What’s NEW in this issue:
1. 10am start for some vendors on Saturday
2. Dimond Center Saturday Market—two more Saturdays (weather permitting)
3. Cinnamon rolls!
4. Great recipes for Brussels sprouts and parsnips!
5. Wintertime venues for vegetables & bread
6. Christmas shopping?
7. Customer survey!

brrr!
Did you notice that little nip in the air last Saturday at the market? Not me! I was wearing my down parka! Ha! The weather is getting a little nippy for the vegetables (not to mention the farmers!), so some of the vendors will be ready at 10am on Saturday, rather than 9am. This gives you an excuse to sleep in a little!

market extension
The last day of the Saturday market at the O’Malley & Old Seward location (the Cellular One arena) is this Saturday, October 4th, since the hockey arenda gets very busy after that. But for two more Saturdays (October 11 & 18), the Saturday market will move to the parking lot behind the Dimond Center (in front of the Dimond Center Hotel).  Start time of the market will be no earlier than 10 AM.  The farmers will keep coming as long as they can—it will truly be “weather permitting.” Bad signs (i.e. probably no more market) will include deep snow or extremely cold temperatures.

cinnamon rolls!
If you got to the market early last Saturday, you might have been lucky enough to get one of Mary Jane’s luscious cinnamon rolls! Baked fresh in Palmer on Saturday morning, they went fast, so you might want to get there early to make sure she still has some left!! She’ll also have all kinds of breads, croissants, palmiers, and macaroons from the French Oven Bakery.

recipes
I’m linking to two fantastic recipes this week!  One, for those yummy Brussels sprouts with my ubiquitous mustard & caper sauce (if you haven’t tried it yet, you really need to), and one for roasted parsnips, which are showing their beautiful white roots at the market! You’ll find photos of the recipes on the website: http://www.SouthAnchorageFarmersMarket.com.

where to find alaskan produce after the market ends!
1. Alex Davis, of A.D. Farms will be selling his organic vegetables on Wednesdays at the Northway Mall from 11am to 6pm. He’ll also be selling shares of pigs. Contact Alex at 746-0038 or .
2. Produce boxes from Glacier Valley Farm CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture). Starting on October 22nd, you can get a weekly produce box filled with Alaskan vegetables! You can sign up for boxes every week, every other week, once a month—or more sporadically. You decide! You’ll be able to pick up your produce boxes at several locations around town, including Tap Root Café on Huffman Road. If you have a good location in mind, please let Arthur know! Email Arthur Keyes at for more information!

bread
It’s Rise & Shine Bakery’s last day at the market this Saturday!  After this week, we’ll switch to our wintertime routine! Starting on Friday, October 17th, I’ll send out our first weekly Bakery Bulletin to our bakery email list, which will list the breads we’re baking for the following Wednesday (October 22nd).  Our bakery is now on the internet so you’ll be able to go online at riseandshinebread.com to order your loaves.  Pick up your bread on Wednesdays, either at Tap Root Café (1330 Huffman Rd, across from Carrs) from 3-6pm, or at Side Street Espresso (410 G Street, downtown) from 8-11am.  If you didn’t receive the bakery bulletin last year, and you’d like to receive it after the farmers’ market ends, please sign up online at riseandshinebread.com .

Rise & Shine Bakery will be baking two of the large pan loaves this week, their 100% whole wheat sourdough levain, as always, and their Alaskan baked potato bread, made with newly-dug potatoes from Palmer! Both of these basic 100% whole-grain breads make fantastic toast and sandwich bread. (I have to admit, I love the potato bread best of all our loaves!)

Hearth loaves will include Alaskan rosemary bread! Usually we don’t have fresh Alaskan rosemary, but thanks to Sarah Schierhorn and her wonderful garden, this week we have lovely big branches of local rosemary!  Mmm, it just smells luscious!  Thank you, Mrs. Schierhorn!  You probably already know that this bread is great with pasta, salads, and warming soups and sandwiches. We’re also baking our Alaskan onion rye bread, a fun and savory flavor—great with cheese, and for sandwiches of all kinds!

And to celebrate our last day of 2008 at the market, we’ll be making that coveted flavor, the fruited almond! Packed with toasted almonds, golden raisins, dried cranberries, and fragrant dried apricots (and spiked with a little almond extract), this loaf is wonderful for snacks, dessert, or breakfast. 

christmas shopping at the farmers’ market?
Yes, fall is here… and are you ready for Christmas? Just kidding!! But seriously, I won’t be selling my farmers’ market cookbooks at the market after this Saturday (although you can get them from me if you order bread from Rise & Shine Bakery this winter). If you want to get cookbooks and book holders as gifts for your friends who love to cook, you might want to get them on Saturday.

your turn! market survey!

All of us at the South Anchorage Farmers’ Market would like to say thank you for a wonderful summer! Without you, there would be no Farmers’ Market!  I know it takes a special effort to come out and support your local farmers on Saturdays and Wednesdays, and it sure is appreciated.  In that vein, as the Market Reporter, I’d like to ask YOU a few questions!  After all, it’s your market!  Do you have suggestions for us?  We’d love to hear from you—what you like, what you don’t like about the market, and how we can serve you better.  Don’t feel like you have to answer all the questions—we’d just love to hear your input on whatever you’d like to write about.

Market Logistics
1. How did you hear about the market? 
2. What do you think about the hours and days of the market?  The beginning dates and ending dates?
3. Any comments on the location?
4. How often did you go the market, and did you mostly hit the Wednesday market or the Saturday one?

Newsletter & Website
This has been the second summer for me, reporting on what’s new at the different stands at the market, and sharing my favorite recipes. But I was able to add our website this summer!
1. What influence did the newsletter and/or the website have on your market-going?  Did it help remind you to go to the market on Saturday or Wednesday?
2. What did you think of the weekly commentaries on the fresh produce?  Did you want more detailed descriptions of what the farmers had?
3. Did the descriptions of different vegetables and other foods inspire you to try new things, shop at different farmers’ stands, help you plan for your shopping, or your weekly meals?  If so, how?
4. What did you think of the recipes? Did you wish the recipes were simpler, or more complicated? Did they inspire you to try vegetables or other foods that you hadn’t tried before? 
5. What did you wish was in the newsletter or on the website that wasn’t there?

Cookbook
1. Did you buy a 2008 South Anchorage Farmers’ Market cookbook?
2. If so, did the cookbook encourage you to attend the market?
3. Did it inspire you to buy more Alaskan-grown produce?
4. Did the cookbook help you try out diverse vegetables and fruits?
5. And finally, did the cookbook help you cook overall more healthfully?

Community
1. Did coming to the farmers’ market contribute to your sense of community?

alison’s lunch
You might have read about my new website/blog already, and checked it out at http://www.AlisonsLunch.com. But did you know that you can subscribe, to get the posts over your email, or through a reader? I’ll be posting stories and recipes to this website all winter, so you can get the information automatically if you’d like.

seafood
Arctic Choice Seafoods will have all kinds of fresh, delicious, Alaskan fish! Here’s a list of what they are likely to have.

fresh king salmon | fresh sablefish | fresh rockfish | fresh halibut | fresh clams | fresh oysters | halibut cheeks | king crab | snow crab | spot shrimp | side stripe shrimp | Dungeness crab | scallops | smoked salmon bellies

Saturday South Anchorage Farmers’ Market
Dates: May 10-October 4
Hours: 10am-2pm
Location: Subway/Cellular One Sports Centre at the corner of Old Seward and O’Malley

Saturday South Anchorage Farmers’ Market
Dates: October 11 & 18
Hours: 10am-2pm
Location: behind the Dimond Center, in front of the Dimond Center Hotel

For more information about the market, contact Arthur Keyes, South Anchorage Farmers’ Market Manager, at 907-354-5833, or at .

Please respond to this email if you’d like to be removed from the newsletter list.

Cheers! And see you at the market!
Alison Arians
Farmers’ Market Reporter

recipes
Since I can only use plain text in this email, I know the recipes are not always the easiest to read. If you’d like to see these recipes in a format that’s a little richer (plus photos!), please visit the website: http://www.southanchoragefarmersmarket.com. You can click on the “related recipes” at the bottom of the newsletter on the home page, or just search the recipes in the little box on the sidebar or on the “recipes” page.

related recipes

brussels sprouts with mustard & caper sauce
roasted parsnips
garlic oil