Lake Mary Farmer's Market

On a Saturday morning, I enjoy stopping in at the Lake Mary Farmers Market. I have taken home a lot of good food and other great things from this place.

Open from 9:30 AM to 1 PM and located on the grounds of the Lake Mary City Hall, this market boasts not only fresh produce, live plants, good food, and artisanal foods and crafts, it also often has other activities associated with it such as fitness classes, an Easter Egg hunt, and other children and family centered activities. There are several great restaurants nearby, or sample the Barnwood pulled pork sandwich--one of my favorites. There seems to be something for everyone here. Last year i filled my herb garden with plants from here, and I also have quite a few orchids that I purchased here for well under the big box store fancy prices. I love this place!

 

Sanford Farmers Market

The place to go on a Saturday morning to find fresh produce, honey, breads, orchids, flowers, crafts, and a whole lot of other things is the Sanford Farmer's Market. Open every Saturday from 9 AM to 2 PM, it's located in Magnolia square right off of first street in downtown Sanford. 

International Market and Deli

Wow, for a little place, a lot of flavor is packed into International Market and Deli. I'd read about this place in another Orlando area food blog, Tasty Chomps! I'm sure glad he passed the info along. So on a recent rainy Sunday afternoon, a friend and I set out for this place. We were not at all disappointed. We actually had some very good eats here for an astonishingly low price.

Located conveniently to downtown Orlando in the Asian area of Mills Street and colonial Drive, International Market and Deli seems to be in a good location, adding a nice nuance to the international flavor of the area. They specialize in food from central and eastern Europe. I'd say their main emphasis is Russian and Ukrainian, but they also have an adequate variety of Polish and other eastern european food such as Romanian, Serbian, and a host of other countries. In many cases, the foods of those areas blend and bleed from one country to another. The piroshki of Russia is related to the Varenyki and the Pelmeni of Ukraine which turns into the pierogi of Poland (and eventually into the ravioli of Italy and potstickers of China!). Lots of good food, that's my point.

After looking around a bit, we decided to eat. The ready to eat foods in their deli section were not clearly labeled, so we had to ask what all they had, but the proprietor was available and ready to answer all our questions. We sampled and sampled and ate well--for well under $10--for two of us! Amazing food at a fantastic price.

My friend Tommy started with a Russian offering, a piroshki. This is a bread-like stuffed dumpling that is deep fried. His was stuffed with a potato mixture, though they also had cabbage/mushrooms and meat fillings available.

By the way, the foods are chilled in the deli case. If you want to eat there, they microwave them for you--the same thing I'd do with them if I took them home.

For my first try, I ordered something whose name now escapes me, I believe it's a Serbian food. But basically it's a pastry dough/dumpling that was stuffed with a mixture of ground lamb and onion, and topped with some sesame seeds. I'm guessing it was originally baked. But, it was fantastic. Wow, what a lot of flavor there was in there. I was truly outstanding in flavor. I only wish there had been more of it. But then again, there were other things I wanted to taste.

For another selection, I had a meat Burek. This is basically a pastry made with layers of phyllo dough and stuffed with a meat filling. It's thought to have originated in Turkey originally, but is a dish from southern central europe, areas like Bosnia and Serbia, for example. Not content with only my cheese burke, I also ordered one stuffed with cheese. Oh my! That was soooo good. I have had cheese bureks before and this was as good as any of them. Truly a good (but very rich) dish.

Tommy ordered a cheesecake dish of some sort. It was round and patty-like, but definitely a cheesecake consistency with golden raisins. It had a great mild cheesy flavor and the raisins gave it a nice texture and taste. It was served with a dollop of sour cream that served to enhance the rich flavor of this cheesecake. Another hit.

Of course, we didn't just eat here, we also perused the selection--though when we first got here, eating was the number one thing on our agenda and we were grateful for the small (two tables) eating area they have set up near the deli case.

The tables are set up right off the deli case, and in the general area of some beverages and, of course candies. Oh, so tempting. And yes, we did give in to tempation.

There is a large meat case that is packed with various meats and sausages. Some can be sliced to order, too. Near that is a big frozen food case. Next time I'm coming with my cooler--I spied many varieties of pelmeni (think small pierogi). I'd love to stock up. There was a also a cooler section with a large variety of foods, everything from herring to other fishes, vacuum packed and ready to take home.

There is also an extensive selection of canned, jarred, and packaged goods, all sort of wonderful items.

This place is a very welcome addition to the Orlando area food market. Situated near the Asian ethnic food area, and located right next to a shop that sells mainly British items, International Market & Deli seems to have a great combination and selection of food items. I hope Orlando take heed and shops here and at all the other great ethnic markets we have in the area. Across the street from here is an Asian market. Up the road a piece in Winter Park (Aloma and 436) is Polonia, the Polish store. There are a number of great places around. Ample area to explor some new culinary adventures!

Penzey's Spices

I have long been a fan of Penzey's Spices, a growing retail and online spice purveyor based in my hometown of Milwaukee. Until now, I've been relegated to ordering online occasionally, or returning from a visit "home" with a bunch of spices packed into my suitcase. Imagine my surprise a month or so ago when I learned that they were going to open a store in Winter Park, Florida--about 15 miles from me. I was absolutely ecstatic! I was overjoyed last Saturday when my friend Creighton called and told me he heard they had opened. I could not believe it. So, I did the normal thing and checked their web site--sure enough, the Winter Park location was marked as open.

The very next day, I took a road trip to Winter Park to "tour" this new Penzey's location. I was not at all disappointed. The locations I've been in before all have somewhat the same logical layout. We entered and immediately perused the seasonings section. What makes this such and outstanding place for spice and seasoning shopping are the "sniff jars" (my term). On each shelf of spices, there is a large jar with a lid and you can simply unscrew it to sniff or smell that particular offereing. Brilliant! It really give you, the shopper, a great chance to know exactly what it is you're buying, at least by the smell (and the whole place smells just wonderful, as you can imagine.

Penzey's does not just contain the few run-of-the-mill seasonings and spices you'd find at your local grocery or the local mega-mart, they have a lot more, and all are very fresh. Where else can you find maybe four different varieties of cinnamon? Or find whole, powdered, and coarse-ground mustard seeds--in several varieties such as yellow, brown, and black?

Besides just plain spices and seasonings, Penzey's also comes up with their own concoctions. Each is plainly labeled with the ingredients as well as their suggestion of what it's really for. One of my favorites is Brady Street Sprinkle, containing cheese, onion, garlic salt, parsley, and a few other things--I love to sprinkle it on peas, among other things. On my recent visit, I bought some Chicago steak seasoning and I tried it out that night on some steak--it was awesome!  Many of their house blends are named after various neighborhoods in Milwaukee, too. And in their gift box area, you can buy give boxes of various combinations of spices, seasonings, and house mixes. I believe you can also make up your own.

Of course baking spices are a really popular section, and probably the best smelling area of the store. Cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, and a wide variety of other spices are all availalble here. I know I'll be going here before the holidays to stock up on my favorites.

Their spices and seasonings all come in several sized, from small and medium (grocery store size) jars to bulk packages--there's a size for everyone and every need. Each type is clearly marked with the prices. If you have some old spice jars at home and some friends, consider pooling your resources and get a bulk size, you can save a bundle! But no matter how you cut it, this is THE place to go for fresh spices and seasonings at a resonable price and with a fantastice selection. I know I'll be a frequent visitor here. If you like to cook like I do, do yourself a favor and stop in at Penzey's and try using some really fresh spices and seasonings--not those things from the mega-mart that have dust on the tops and have been sitting there for years. Trust me, you'll be glad you went "fresh!"

Your Dekalb Farmer's Market

I was in Atlanta recently, and we decided to stop at Your Dekalb Farmer's Market. It was a fun spot to visit. If you are looking for an extensive selection of very fresh fruit, produce, meat, poultry, and seafood items, this is the place for you. Aisle upon aisle, table upon table is piled high with all sorts of fresh vegetables and fruits. It's a huge place, and all refrigerated, and everything is very, very fresh. Lots of people were milling about, filling their carts with all manner of food, mostly fresh food. 

There is a smal section of cans and jars and prepackages foods, but Your Dekalb Farmer's Market specializes in fresh food--and they do it well. 

One of the features I really like here is that you can pick out your fresh seafood and have them dress it for you. Head on, guts out, head off, fileted, steaks, you name it, they'll do it for yoy--while you wait. It's impressive to watch them as they skillfully dress your fresh fish.

Ice packed bin upon ice packed bin is filled with most every fresh fish you can imagine, all well labeled, all awaiting your purchase. And not just fish. Various varieties of shrimp, octopus, calamari/squid--all are here. There are even some tanks full of live catfish, dungeness crabs, lobsters, and tilapia. Can't get much more fresh than that. And of course, they'll dress it for you right on the spot, however you want it.

For their seafood selection, this place rocks. It's a great place and I wish we had one like this--or better yet, like Buford Highway Farmer's Market--in the Orlando area.

Buford Highway Farmer's Market

I was in Atlanta for a few days, and we kept driving past this place called Buford Highway Farmer's Market. Well, I finally decided to look it up on the web. It sure sounded like an interesting place, so my friend and I decided to stop in. There is good and bad news here: The bad news is that we don't have anything remotely like this place in Central Florida. The good news is that this is a truly awesome place. I sure wish I lived closer to it!

Buford Highway Farmer's Market is a large indoor specialty food store. They specialize in Asian foods and also have an Eastern European section, beside having some typical American foods, including some south American foods. Their produce section is awesome, filled with all types of exotic fruits and vegetable. I saw fruits and vegetables here that I've only heard of, read about, or seen on Iron Chef America, but never had seen for real. Black Radishes, Dragon Fruit, Golden Beets, they have it all here.

The meat section as well is awesome. Where else can you find your typical meats, but also pig's ears, cow's feet, and pigs uteri. Yes, you read that right, pigs uteri. We did look for Rocky Mountain Oysters but did not find any--perhaps they were sold out.

Ditto for the seafoo section, a large selection of fresh seafood on ice was all laid out, ready for purchase.

Later in the day we also visited the DeKalb County Farmer's Market, and I 'd have to say that this place is better, very different, but larger and better in many aspects. Atlanta is lucky to have such a fine place, for sure.