We knew little about the contents of the market. The worker at the produce store told us that the market sold "Amish goods:" not particularly suggestive. A peek through the locked door revealed a lot of candy along the lines of a general store. We didn't know what to expect.
When we arrived at the market we found a full parking lot, which boded well for an interesting visit. Sure enough!Indeed, there were candies, and the makings of candy. THIS is the place to come to find anything you want for baking (including cinnamon chips, which will be used in muffins or scones). The colors of sprinkles was extensive, the little silver balls were abundant, and pieces of peppermint stick neatly packaged to spare the agony of smashing your own into powder with a rolling pin, hammer or meat tenderizer.
There was a variety of flours, all manner of things pickled (including brussel sprouts), and fillings for pie vacuum-sealed, rather than canned, in a quantity sufficient for a substantive pie. There were homemade breads, fudge, cookies, and ice cream. The meat at the deli (from which we enjoyed lunch) was sliced to order. There were cheeses and butter and produce and peaches (now in season locally). This was a slice of heaven.
Our basket filled quickly with the selections of items we couldn't resist, and then overflowed to include additional items. We filled two reusable bags from the car, and were smart enough to have brought a cooler and ice packs for the cheese and butter. I braced myself for a high price tag, and was shocked when the total came to $63 and change. Here's our stash for that amount (contents: about 1 1/2 pounds of butter, goat, colby and havarti cheeses, soy beans, corn nuts, pilaf, quinoa, granola, potato salad, cinnamon chips, sliced almonds, ground cinnamon, ranch dressing mix, salt substitute, green peppers, cucumber, peaches, zucchini, squash, banana peppers, and chili peppers.)
As noted above we enjoyed amazingly fresh sandwiches, and were thrilled to find that they also carried diet birch beer! I couldn't resist a sample of soft-serve ice cream (which tasted so much better than the stuff we usually buy under that name), but we did resist the peanuts. And the fudge. And every other sweet temptation.We couldn't help but note how many people were also making Habegger's market their Saturday destination.It was a great day for a drive through the country, and we look forward to future trips to Habegger's, as well as discovery other delights of the area about which we have learned since our return. Just trying to do our part to eat local, with delicious results. What did you do over the weekend?
2 comments:
Wow! How fun! I am totally enjoying the local farmers market - where I can purchase a weeks worth of salad fixings, bread and cheese...as you know making meals from what we purchase in place like these markets must taste better and seem special even if they are must ordinary ingredients.
Wow that looks amazing! I'm trying to decide if it would be good or bad for us to have one like that near us :)
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