Belmont Farmers' Market Weekly Email newsletter for October 9th, 2008

*******NEW HOURS*******
Starting THIS Thursday, October 9th, Market hours shift to 1 to 5:30.

Award Winning Apple Cake recipe at the end of this message!

Weather: Thursday promises to be warmer, but possible rainy– low 70s
with a 30% chance of rain. The Belmont Farmers' Market is open rain or
shine! See www.wunderground.com/US/MA/Belmont for further updates.

Website: Check www.belmontfarmersmarket.org for updates and links to
vendors, our calendar of events, information about volunteering, gift
certificates, shirts, and tote bags all celebrating and supporting the
Belmont Farmers' Market.

Also available online is footage of Guest Chef Will Gilson on
September 25th (of Garden at the Cellar and Herb Lyceum) who took
market shoppers on a culinary tour of the Market.

This Week at the Market:
Weather: Thursday promises to be warmer, but possible rainy– low 70s
with a 30% chance of rain. The Belmont Farmers' Market is open rain or
shine! See www.wunderground.com/US/MA/Belmont for further updates.

Performance:
Anne and Paul are the market managers, and the multi-talented Joce
Milton will be playing the violin at 1:45.  Joce volunteers as our
BFMC Treasurer, and after a two decade break, has returned
to her string instruments music interest.
 
Vendor News:
There will be two NEW guest vendors:
 Mamadou Bakery from Winchester with a variety of European style
artisan breads and Ooh La La Fudge from Waverley Square here in
Belmont. They will be selling their signature fudges and other sweets,
as well as hot chocolate -- a perfect drink for cooler fall afternoons
 Returning occasional vendors, include Waverley Place with a variety
of fall herbs; Bee Tender Mary Canning; and Crystal Brook goat
cheeses.  This probably will be Crystal Brook's last time with us this
season, so consider stocking up!
Lost and Found 
We have collected quite a few lost and found items, most recently keys
and another pair of glasses.  They and other articles are waiting for
pick up at the blue BFMC information tent.  If not claimed by the end
of the season October 30th, we will donate items to charity.

As noted at the top of this message, the remaining October markets
will take place from 1 until 5:30, a shift in hours to accommodate
shorter daylight hours.

Last week's apple dessert contest was a lot of fun.  Check out the web
site for photos of the Grand Prize Winners Julia and Maija, along with
ones of other fabulous entries and recipes for some of them. Also new
on the BFM web site is a shopper survey.  Please take a minute to give
us your feedback!
We'd like to extend a special thank you to Dan Tanabat of Patou Thai
Restaurant in Belmont Center who filled in at the very last minute for
a judge who could not be there. What a Farmers' Market hero!
2008 Apple Dessert Contest 
Grand prize was the Legacy Apple Cake, teeming with apples and
walnuts, made with whole wheat flour, that was baked by 4th Graders
Julia Siegel and Maija Kubasek.    

Top winners in each category
Pre-school through Grade 4:  Frankie Castagno   Decorated Caramel Apples
 Middle School Grades 5-8:  Becca Tananbaum   Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie
 High School & College:  Maggie Davis   Apple Caramel Volcano
 Adult:  Jody Judge   Old Fashioned Apple Pie
 Other winners included:  Olivia Castagno; Wendy Hills, James,
Madeline and Francesca Kitch, Annie Lazenby, and Sarah Puccio

Among the judges we would like to thank are former Belmont resident
and State Representative Anne Paulsen, Mass Agricultural Commissioner
Doug Petersen, Publisher of "Edible Boston", Ilene Bezahler, and local
paper editor Tony Schinella and Dan Tanabat of Patou Thai Restaurant.

Thanks also goes out to Quebrada Bakery (Belmont resident Kay Wiggins) and
Kimball Fruit Farm (BFM vendors from Pepperell) for contributing to
our participant goody bags. These bags included delicious apple sugar
cookies from Quebrada, and big lucious apples from Kimball's. Thanks
to local business partners A Chocolate Dream, Angelato, Belmont Toys,
Charlesbank Bookshop, and Frankie's Catch of the Day, as well as the
Belmont Farmer's Market, we have some great gift certificate prizes
for the top entries in each category. Stone Hearth Pizza has
generously donated the grand prize--a fifty dollar gift certificate.

Vendor News:
Returning to the Market this week are Merrimack Valley Apiary with a
variety of local honies; Coutts Specialty Foods with jams and
relishes, including several items made with New England apples; and
Belmont Municipal Light Department with free light bulbs and tips for
saving energy at home.

As noted at the top of this message, the remaining October markets
will take place from 1 until 5:30, a shift in hours to accommodate
shorter daylight hours.

Upcoming Events:
Next week on October 16th, we will have the monthly collection for the
Belmont Food Pantry. Looking ahead to the last market day, October
30th, there will be an opportunity for shoppers to sharpen up--their
knives that is! In business since 1953, Siraco Sharpening will also
sharpen scissors and garden tools, including lawn mower blades (not
rotary mowers though). Siraco has been a popular feature at several
farmers' markets the past few seasons. Shoppers drop off their knives
at the Siraco van and they are usually ready to be picked up after
shopping.

Belmont Farmers' Market Apple Dessert Contest 2008
Julia Siegel and Maija Kubasek's grand prize recipe

LEGACY APPLE CAKE WITH BROWN SUGAR FROSTING
Slightly modified from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking
 
Cake Ingredients
2 1/2 Cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp (heaping) ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp (heaping) ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 Cup unsalted butter
2 Cup packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 Cup boiled cider
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 Cups peeled chopped apples
1 Cup chopped walnuts
 
Preheat oven to 325 F.  Grease and flour 2 nine inch cake pans.
 
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices
in a medium bowl and set aside.  Cream together the butter and sugar
in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one
at a time, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl between eggs.  Mix
in the boiled cider and the vanilla.  Mix in the dry ingredients,
stirring until evenly moistened.  Fold in the apples and walnuts.
 
Divide the batter between the two pans.  Bake until a cake tester 
inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 30 – 35
minutes.  Remove the cakes to a cake rack and cool completely.
 
Brown Sugar Frosting Ingredients
5 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 Cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp milk
1 1/2 Cups confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
 
Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat.   Stir in the brown
sugar and salt and cook, stirring until the sugar melts.  Add the
milk, bring to a boil and pour into a mixing bowl to cool for 10 minutes.
 
After 10 minutes, stir in the confectioners sugar and vanilla.  Beat
well.  If the mixture appears too thin add more confectioners sugar. 
Spread on the cake while the frosting is still warm, it will firm up
and be more difficult to spread once it cools.