Sloans Creek Heritage Meats at Market

First take a moment to imagine these Sloans Creek Heritage Meats boneless pork chops were on your grill.
Tender and juicy with a savory flavor that makes it hard to put down your fork.  And for all the bacon lovers, even the flavors bursting out of the fatty trim will satisfy your soul only as that magical animal can.

Have you stopped by the Sloans Creek Heritage Meats booth at the Main Street Farmers’ Market lately?  Ellen is always there to answer questions and tell you about their high quality of meats.

From the Sloans Creek Heritage Meats website:

“We raise Registered Red Poll, Murray Grey, and Irish Dexter Cattle for grass-fed Beef, Registered St. Croix Hair Sheep for grass-fed lamb, Myotonic Meat Goats for grass-fed chevon (goat meat), and Registered Red Wattle Hogs for pastured pork.

Grass-fed or grass-only means just that. Our cattle, sheep and goats are raised on an all forage diet in a managed grass system, and they receive no grain in their diets. The hogs & chickens are raised on soil and pasture with grain as part of their diet. We believe this produces a superior product for human consumption, is better for the animals’ health, and we believe it is how God intended ruminants to be raised.”

You can trust Sloans Creek Farms that they are working very hard to provide the very best to their animals in order to sell incredible meats to us.  To learn more on how they raise their animals, read Raising Our Animals.

If you would like to take a look at their menu of meats and prices, download the following pdf form.  You can order by email, call or just come straight down to the Main Street Farmers’ Market.  Look for Ellen’s gray trailer marked Sloans Creek Heritage Meats, L.L.C.

Download Sloans Creek Heritage Meats, L.L.C. – 2009 Order Form.pdf.

CiboVino Restaurants’ FABULOUS Ribs Only at the Market

You won’t find finer tasting smoked ribs ANYWHERE but at Main Street Farmers’ Market.
And that is not an opinion, that is a fact. At least, not until the ciboBQ restaurant opens anyways.

All thanks to the Murray family, owners of ciboVino restaurants, everyone that comes to market on Saturdays takes the opportunity to pick up a lovely rack of smoked baby back ribs.  It all started back in the Spring when Rick Murray, father of ciboVino restaurant, brought his smoker up to market.

You know sometimes, we don’t imagine how successful our ideas can be until we’ve lived them.  And that’s what happened to Rick.  Long before the normal lunch rush, the breakfast crowd bought up all the ribs.  The cibo team spent the rest of the market day, smoking up sold ribs, and telling the on-lookers “I’m sorry these are sold.  And we’re out of ribs.”

The next week, they brought MORE ribs.  So the lunch crowd came earlier to get their names on a rack of ribs, but the cibo team STILL ran out of ribs before lunch.  Then spent the day smoking ribs and saying, “I’m sorry these are sold.  And we’re out of ribs.”

Brennan Murray, pictured above, is a true entrepreneur and a real talent in the kitchen.  Don’t be fooled by his size or that’s he’s nine years old.  Spend a little time talking to him and you’ll walk away saying to yourself, “That kid’s going to own this town someday.”  He’s serious about food and knows how to work the crowd.

Anyhoo.  Each week, the cibo team brings more and more ribs and they have found their rhythm with the growing crowd of customers.  Rick had to put away his little smoker and brought out a mammoth wood smoker, the best pit in the world…the Oyler, designed my J&R Manufacturing of Mesquite, Texas.  It can smoke over 300 racks of ribs.

LOOK AT ALL THESE LIP SMACKIN’, FINGER LICKIN’ RIBS

The cibo team is more than ready to take on the growing crowd of hungry folks at market now.  But if I were you, I wouldn’t wait until the last minute to get these ribs.  Just knowing there’s more, allows others to stock up.  Very reasonably priced, it’s a no brainer to head down to market and buy enough for a weekend party.  You could have a grill party and not even have to get hot.  ;D

For more information about CiboVino Restaurants go to Cibo.us

Ten Very Good Cooking Oils

After coming home from the farmers’ market, you have all that fresh produce to prepare.  Do you have the right oils for cooking a healthy meal?  Are you curious how to use those other oils you see on the grocer’s shelves?

Choosing the right oil to go with a particular cooking method is IMPORTANT.  Some oils are good for high heat cooking, while others are better for drizzling over soups and salads and nothing more.

According to the American Diabetes Association, American Dietetic Association, and the National Institute of Health, here’s a good guide to the healthiest cooking oils.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Walnut Oil: Good source of omegas 3s; suitable for baking, sauteing at low to medium-high heat, or drizzled on a salad.
(400ºF smoke point)(polyunsaturated)

Flaxseed Oil: Good source of omegas 3s; should NOT be used for cooking over heat; stir into dishes after heating, or use in salad dressings.
(225ºF smoke point)(polyunsaturated)

Canola Oil: Use in baking, sauteing, stir-fry, and in salad dressings.
(425ºF smoke point)(monounsaturated)

Olive Oil: Good for light sauteing, sauces, and dressings.
(325ºF smoke point) (monounsaturated)

Peanut Oil: Good for light sauteing, sauces, and dressings.
(350ºF smoke point)(monounsaturated)

Almond Oil: Good for HIGH heat cooking, sauteing, or frying.  Flavor also works well in desserts.
(495ºF smoke point)(monounsaturated)

Avocado Oil: Good for high heat cooking, sauteing, or frying, and in salads.
(510ºF smoke point) (monounsaturated)

Safflower Oil: Good all-purpose oil; high heat cooking, sauteing, or frying.
(450ºF smoke point) (polyunsaturated)

Sunflower Oil: Good for high heat cooking, sauteing, or frying.
(460ºF smoke point)(polyunsaturated)

Corn Oil: Good for light sauteing and sauces.
(320ºF smoke point)(polyunsaturated)

Interview with JC’s Cookies and More

The Main Street Farmers’ Market is blessed to have so many talented and hardworking merchants.  And with the all the shoppers keeping everyone busy, its not always possible to get to know all the merchants in one visit.  Jill McKeever caught a moment between shoppers to talk to Lisa of JC’s Cookies and More to find out more about her delicious baked goods.

INTERVIEW

Lisa: My name is Lisa and this is JC’s Cookies and More, the business is named after my dad.   We make fresh cookies.  Everything’s homemade from scratch.  I’ve been baking for as long as I can remember.  I’ve only been operating JC’s Cookies and More for about a year now.

Jill: What all do you bake?

Lisa: We have four different kinds of cookies. We bake three different kinds of brownies; cheesecake brownie, peanut butter brownie and Almond Joy brownie.  We bake homemade banana breads, banana carrot, banana strawberry, some lemon breads.  And last but not least, we make homemade, from scratch, dog cookies and treats.

Everything is baked just before we come out. It’s all homemade like I said, from scratch. We have a lot of different samples for people to try when they come out.

Jill: What’s your best seller?

Lisa: Our best seller is the chocolate chip cookie. However, once people get a taste of the oatmeal raisin with cranberry, they come back every week just to buy the oatmeal raisin with cranberry.

Of course our dog cookies, too. Our peanut butter and cheese dog cookies are REALLY popular.

Jill: Awesome. Oh your website? Is there a way for us to buy online?

Lisa: Yes there is, you can go to www.jcscookies.com and you can buy everything that we have at the Main Street Farmers’ Market online. We’re here every Saturday at the Main Street Farmers’ Market except for Canton weekend. We’re at Canton.

Jill: When is Canton weekend?

Lisa: First Monday of every month.   We’re out at first Monday’s. Otherwise we’re out here, so you can get the same thing every week or you can order online and we’ll deliver it out here at the Main Street Farmers’ Market.

We, also, make gift baskets for the cookies.  When you come here and try our samples, talk to us.  You can get a postcard that offers free shipping. You can order online and we will ship cookie baskets or brownie baskets for FREE for the FIRST ORDER.

During the holidays, we sell a harvest bread basket that comes with loaf of pumpkin bread, and a loaf of cranberry bread.

Jill: Thank you, Lisa.  I appreciate you taking the time to talk with us.  You’re a talented baker.  I see a wave of shoppers have come to load up on the cookies.  I’ll let you get back to work.  Have fun!

Lisa: Thank you, Jill.

Crave the Flavors of the Main Street Farmers Market