At the Farmer's Market

We are really enjoying our Saturday trips to the Farmer's Market. The apple stand right now has Cameo apples which have been my favorite apples for eating this season. We also are getting more pork products---for some reason a lot of greens recipes are paired with pork, either bacon or sausage. I also got a bag of hearty whole wheat bread and a pound of shelled pecans. Real quick on pecans: if you can find unshelled pecans, they are usually a lot cheaper. I've enlisted by 2 (at the time) year old's help in shelling last fall. I cracked them with a meat tenderizer mallet and she helped pick out the "meat" of the pecan (the edible part). They do take some time to do though, but if time's not an issue, it makes sense to buy them unshelled (or even go gather your own).

I've learned a little bit about getting pork at the farmer's market. First was the sausage that gets cooked in a skillet like hamburger meat has three names and different farmers call it different names. The sausage I get (not links or patties) is either pan sausage, breakfast sausage, or bulk sausage. I've gotten decent response by always asking for bulk sausage, so I tend to stick to that. I also make sure I always get the mild. They tend to season the sausage and it can be anywhere from slightly seasoned (like the mild I bought that my kids to eat) to hot (which is almost too spicy to eat myself). I've also discovered that different farmers season/smoke bacon differently. I need to ask more about this. The farmer I've been able to get bacon from (the other one is out a lot) doesn't season their's much at all. I tend to like a little more seasoning because it does taste different than what I am used to. It works fine for seasoning greens or dishes, but I am not sure I would want to eat it plain (it's not bad tasting, just a little bland).