The Dirt: What To Get At The Farmers Market This Weekend

There are two things to keep in mind this weekend. The first is that this weekend, in some neighborhoods, is your last chance to shop a farmer’s market pre-Thanksgiving. Second, the fact that some markets, including Bryn Mawr and Headhouse, close the weekend after Thanksgiving, which means that you should really be thinking about shopping for two weeks, and not just one holiday. With those as your marching orders, go forth and pick-up your sweet potatoes, your greens, your turkey, and everything else you can carry. Here are a few additions worth considering.

Sister Mary’s Cranberry Sauce – Thanksgiving is a time of year when we reflect on our good fortune, no matter how meager, and we hold our gratitude a little more tightly in our cynical hearts. While you shop for your own holiday meal, send a portion of your spendings towards making sure other Philadelphians have a place to call home by making the cranberry relish on your table a jar of Project HOME’s cranberry sauce. A family recipe from executive director, Sister Mary Scullion, production of the cranberry sauce provides job training and seasonal work for ten Project HOME residents and the proceeds of its sale go to support those job training programs. Pick some up at the Project HOME table this weekend at the Rittenhouse market.

Lard – A brand new addition to the Rittenhouse market, The Lardist is selling handsome jars of micro filtered leaf lard just in time for holiday baking of pie crusts and popovers.

Brussels Sprouts – A classic addition to the Thanksgiving table, and one of the trendiest vegetables du jour, the sprouts have begun to arrive, both on the stalks and off. Look for them this weekend at Rineer Family Farm (Chestnut Hill, Rittenhouse) and Beechwood Orchards (Headhouse).

Kalettes – A serious contender for unseating brussels sprouts at the cool kids on the vegetable scene, allow me to announce: kalettes. These little clusters of leaves grow on long stalks the same way brussels sprouts do, but instead of looking like tiny cabbages, they look like tiny, leafy bunches of kale. Roast them quickly in a hot oven for a vegetable dish that is more like kale chips than it is like braised greens. Thus far, Beechwood Orchards (Rittenhouse, Headhouse) are the only folks to have them at local markets locally, so be sure to stop by early if you’re curious about them.

Turkey Stock & Chicken Stock – As far as holidays go, one of the things that makes Thanksgiving great is that for as long as it lasts, it is entirely acceptable to douse any number of meals in gravy. Stretch your gravy supply a little further by picking up some of Canter Hill Farm’s homemade stock at the Chestnut Hill and Bryn Mawr farmer’s markets.

Holiday Centerpieces – Even if the point of Thanksgiving is largely the abundance of the meal, it still helps to have something pretty on your table besides the food. Place an order this weekend at Triple Tree Flowers (Rittenhouse) and pick-up a custom arrangement at the special holiday market this Tuesday, November 24th.