Thursday, July 29, 2010

Growers/Crafters Markets have the best food & I love a good book!!!


















This photo is courtesy of Prairie Flower Farm. Please pay the blog a visit. Tell them I said hello. You can find the Prairie Flower Farm button my sidebar!!!


Hi everone... Are you having a good week so far? I'm having  a great week. Today I made a sort of unplanned trip to my local growers/crafters market.  I wanted to  buy a couple of hand  pies/tarts...one sweet and one savory. So it was such unexpected fun today, I just had to snap some photos and share them with you all.

Here goes...The last time I was at the growers/crafters market was back in May. I went with some friends.  This particular market is held at the local National Guard Armory. It's fantastic.  I was so surprised by all the variety. This market is small, but mighty..and there was everything there from fruits/veggies, fresh eggs...to handmade toys and cutting boards :) I was really hungry and I saw these hand pies..and they were yummy, yummy.....and yummy!!!

When I looked at the sign, I noticed it read Pennington Farms. Oh I remembered this place. This is the farm that was featured in the July 2008 issue of Country Living magazine. At the time I didn't know they were local. I just loved their baked goods and their story.  Here's a link to the online article. It's worth checking out, the photos are fantastic. So when I realized they're local, I was really happy!!!

The first visit to the market I purchased an apple turnover and an Italian savory hand pie..both are handheld pies..so yummy. Today I purchased a blackberry hand pie and a spinach/Swiss cheese hand pie :) :) Of course, I shared both with my dad. This is my favorite booth for jams, baked goods etc. I asked if I could take a few photos. The very nice lady said "yes".  Here's a few photos of the booth...and you'll see why I love it so much :) :) :) Oh, click here to visit the Pennington Farms website :) :)


Look at all those yummy bottles of fresh preserves and jams!!!


Pennington Farm has lots of hungry fans :)


This is a little bit about the farm. They also have this on their website too :)


Okay...I love stuff like this :)


Here's some of the fresh berries available for purchase. There was quite a bit more this morning...but people kept buying it all up :) :)


Now this is what I'm talking about :) :) :)


These are the little bags that the hand pies and turnovers are lovingly packaged...wow, even the bags are cute.


This is the blackbery hand pie. Yummy, yummy, and did I say yummy!!!!


These were miniature jars of preserves that were $1.25 each..I'm going to reuse these jars for a craft project when the preserves are all eaten up :) :) :)


This was a free postcard...so I took one home. This booth has so much to look at , buy and enjoy :)

My other favorite booth at the growers/crafters market is Full Circle Bison Ranch. I love bison meat because of how it's raised...100% grass fed. It tastes a lot like beef. Click here to visit their website. Now I didn't purchase anything here, because I am on a budget...BUT they are very well known here in Southern Oregon. Their products are sold in quite a few farmers markets and stores.

What caught my interest was the bison hide and the bison fur pelt.  My dad makes leather Bible covers from leather hide..and I saw this..I knew he'd be really interested. So that was my "hook" for getting him to come to the farmer's market with me today :) :) Oh, in addition to their bison meat being 100% grass fed, it is also certified ORGANIC. That's so important.  For me at least, I'm careful about the meat I eat...because whatever the meat animals eat, you eat too. So it's just a personal conviction of mine.

The gentleman at the booth today was a real sweetheart. My dad was asking a LOT of questions, which was his way of saying that he loved the booth, and especially that bison leather hide. It's super soft...softer than cow leather hide.

I don't eat a lot of meat, but when I do, I LOVE bison meat or organic beef. Full Circle Bison Ranch specializes in buffalo meat :) :) :) It's really good.

There's all sorts of bison meat products to purchase there or on-line. Full Circle Bison Ranch will ship to your door :) :)


Here's my dad talking with the nice gentleman in the hat. They're talking bison leather hides. The bison pelt on the right is also really interesting!!!


I wrote this on the back of the Pennington Farms paper bag that kept my hand pies safe till I got home to eat them :) :)   I wanted to thank them for letting me take some photos :) :) I highly recommend both businesses because their product is good, but they were also really nice to me!!! That's important in my book...don't just frequent a business for the product...but also for how they treat you as a customer :) :) :)

Oh, I love to read. Lately I've been reading a lot of historical Christian fiction. I love this genre because its great romance but also clean and uplifting.  One of the author's I love to read is Mary Lu Tyndall. Click here to visit her website or  you can go straight to her blog by clicking here. She's been having a giveaway durings Fridays in July for her book "Surrender the Heart". It's the first book in the  "Surrender to Destiny" series. This book opens up in 1812 right at the onset of the war of 1812 between the USA and Great Britain.  I won a copy. I'll finish reading this book really quickly :) :) :)

I had previously read Mary Lu Tyndall's series "Charles Towne Belles series"..which takes place in the 1750s during Colonial America.  All of her books have romance, adventure, danger and the Gospel is weaved throughout the books. So these are fantastic romances that will leave you feeling uplifted and wanting to read more.

This is me holding a copy of Mary Lu Tyndall's book "Surrender the Heart". This photo was taken today.


Mary Lu even autographed the book. How cool is this? I love it!!!!

My dad and I had a great morning. It's going to be another hot one today, for sure. I didn't know the farmer's market opens at 8:30 a.m. So the next time I go, I'm definitely going to be there when it opens :) :) :)   

I got something good to eat and now I have something romantic and uplifting to read. I hope you all are having a great day today!!!! That's the news from Oregon.  Love and hugs, Heather :)

6 comments:

Patti said...

You know, I forced myself to plant a garden for three summers (some legalistic teaching had our family convinced that "good" Christian families plant a garden). Finally, we came to the place of realizing that was bondage, that our walk with the Lord wasn't dependent upon whether or not we had a garden, and we admitted to ourselves that we didn't LIKE gardening. We LOVE going to the farmers' market. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to shop the farmers' market. They have fabulous produce, and I feel like I'm doing my part to help my local economy.

That pie does, indeed, look delish!!! Wish I had one right now.

I enjoy a good book as well. I just started "A Distant Melody," by Sarah Sundin. This is her first book, and it is a Christian romance...set in my favorite time, WW II. Good, clean, moral novels are a MUST for me as well.

Blessings,
Patti

Sheila said...

Hi Heather,
It sounds like you and your dad had a wonderful day. The hand pie looks yummy. I love bison too but we don't get it much--too expensive. I don't usually eat red meat but I do eat bison once in a while. I love Christian fiction too-I've read most of it at our local libraries!! I'll have to check out MaryLu Tyndall's books--they look like just the type I like.
I hope y'all are having a wonderful day. Take care.
Hugs, Sheila

Jill said...

I love Farmer's markets, and the goodies you were previewing were making me hungry! LOL I'm going to check out her books on the website! Have you ever read Francine Rivers books? There is one called Redeeming love. One of my favotite books ever, if you get a chance to read it I highly recommend it! Hope you have a great night.
Blessings,
Jill

Nancy said...

Oh my goodness, that pie looks sooo good. Is that fried? I've never had a blackberry pie, or any kind of fried pie. Hmmm, maybe for my birthday next month I'll try one, I'm sure someone in PA makes them. Great Post! Have A Wonderful Night Heather!!!

xoxo Nancy

Annesphamily said...

I am hungry for fruit pies! Yummy! Oh heck, just the fruit will be fine too! LOL!
Go visit http://reviewsfromtheheart.blogspot.com/Kat is amazing and I just won a book from her site! Woo Hoo!
I would love to see those bible covers. You and your dad are just amazing.
Hugs to you! Anne

Heather's Blog-o-rama said...

@Patti/A Hopeful Heart - You are so right about the garden thing. I'd love to plant a garden one day...but it's my relationship with God that is the most important thing!!! Oh yes, and I LOVE farmers markets too. It's fun to walk around and see what everyone has!!!! You're book sounds really interesting. I love WWII novels too...any good Christian historial fiction :) :)

@Sheila...my dad and I don't eat a lot of meat either because of the cost. ..but we try to cut back on other areas so we can afford organic beef or bison every once in awhile. It's so good. Check out Mary LU Tyndall's series "The Charles Towne Belles"..There's three books. It's really good.

@JIll - I've read "The Mark of the Lion" series by Francine Rivers. It was beautiful. It reminds me of a really old Christian novel called "Quo Vadis?" about a Roman soldier who falls in love with a Christian girl who's a slave...and it's a beautiful story. There's also a movie from the 1950s with the same title. I enjoyed it very much!!!

@Nancy Y - that pie is BAKED :) :) :) I'll bet there's someone in your area who makes something similar :) :)

@Anne - I'm trying to get my dad to put some Bibles together so I can photograph them and share them on my blog :) :) :) He does a good job and it's all done by hand :) :)

Thanks everyone for leaving me comments. I've been really behind on answering back this past week!!! I love it when you stop by for a visit!! Have a great week. Lots of love and hugs from Oregon, Heather :)