Saturday, November 6, 2010

Look What You've Done Now Ame!

Our friend Ame guilted me into finding a local farmer's market after the great success she and our friend Zim have found in Chicago with local farmer's markets, and my delusion that Trader Joe's eggs were somehow mysteriously better for me than other mass produced beakless high volume egg-mill industrialized eggs.  2 weeks ago I remarked here (link) how happy I as to find farmers who were humanely raising hens to provide reasonably priced organic eggs.  Well this morning, I roused the whole family at 9am to drive down to the farmer's market in Central Phoenix, and what a cornucopia of remarkable fresh food did we find!
Truly wonderful grass fed beef brisket by double check ranch (www.DoubleCheckRanch.com)
Deliciously creamy feta from Crow's Dairy (www.crowsdairy.com)
Savory no gluten low carb (no salt or sugar added) lasagna from Raimondo's (www.raimondosofphoenix.com)
Grady's BBQ sauce (mild, hot, and Super Hot; http://www.gradysbbqsauce.com )
"DD's Desert Delights" Almond Espresso Brittle (Avondale AZ) [also Vegan and gluten free]
Line caught (not net caught) canned salmon from Oregon
Organic eggs, peppers, mozzarella cheese, spinach, lettuce, celery, apples, sweet potatoes, normal potatoes, tomatoes (and they were giving out free samples of cherry tomatoes 'try one!')
...so many nice farmers and ranchers.  No shortage of courteous shoppers with their Trader Joe's and Fresh & Easy canvas re-usable bags.  Well behaved children who listened to their parents without threats of violence.  No NASCAR, Lady Gaga, WWE/WWF, NRA, or anti-Obama T-shirts or paraphernalia to be seen.  No one open carrying any visible firearms (though it is legal throughout AZ to do without a permit).  I over-heard when a grocery shopper waiting in line ahead of me to pay for our organic goods told his friend "yeah, I'm giving the key note address on Globalization at the ASU conference tomorrow".  It was a wonderful, sustainable, friendly shopping experience for the whole family. 

And it's all Ame's fault!  =)  (thanks Ame!)

6 comments:

  1. Yea!!! Now that is a great birthday present. :)

    if you haven't already made up the brisket... I highly suggest the one I posted up last year. I think it was my first post.

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  2. Looks nice!

    What are the rules for the meat? Was it sold fresh and not vac-packed?

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  3. The brisket was sliced perfectly with a 3 to 5 mm layer of fat on one side. Braised deliciously in the slow cooker all afternoon. No vacuum packing, just wrapped in paper with the state required warnings about uncooked meat and to wash hands after handling uncooked meat, etc - all packed into a 2 inch oval sticker that sealed each 1.5 lb paper wrapped brisket. They were selling grass fed sirloins, ribs, and other cuts for about $15 a pound, and doing a steady business.

    They had a display of 1 dozen eggs, and I asked the rancher how many hens he had? "None, coyotes ate them all. Everybody loves chicken. We get these eggs from our Mennonite neighbors."

    It was fun for the whole family, and we'll be making regular trips downtown to stock up our pantry and refrigerator from now on.

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  4. Sounds great. Looking forward to hearing how the other cuts turn out as you make return visits.

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  5. you are so lucky that az doesn't force farmers to sell only frozen meats.

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