Do the Market Mash-Up at Peachtree Road Farmers Market

At the second annual Market Mash-Up at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market on Saturday, October 15, you'll benefit from a 10-team draft uniting farmers and purveyors of locally made food.  From 9 a.m. to noon, guests will sample tempting dishes from teams you've surely heard of, such as Spotted Trotter, Red Queen Tarts, Indian Ridge, Hope's Gardens, Riverview Farms, H&F Bread, Greenleaf Farms and more.  Two hundred and fifty tasting tickets are available and will be for sale at $5 each (buys tasting of all 10 dishes) starting at 9 a.m.  Tasting runs from 10-11 a.m. or until sold out.  Guests fork up samples, vote for favorites and pick up recipes of the Mash-Up dishes.  Celebrity judges will choose a victor among the 10 teams.  This year's judges include Kim Severson, Atlanta bureau chief of The New York Times and author of Spoon Fed; Christiane Lauterbach, dining critic forAtlanta magazine and Knife & Fork; Jennifer Zyman, editor of The Blissful Glutton and Eater Atlanta; and Emily Smith, CNN Eatocracy contributor. 

More than 50 silent auction items will be up for bid that morning.  The event pays forward, helping fund the market's 2012 city permit fees and city-required police officer.  The PRFM is the largest producer-only market in metro Atlanta, meaning that everything at the market has been grown, raised or made by the seller and ensuring fair prices for both vendor and consumer.  Lauren Carey, PRFM manager, sums it up, "Accessibility to fresh local produce is a gift; it means so much more to shake the hand of the farmer that grew the vegetables on your dinner plate." 

Peachtree Road Farmers Market is Back!

Recipe for a great Saturday morning: pick up a cup of Batdorf & Bronson coffee, buy two jars of Hope's Gardens basil pesto for $11, and take a walk in the crisp morning air through the Peachtree Road Farmers Market. See, who says I don't know how to cook?

And what's the perfect morning recipe without bacon? New to the market this year is Avondale Estate's Pine Street Market. They were serving samples of their Applewood Smoked Bacon and Sopressata Salami. Oh. Yes. Must buy this every week.



Also new is the Riverview Farms Meat CSA. Now you can sign up to get monthly deliveries of sustainable meats grown by nearby family farms just like you've signed up to get your regular delivery of produce/eggs/honey from Moore Farms! My friend Suzanne (that's her cool blue truck in the back of the bacon photo) can fill you in: suzanne@grassfedcow.com.









When it's early in the season and there's not a lot of produce yet, the artisans really fill out the market. Tracy Hartley does some cool stuff with recycled materials like the rooster art above. He has some work at Holeman & Finch and I was thinking maybe he should have some work at the new world headquarters of Melissa Libby & Associates. This would look good in a loft, yes? I also loved the ceramic lamb salt/pepper shakers by artist Karen Fincannon - she assured me I could find them on Etsy if I didn't purchase today.
Last stop of the day is always at Taj Ma-Hound. Norma Jean is a big fan, as are all the dogs who visit the market. Her cookies are so healthy and you should see the decorated ones - adorable! Since Norma's on a diet, I got her the Low Fat Cinnabones.
I think Norma Jean pretty much sums up this recipe: A yummy way to start your Saturday!