Fulton Farmer's Market

Each Saturday I've hopped right out of bed, excited to see what new things the Fulton Farmer's Market has to offer in its inaugural year.  There are so many wonderful things cropping up. Mr. S and I like to meander down the street, reusable canvas bags in tow, and start our morning with a fresh roasted iced or hot coffee ($2) at the Moonshine Coffee Co.  This group of young entrepreneurs use a Chemex coffee carafe to achieve a smokey strength in each cup. They've become good showmen since the slow process requires they brew each cup right in front of you.  

After we get our caffeine jolt we circle the market in search of breakfast.  This week Mr. S decided on a Ham and Swisscuit, a specialty biscuit from Sun Street Breads.  The baker, Solveig Tofte, is the former Head Baker at Turtle Bread.  If you're a Turtle Bread soup and bread addict you know very well anything she makes is going to be good.

I opted for Sun Street's biscuit and gravy.  A fresh baked buttery flaky delicacy halved and covered in perfectly seasoned gravy with a ton of sausage.  I was in love with the fact that, even in cramped quarters, they put a garnish of scallion on my gravy boat of goodness.  As my mom has always said 'Food enters through the eyes first.'  I wish I could supply a tantalizing picture of either breakfast, but I completely forgot my camera existed the moment the piping hot gravy boat was placed in my hands.

As we sat down to thoroughly enjoy our breakfasts on the concrete stairs of the Harriet Methodist Church (who's parking lot the market occupies while in session) we noticed some music playing in the background. The Melvilles were playing 'true rock originals', translation classic rock covers. We heard an easy listening mix of Neil Young and the like while we finished up breakfast and began our shopping. The music made for an awesome soundtrack.

This particular Saturday I was especially excited to visit the market.  I was on the lookout for a new vendor I'd been excited to visit. Bogart Loves Bakery turns out salty caramel brownies, brioche donuts and chocolate chip bacon cookies that have gotten people all riled up at the Kingfield Farmer's Market down the street. The STrib just wrote a glowing review on the new baker, Anne Rucker, "an attorney with a life long love of baking." Anne also maintains a blogspot and the girl is clearly more than a baker. She's a talented food stylist and all of her recipes, whether cooking or baking, sounds so tasty.

After assesing all of the options at her stand's picture perfect assemblage of the morning's fresh baked goods, Mr. S decided on the chocolate chip bacon cookie. He loved the chocolate but was slightly disappointed he couldn't taste the bacon as much. I had the brioche donut covered in a sweet and buttery brown sugar glaze. It was awesomeness in action.

Isn't Mr. S a good hand model?

In between all of the tasting we picked up a huge bunch of scallions for just a dollar.  I used them to make a teriyaki marinade (more on this later!), a deliciously flavorful tofu stir fry and as a garnish for baked potatoes and black bean soup.  

We also got a crusty soft-to-the-squeeze baguette from Patisserie 46.  I'll be posting a separate article about this little gem down the line.  There's just so much to say about their top notch pastries. 

On the way out we purchased a Fulton Farmer's Market sign ($5) to proudly display in our yard!

The Fulton Farmers Market is from 8:30 am-1:00 pm, every Saturday. It's located in the parking lot of Lake Harriet Methodist Church on 49th Street and Chowen Avenue.  Get there.