Greenhouse/Shushan Valley Hydro Farm
• Vashiti’s Kitchen Delights
• Yankee Distillers LLC

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

For the most part, I do not like having spiders in my kitchen -or anywhere, really. When I was a child, I would love to play with insects in my mother’s garden. However, I have outgrown that! I will make an exception for one spider, though: my beloved wood-handled, stainless steel spider. I am talking about the kitchen tool that looks like a mini flattened colander with a long handle. (It’s called a spider because the woven metal netting resembles a spider’s web.).  It is much less creepy than an actual spider. I have found that the spider has become one of the most reached-for tools in my kitchen. The perforated bowl is perfect for transporting pasta from pot to pan (while reserving the pasta water), lifting items like dumplings or thinly-sliced potatoes out of sizzling oil, and picking blanched vegetables like carrots or green beans out of boiling water. Another great way to put the spider in action is when making eggs hard or soft-boiled. Any egg that goes in boiling water benefits from being carried in a spider. The spider makes it easy to lower multiple eggs gently into a pot, and removing them three at a time is no problem either. Eggs love spiders, and spiders love eggs—it’s the perfect boiled egg tool. The best part is that you do not need a fancy or expensive one to reap all of those benefits. We carry the Helen Chen Spider, offered with a wooden or stainless steel handle. It is comfortable and lightweight. 

At Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store, we carry all types of “cool tools” for cooks. Sorry, no real insects like spiders, but we have the ones that will help you do the job in the kitchen. Remember my Foodie Friends, “Life Happens in the Kitchen!” 

 Take Care,
John & Paula

Happy Earth Week! Some places celebrate Earth Day, others make it a weeklong event, and others organize month-long festivities. At the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, we like to think that every day is Earth Day.

Farmers’ market operations are inherently more sustainable than factory and grocery store operations. Most obviously, vendors produce food locally, cutting down on transportation impacts. The Farmers’ Market Coalition cites that, on average, food travels over 1,000 miles from the point of production to the retail store. In contrast, practically all vendors at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market live just a county away from the market.

Many grow and produce their food with extra care for the environment, for instance, by growing organically or choosing sustainable packaging. Think compostable mushroom boxes, egg carton returns, or glass deposits on items like maple syrup, yogurt, or kombucha. “It’s obvious to consider the earth when you’re a farmer; your hands are literally in the dirt. But other food producers are equally responsible for operating sustainably,” said Shane Avery, owner of Junbucha.

That green focus is evident in customers’ minds, too. Customers are prepared to shop with reusable totes and netted produce bags. They religiously return their empty containers. They often choose the more sustainable options even if it costs a little more. Julia, one market customer, stopped by to return her glass maple syrup jar, calling choosing glass over plastic “the intuitive choice.” She chooses jars as they are reusable, returnable, recyclable, and she uses them to store granola at home before returning them.

And then, there are the green choices that extend further than the farmers’ market. The Saratoga Farmers’ Market’s partnership with the Franklin Community Center is a prime example: customers drop off compost at the farmers’ market to be used in the Center’s community garden, while vendors donate unsold food to the food pantry.

All these green efforts point out a quiet strength of farmers’ markets: their belief in the efficacy of traditional ways, where less is more, quality trumps quantity, and there is a deep-rooted connection to the earth.

Join us this Saturday, April 24, for our last winter market before welcoming our new summer vendors. We will be joining The Children’s Museum at Saratoga’s Children’s Road Rally event and offering a scavenger hunt and prizes for kids. Starting May 1, our Saturday markets will take place at the Wilton Mall from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., while you can find our Wednesday markets at High Rock Park from 3 to 6 p.m. For online pre-ordering and curbside pickup, visit localline.ca/saratoga-farmers-market.

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

There are many ways to make coffee. Our cups of coffee are very important to us since we start our days with that “necessary cup.” If you like coffee, you will find that you have many choices. You can spend lots of money to let other places make it for you. Many people find that their choice is a French press machine. People who use a press know and act like it is their own secret.  You can see it in the smile they have when they talk about it as they are purchasing one for a friend.  You can also see it in their frowns when they need one because the old one is lost due to a move or they are visiting here for an extended vacation and need one now!  My customers have many different passions for their favorite products but French Press people are knowledgeable and loyal. French Press coffee captures more of the flavor, aromas and oils from the coffee beans than drip coffee makers.  You lose a lot in a drip maker to the paper filter.  The difference between French press and drip coffee is that the grounds using a French press are steeped in boiling water while water just passes through the grounds in an auto or manual drip system. Grounds used for French press coffee must be larger and rougher. These grounds tend to release more caffeine, especially when steeped longer. Connoisseurs contend that this method of brewing produces a richer, fuller flavor. A serving that’s higher in caffeine may also have health advantages as well.

Once you have your press, here are the simple directions:
• Place the pot on a dry, flat surface. Hold the handle firmly, then pull out the plunger.
• Add a heaping tablespoon (7-8 grams) of coffee to the pot per 200 ml (6.7 oz) of water.
• Pour hot water—not quite boiling—into the pot, and gently stir.
• Carefully reinsert the plunger into the pot, stopping just above the water and ground coffee (do not plunge yet), and let stand for 3-4 minutes .
• Press the plunger down slowly, exerting steady pressure.

After each use, wash the pot with water and mild detergent, and dry thoroughly. Use coarse ground coffee. (remember fine will come through your screen).

You should probably consume your coffee within about 20 minutes as it could become bitter. Some people prefer it that way so whatever your tastes are is fine. You can also vary the strength by adding more or less coffee. If you remember, last week I talked about Tea and they also make a tea press which is catching on with Tea customers also.

Whereever your tastes take you, do what is best for you! Stop by Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store. Remember my Foodie Friends: “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”

 Take Care,
John & Paula

It felt so good to feel sunshine on our faces this past Saturday at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market. 

From now through the end of April, the farmers’ market will be outside, weather permitting, in the Bon-Ton/Bow Tie parking lot at the Wilton Mall on Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Current COVID guidelines still stand, so mask up, bring your shopping bags, and remember to social distance as we continue to ensure the safest (and freshest) shopping experience.

As we eagerly anticipate spring perennials like asparagus and rhubarb, they are still much too young to harvest as vibrant shoots have just recently broken through the earth. Even fiddleheads are weeks away from emerging. However, early spring offers an opportunity to savor the first tender greens that are getting their start in greenhouses and the last of stored crops like beets, kohlrabi, and radishes. Innovative farmers are also bringing hydroponically grown produce like cucumber, watercress, and herbs. And, some farmers work tirelessly to bring crops that grow year-round, like mushrooms. 

If you are eager to make spring meals, there are plenty of flavorful ingredients available at the farmers’ market. We feel inspired to share recipes for a fresh herbed salad and seared pork chops this week. Combining stored fruit and vegetables with freshly harvested greens, fresh farm eggs, and heritage meats is what spring cooking is all about. 

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is open Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Find us online at saratogafarmersmarket.org and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. For online pre-ordering and curbside pickup, visit localline.ca/saratoga-farmers-market.

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

One of our family’s favorite food is pizza, especially Paula’s homemade pizza. Pizza is an excellent all-round family food that every person can personalize and enjoy on the day it is cooked, or the following day (Breakfast Pizza?). It is also a perfect “on the go” food to help with the crazy schedules that we all have. Back in the days before children, pizza was a frequent meal for Paula and me. Our lives were basically like “two ships passing in the night.”

When Paula and I first dated one of our favorite romantic places to eat was an Italian restaurant called Verdolini’s. We were there so much they knew our order when we came in. The waitresses used to elbow each other and fuss over the young lovers. They were planning our wedding even before we even thought about getting married. The lighting and ambiance were straight out of a movie. The whole Verdolini family worked there and when he was old enough, my brother Bill, worked there also. They made a pizza that was different from any pizza I have had before or since. Paula was curious about their ingredients and how it was made. She would ask and they would say “it’s a secret.” We had my brother Bill, however, as our spy on the inside. Bill would bring home any leftover pizzas at the end of the night and hand them out to whoever wanted them. He could not manage to get the entire recipe from the owner, but he got enough that he and Paula came close. One of the special parts was baking them in their stone oven. We have tinkered with it over the years, and I think Paula’s pizza is now perfect. That’s the thing about pizza; it’s a personal taste type of food. The way I like it might be different than the way someone else likes it and that’s ok. 

Paula still enjoys making homemade pizza. A key tool that she uses is a pizza stone. When using a pizza stone, the unglazed clay surface absorbs and distributes heat evenly, producing a crispy crust, but this is how to do it correctly: Place a pizza stone in the oven on the lowest rack. Placing the stone in a cold oven is very important because if you put the cold stone into a hot oven, the stone will crack and break–it’s called thermal shock. Allow at least 30 minutes for the stone to heat before you cook the pizza. Let the dough come to room temperature before baking. If cold dough is placed directly on a hot stone, the abrupt change in temperature may also cause the stone to crack.

Because pizza stones are porous, they absorb odors. Avoid using soap to clean them. Wash with hot water and use baking soda to remove stubborn stains.

Stop by downtown Saratoga Springs’ Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store. Get creative with your pizza and make lasting memories. After 60 years in business our hometown Italian Restaurant, Verdolini’s had to close due to a flood and family health problems but they live in our memories forever. Enjoy making pizza with your family and friends. Sing, dance, play music really loud, and have fun eating your very own creation. Remember Foodie Friends; “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”

 Take Care,
John & Paula

Winter was hard. Just as I thought I could start to socialize again, new variants of the Coronavirus surfaced, pushing me back into isolation. I found myself feeling haggard from too much work at home, sitting at the computer trying to manage my teaching work and other responsibilities as a college professor alongside running our farm..

I longed to rip open a bag of organic potting soil, fill a tray of 72 seedling cells, and start planting arugula. But my husband Jim and I have been moving our farm, and with me left responsible for much of the packing, decluttering, and cleanup of our old locale, there was little time or space to make such a dream come true.

Last weekend, though, was Easter and its promise of renewal. I celebrated with Jim at the new farm. We sunk our hands into the soil and began planting rhubarb crowns that had arrived two days earlier. I checked out the seedlings Jim had started under grow lights and marked times in my calendar for when I could help transplant those starts into the ground. 

Last year, many of us fought back pandemic fear by creating what were dubbed “COVID gardens.” Gardeners planted radishes, turnips, arugula, lettuce, carrots, and peas. They obtained seedlings from such places as the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, along with tips on how to transplant, water and fertilize.

This year, we can tackle combat pandemic fatigue with gardening again.

Seeds for most spring crops – think peas, radishes, turnips, carrots, beets, lettuce, and kale – are widely available. Seedlings for summer crops, along with such vegetables as broccoli, will be available soon at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market at the Wilton Mall on Saturdays and, starting in May, at High Rock Park on Wednesdays. 

Many gardeners – from novices to experts – came to my market stall last year with stories about their successes – the spicy tang of a radish pulled straight from the ground, the sweetness of a tomato just off the vine – and their failures – the seeds that did not germinate, the rabbits who made the lettuce bed their salad bar. Their celebrations and their laments show how planting seeds is about more than growing food. It’s also about magic: the healing power of letting our hands touch dirt, the wondrous transformation of a germinating seed to sprout, plant, and fruit. 

It’s time to get planting. Let’s do it together. 

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is open Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Find us online at saratogafarmersmarket.org and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. For online pre-ordering and curbside pickup, visit localline.ca/saratoga-farmers-market.

At the Saratoga Farmers’ Market this Saturday, April 3, you can select excellent products for your Easter Dinner. 

When you enter the Wilton Mall at the Food Court, you’ll first see Something’s Brewing. Beth Trattel has small packs of Battenkill River Coffee One Pot Minis and full pounds of whole bean or ground coffee. As you get started in the morning, enjoy her new flavors such as chocolate fudge or chocolate coconut, along with Mrs. London’s Easter Hot Cross buns. 

The Farmers’ Market has excellent cheese for appetizers, such as Nettle Meadow’s new Prospect Mountain cow’s milk cheese which contains blackberry leaf, rose petals, red clover, sumac, and sarsaparilla root. R&G Cheesemakers use goat, sheep, or cows’ milk. Argyle Cheese Farmer has their award-winning Amazing Grace and other aged varieties.

To start your dinner with a salad, Gomez Veggie Ville has packages of mixed greens, and Underwood’s Shushan Valley Hydro Farm is returning with tomatoes, herbs, and veggies. To accompany your salad, serve Mrs. London’s French bread. Or Kokinda Farm’s Pasaka bread, a traditional Polish holiday bread made with raisins. 

You can use poultry, beef, veal, pork, fish, goat, or lamb for your main course.  Longlesson Farm is bringing many cuts of beef and pork. Ramble Creek offers chicken. Squash Villa Farm is bringing goat. Pura Vida has fresh-caught fish and seafood, including huge scallops.

Elihu Farm is bringing fresh (never frozen) lamb cuts, including legs, chops, shoulders, and shanks. Hebron Valley Veal raises their calves humanely for six months to produce rosé veal. The calves eat fresh milk from their dairy herd and have free choice hay and water. 

You can spice up any main course with spice mixes from Muddy Trail Jerky Co. And accompany your meal with wine from Fossil Stone Vineyards, made from grapes grown on their farm.

For dessert, The Chocolate Spoon is making fresh cakes, including carrot cake, fruit pies, and homemade marshmallows. Goodway Gourmet will have rum cakes. Euro Delicacies makes Baklava, a Turkish pastry made with layers of filo, filled with chopped nuts and syrup. Saratoga Chocolate has Easter baskets full of candy, even for adults to nibble.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is open Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Find us online at saratogafarmersmarket.org and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. For online pre-ordering and curbside pickup, visit localline.ca/saratoga-farmers-market.

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

Meal time is family time. As we know, family life is busy and preparing and sharing family meals together takes time. But when you can manage it, regular family meals are worth the effort. Whether it is nightly dinners or a special Sunday lunch, family meals are perfect times to catch up, connect and communicate with each other. This can be especially important for busy children and teenagers. Your child can also learn a lot about food, eating and family traditions by watching what you do at mealtimes. For example, eating with the rest of the family helps younger children learn to eat the same healthy food as everyone else. Throughout the years at Compliments to the Chef, we have had many young foodies come into the store and share their love of cooking. Young children learn best when they get to explore with their senses. Meal preparation is an important aspect of practical life. As children prepare food, they get to observe, touch, smell, taste and listen. This activity also provides an opportunity for them to learn about healthy eating and develop a variety of skills from early childhood. One of the best traditions we can hand down to our children is cooking special foods. And if you don’t share your own family recipes with your children, how will these memories and traditions stay alive? I’m a huge advocate for establishing your own food traditions in your kitchen, and passing them along to the next generation. After all, food is so much more than nutrients—it’s sustenance and love. 

During my childhood, my mother would try to keep five children “busy” by including us in the food prep activities (as long as she could tolerate us). A favorite food we all loved was pancakes. I would be in charge of mixing the pancake batter together (which was always an event since the mix would land all over the kitchen). A cool tool I wish I had back then is the immersion blender. 

Immersion blenders, also called handheld blenders, can be used for a variety of everyday kitchen tasks like mixing pancake batter, whisking eggs, whipping cream, pureeing smoothies and baby food, and it’s an essential tool for blending creamy vegetable soups, like butternut squash soup, right in the pot. A handheld blender can be a useful and space-saving alternative to a full-size blender since it can be tucked into a drawer or cabinet. One of our favorite immersion blenders is the Control Grip blender from Breville. Gain total control with the Control Grip. The Control Grip’s unique anti-suction technology means less liquid spilling out of your bowl and the ergonomic trigger grip gives your hand a natural position making use easier. A 42oz jug and whisk attachment is included. The immersion blender produces smoother textures, and has a design that is comfortable to use. It comes with whipping and chopping attachments as well. 

Stop by Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store to get those tools that make cooking fun. Spend time as a family cooking and making the traditions that your children will carry with them. Share the family recipes or create new ones! Remember my Foodie Friends: “Life Happens in the Kitchen!”

 Take Care,
John & Paula