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Shop Local, Eat Fresh

Argyle Cheese Farmer

Foods to make your healthy New Year’s resolutions last all year

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By Julia Howard

 

Many start a new year with fresh resolutions for a healthier, happier self. If you can’t get your healthy food resolutions to stick, perhaps change how you approach them. Instead of cutting out foods you love and feeling guilty if you fail, alter your diet with fresh, healthy ingredients to nourish your body and mind. Here are a few tips on what to look for at the farmers’ market.

 

Listen to your gut

A healthy balance of gut bacteria aids in the digestion of the foods we eat, helps our body to absorb nutrients, and uses those nutrients to fuel and maintain our body. Probiotic-packed fermented foods like kimchi and kraut from Puckers Pickles are packed with fiber and are delicious snacks or side dishes. Yogurt is another food known to add beneficial bacteria to the body. Argyle Cheese Farmer brings Greek and traditional yogurt in various flavors. Kombucha is a refreshing fermented tea drink full of good bacteria and is available in several flavors from Junbucha. 

Argyle Cheese Farmer, photo by Pattie Garrett

Powerful produce

Incorporating produce into your diet doesn’t have to mean eating salads vs. the comfort foods we love, but it does require cooking creatively. For example, when making mac and cheese, mix half the roux in the recipe with roasted and pureed butternut squash. Kale pesto packs powerful nutrients to fuel your body, and it’s delicious on pasta, toast, or in an omelet. Incorporating root vegetables like potatoes, turnips, and carrots into meals like pot pie, stir fry, soups, stews, and even meatloaf can boost the flavor and lessen the need for rich ingredients like cream and butter.

Hebron Valley Veal, photo by Madison Jackson

Lean meats and meat substitute

Regarding meat, certain types and cuts tend to be leaner. Veal is lean meat on par with chicken and turkey, and Hebron Valley Meat brings ground veal and various cuts and roasts. Longlesson Farm’s Christophe Robert suggests trying beef shanks. It is a less fatty cut of beef that benefits from being cooked low and slow in a crockpot or dutch oven.

If you are trying a no- or low-meat lifestyle, mushrooms can provide a fantastic, bold alternative. From lion’s main “crab cakes” to mushroom burgers, The Mushroom Shop has a wide variety of mushrooms for versatile and satisfying meals.

 

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is open on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the Wilton Mall Food Court. Find us online at www.saratogafarmersmarket.org, where you can sign up for our weekly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @SaratogaFarmersMarket

The Sweetest Time of the Year

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by Graciela Colston

There’s nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked desserts to make you feel at home during winter. From ready-to-bake cookie dough to specialty cheesecakes, the Saratoga Farmers’ Market has something for everyone.
Introduce your friends and family to the beloved Icelandic “Loftkokur” cookie from Parchment Bakery. These delicious dark chocolate and rosemary “air cookies” are traditionally made during Christmas, perfect for teatime or a light dessert. Parchment regularly launches new items and offers samples you won’t want to miss.

Parchment Baking Co., photo by Graciela Colston

This time of year, Kokinda Farm’s stand is the perfect destination for jams and jellies with seasonal favorites such as cranberry or raspberry-peach jam. Add them to thumbprint cookies, ice cream, or a warm baked brie for a delicious treat.

Kokinda Farm, photo by Graciela Colston

Pop by Saratoga Chocolate Co. for their coveted chocolate bars. Their peppermint chocolate bark is a holiday classic, the perfect gift for friends and neighbors. This year, they’re offering three hot chocolate flavors, Mayan spice, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate. We’re looking forward to their chocolate Santas in the upcoming weeks.

Saratoga Chocolate Co., photo by Graciela Colston

For those days when all you need are freshly baked cookies, Pork and Greens has you covered. Stock your freezer with ready-to-bake lard chocolate cookie dough logs. Pair the cookies with A2 milk from the Argyle Cheese Farmer. Their milk comes in four flavors: chocolate, java, strawberry, and plain. You can find both vendors next to each other at the Trusco Bank entrance.

Bring something special to the party with a box of cookies or rich fudge brownies from Cookie Lab Confections. These adorably wrapped treats are available in seasonal flavors: “Holiday Funfetti” or “Molasses.” Val’s other signature flavors, like her Puerto Rican Mantecaditos, are a must-try.
Trouvaille surprises us every week with new specialty cheesecake slices – they’re the perfect treat to share with a loved one or enjoy on your own. Looking to share with the whole family? Preorder a Christmas cheesecake on their website. Trouvaille will only be at the market through December, so make sure you don’t miss them!
A house full of guests calls for a house full of goodies! Come by for some last-minute shopping and holiday cheer. We’ll be open on Christmas Eve with our regular hours, 9:30 am to 1:30 pm.
The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is open on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the Wilton Mall Food Court. Find us online at www.saratogafarmersmarket.org, where you can sign up for our weekly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @SaratogaFarmersMarket.

Celebrate Earth Day by heading to the farmers’ market

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By Julia Howard

Earth Day is April 22, and with it comes the opportunity to reflect on the environment; what can we do to honor and protect the nature surrounding us. Earthday.org describes this global event as not just a day but a movement. At Saratoga Farmers’ Market, we agree wholeheartedly. The environmentally-conscious collaboration between local businesses, farms, shoppers, and the community is inspiring and encouraging, and we invite you to join in!

Composting at the Saratoga Farmers Market, photo by Madison Jackson.

Saratoga Farmers’ Market is pleased to continue offering community composting with help from Squash Villa Farm. Market-goers may drop fruit and vegetable scraps and compostable household matter like coffee grounds and eggshells in a large composting bin located at the TrustCo entrance at the Wilton Mall. Composted material is donated to local farms.

By shopping with baskets and reusable bags and adopting healthy habits like carpooling or taking public transit, we all can contribute to a healthy environment. 

And, when you shop at Saratoga Farmers’ Market, every dollar makes a difference in supporting local farms and businesses that, in turn, support environmental health and sustainability.

Local businesses have found innovative ways to reduce waste, which substantially affects the environment. Mean Max Brew Works repurposes their spent grain at [farmacy] Restobar in Glens Falls, where the restaurant makes crackers and other dishes from the leftovers. Argyle Cheese Farmer makes bread from whey, a byproduct of making cheese. Award-winning cheesemakers, Nettle Meadow, feed whey to their goats. And, Pork & Greens pigs feast on food bank goods, spent brewer’s grains, and whey.

Businesses like Junbucha prioritize environmental stewardship by composting food waste and recycling cardboard, metal, and plastic in their production facility. Filtering systems reduce their water consumption.

Reusing packaging is also a top priority. Farms accept clean egg cartons, plastic and glass containers, and even rubber bands from produce. Ballston Lake Apiaries sterilizes and reuses all of their glass honey jars rinsed and returned by customers. 

Lovin’ Mama Farm, photo provided

Many local farms, such as Pleasant Valley Farm, compost, rotate crops and use cover crops to hold soil nutrients. These farming practices are vital in supporting land ecology. Lovin’ Mama and Owl Wood Farm promote no-till, regenerative farming. Undisturbed soil layers build a healthy ecosystem with many benefits—mainly healthy soil to grow healthy food.

This week’s recipe: Chicken Spinach Salad with Butternut Squash

Saratoga Farmers’ Market Bread Vendors

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By Mary Pratt

Saratoga Farmers’ Market has diverse bread vendors – Argyle Cheese Farmer, Kokinda Farm, Night Work Bread, and Parchment Baking Company.

Argyle Cheese Farmer, photo provided

Dave Randles’ family has owned their farm since 1860. He and his wife, Marge, started their Cheese House in 2007. In addition to their delicious yogurt, cheese, and smoothies, Argyle Cheese Farmer brings bread to the farmers’ market. They save whey, a leftover liquid after milk has been curdled, for the liquid they need to make bread.

Their loaves of bread include Homemade Cheese Bread with their grated cheese, and Honey Oat Bread, for making grilled cheese sandwiches.  

Kokinda Farm, photo by Toni Nastasi

Laurie Kokinda joined the market 25 years ago. Kokinda Farm’s products include jams, jellies, veggies, eggs, and bread. She uses King Arthur organic flour for her yeast bread.  

Most recently, she brought Cinnamon Raisin Bread to the farmers’ market. In addition, she makes Honey Oat Bread and Honey Whole Wheat Bread with local honey from Rich Green’s Ballston Lake Apiaries. Laurie will return to the summer market.

NightWork Bread, photo provided

One of the farmers’ market’s newest vendors, Night Work Bread, is run by Cindy Rosenberg and Leigh Rathner. In addition to their sourdough bread, their products include scones, pies, cookies, and babka. They joined the Market in May 2021 and will continue this summer. Their local ingredients include King Arthur Flour, Elihu Farm’s eggs, and honey from Ballston Lake Apiaries.

Their bread at the farmers’ market includes Midnite Rye, Garlic Artichoke, Olive, Focaccia, and Seeded Country. Their old-world techniques include fermenting the dough for 16 hours with wild yeast. 

Parchment Baking Co., photo provided

Another new bread vendor is Parchment Bread. Isabel Burlingham said her mother’s Scandinavian family traditions inspire their baked goods. She uses her ancestors’ recipes with fresh and local organic ingredients, such as organic flour from Champlain Valley and Farmer Ground.

Their Rugbrød is a dense rye-based sourdough. Julekaker is a yeasted brioche-style bread with cardamom, crystallized ginger, and raisins. The butter and organic eggs used in this bread are both locally sourced. Their Kardemummabullar, or Bullar for short, are yeasted cardamom rolls made with local butter. Seasonally they make Hvidt Brød and Limpa, both with yeast.  

This week’s recipe: Simple Bread Pudding

Maple Syrup a Sign of Spring

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By Julia Howard

In the quiet of the night, on the eve of a March snowstorm, Slate Valley Farms’ owners Pat Imbimbo and his daughter Gina Willis began boiling sap for their first batch of maple syrup for the season. 

“Last year, we started boiling on Valentine’s Day, so I worked hard and tapped our entire farm in February thinking I was behind,” says Gina. “But then it stayed cold this whole time, so I had weeks of waiting and checking every day to see if we could start boiling.”

For maple syrup producers, the climate is a crucial factor. When daytime temperatures rise above freezing and nighttime temperatures fall below freezing, the fluctuation creates pressure in the maple trees, encouraging sap to flow. 

120-yr-old maple at Slate Valley Farms, courtesy of Slate Valley Farms

This season, Pat and Gina tapped 4,000 maple trees on their 101-acre family-run farm in the hills of Granville near the Vermont border. 

Their sap-gathering is automated, using a vacuum system Pat monitors on his iPhone. The sap runs through a reverse osmosis system, removing much of the water before boiling.  This method results in less boiling time, less fuel, and a better quality syrup. 

This Saturday, March 19, the Saratoga Farmers’ Market celebrates the beginning of maple season and the return of Slate Valley with the season’s first batch of maple syrup. There will be plenty of maple-infused food and drinks to enjoy, too!

 

TogoNola, photo by Toni Nastasi

TogaNola offers $1 off of its products made with locally-produced maple syrup. Nettle Meadow will bring their maple chevre, and R&G Cheesemakers will have their sweet and spicy maple chipotle chevre. Argyle Cheese Farmer will have maple Greek yogurt and traditional maple yogurt. Stop by Something’s Brewing for a maple latte or a bag of maple-nut flavored coffee beans. Muddy Trail’s Jerky Co. will bring a variety of maple products: maple beef snack sticks, maple BBQ dry rub, and pancake mix for soaking up all that delicious maple syrup.

Various local farms will bring eggs, bacon, and ham to make sweet and savory maple-drenched breakfasts to help you celebrate maple season at home.

Children and families can look forward to a maple-themed activity at Saturday’s celebration of maple season.

At Slate Valley Farms, Gina is hopeful for a lengthy and abundant maple sap harvest with prolonged cold temperatures. A reason for all of us to appreciate the changeable temperatures that come with spring’s onset.

This weeks recipe: Baked Oatmeal with Maple Syrup

Cheeseburger Pie

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Recipe courtesy of Argyle Cheese Farmer

Ingredients

*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market

Crust

  • 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • ⅓ cup shortening
  • 4 to 5 tablespoons ice (cold) water

Filling

  • 1 lb. ground beef*
  • ½ cup Argyle Cheese Farmer buttermilk*
  • ½ cup ketchup 
  • ⅓ cup bread crumbs*
  • ¼ cup onion*, chopped
  • ½ teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

  • Argyle Cheese Farmer cheese curds* (any flavor), shredded

Instructions

For the crust:

Blend together flour and salt in a bowl. Cut shortening into dry ingredients with a pastry blender (or use the back of a fork) until it forms pea-sized pieces. Slowly add cold water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough sticks together in a ball. Remove dough from the bowl and make the ball into a rough square. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least half an hour.

For the pie:

Preheat oven to 350 F and prepare a 9-inch pie plate.

Mix together all filling ingredients, except the cheese, in a bowl. Roll out the pie crust on a lightly floured surface until big enough to cover the pie plate. Place the crust in the pie plate. Pour the filling into the crust. Trim the extra crust, roll the edges, and crimp with your fingers or a fork. Bake for 50 mins. Top with shredded cheese and bake for another 10 mins. Let rest 10 mins before serving. 

Refrigerate the leftovers and reheat the next day.