Weekend Cook: Molly Tamale, part 1

When we first started vending at farmer's market (10 years ago), I had trouble remembering so many names of vendors and clients. So I used monikers that took up less space in my brain like "Tulipman," and "T-shirt Girls".

One in particular became "Molly Tamale," "The Tamale Girl". I called her Molly for half a season before someone corrected me, and the humiliation of bumbling yet another name finally made it stick in my head - Monica Mead!

I have some of her tamales in the freezer but I thought as the summer market ended, that I've become some kind of lazy that I can't be bothered to make my own. I used to make homemade tortillas and pack burritos for Dan's lunch, for goodness' sake!

So here is my first tamale recipe, in two parts. The first is the meat, two duck legs from Healthy Living Market.

Patted dry.

I ground some black pepper on the meat side and seared them on the skin side in a pan lightly coated in EVOO on medium heat. The goal is to get the fat started rendering out, because I need it for the tamale recipe.

After about ten minutes I turned the duck over and threw in 8 garlic cloves; as you can see the fat is building up in the pan.

I added two bay leaves and let it simmer for about 3 minutes.

Into a preheated 300f oven, I turned the oven down to 250f for 2 hours.

Done! The meat easily pulls apart.

I discarded the skin and strained the fat, pouring it over the meat and putting it in the refrigerator to cool and harden overnight.

(Duck tamales with green chili salsa, in poor lighting)

The actual tamale recipe will appear tomorrow.

Farmers' Market #26: The End

Even with weights attached, our tablecloth threatened to fly away. We put the sides on the tent and it helped make things bearable, until about 1 pm, when the wind shifted to blow in the opposite direction.

Dan and I were going to dress up, but it was too cold and blowy for my costume, and he said all the ooompff of putting on a mask dissolved soon after we arrived, because it was such a struggle to set up in the high winds.

I added lines in pumpkin orange and green on all our signs.

We decorated the stand.

And had goodies to pass out - Heath Bars were the adult's choice, Milky Ways the kid's-fave, and we brought nearly all the Almond Joys back home. No problem, since they are Dan's first choice among the three.

In the director's chair, a Highlander!

As they say, a good time was had by all.

Maybe too much of a good time for some.

For about an hour, the winds died down, the sun peeked out, and people ventured out from their homes.

Everybody loves a samosa, even princesses!

Go Batgirl!

And lastly, two dogs who didn't dress up for Halloween.

More Halloween in City Hall Park

That's a pug dressed as a lobster!

Another as a pumpkin.


And Batman carrying Spiderman's head!

Cheesemaking: How the milk gets to the plant

It couldn't be simpler. As the cows are being milked, the milk is sent to our cheese vat, which is an old bulk tank. Cultures and rennet are added. There is no heating, cooling, or treatments given to the milk. It is "old school" and it is what it is.


All is quiet while the milk sets. This will make 70 (3.4 pound) wheels of cheese - maximum capacity for our facility.

Life on the farm 11/02/09: Last Market of 2009

(Arethusa Collective sets up in 25-mile-an-hour winds)

After three inclement Saturdays in a row, I was ready for the farmer’s market season to be over. Most customers thought it had ended weeks ago, after the sun started refusing to appear during the day.

Once the anticipation over the next fruit or veggie to come into season has waned, and it’s no longer temperate enough to relax and eat lunch on a blanket in the park - it pretty much sucks to be vending in the cold for six hours straight. Thank you, October 2009.

In spite of that, we had a bit of luck because on the last market day it was warm and the drenching rain held off until market hours ended. But the wind!

We had to stake down our ground cover during set-up so it wouldn’t blow away in the 25-mile- an-hour wind (and even stronger gusts). We bungeed our tent to a tree and put the sides down; even so, I was barely able to get a tablecloth anchored down.

My husband Dan attached a windbreak to the food-vendor’s tent on our left to help keep their propane stove from going out. I was worried that our clipboards and flyers would become airborne, and packed them securely away.

The final market day fell on Halloween.

(Flapper Girl and Military Man face off in a leaf-throwing battle)

It’s a colossal costume party in the city, all day long.

Half the fun was trying to guess who the revelers were supposed to be, but the biggest surprise was how many Pugs and Papillons also came in costume. Who wouldn’t crack a smile at a doggy bumblebee, red lobster, or Krypto The Superdog sniffing at the communal pee-tree?

We decorated our booth with masks, witchy accessories, and had a basket of candy bar minis to hand out. My favorite visitors were the ones who couldn’t quite reach the tabletop, especially a Cowardly Lion...

...and a fluffy white Abominable Snowman - you know, the character from “Rudolph”, with the blue hands?

Napkins and paper plates from food vendors’ stands took flight and tote lids tumbled across the green; signs blew down, and an un-anchored canopy rose six feet off the ground and headed to Church Street.

(Our specials sign swung dangerously during tear-down, when the tempest resumed)

At least there were no serious injuries or property damage. It’s days like these that are the reason for the mandatory liability insurance that all vendors have to carry.

The sun shone brightly, and the wind died down for an hour or so.

(Danielle from Arethusa gets a costume adjustment)

More interesting people ventured out.

Then it started all over, again.

In the past ten years we’ve ended the market season in rain, snow, and hail, but never in gale. The tent just about tore itself down.

(Cadets? Or awesome costumes?)

On our way out of town we saw someone on the street dressed as a Hasidic Jew. I was reminded that our friend Lieutenant Morrison of the Burlington Police Department was at our booth in uniform, and had been asked if her “costume” was authentic.

Best not to similarly embarrass ourselves by giving a hearty thumbs up to the serious-looking guy wearing ringlets, just in case.

Monday Menu: St. Louis Ribs and Sweet Delicatas

Pork ribs and squash cooked the slow way on the Big Green Egg smoker, but this recipe will work in an ordinary oven just as well.

I used my own rub of smokey paprika, turbinado sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, and chili powder; the slab rested for an hour while the smoker came up to a stable temperature at 250f.

I put two whole Delicata squash on with the ribs. They cooked together for 3 hours.

At the three hour mark, the squash are done.

The ribs were coated in 1/4 cup of barbecue sauce thinned with 1/4 cup of beer, and sealed in a foil pouch for two hours at 250f.

After 5 hours total in the smoker, the meat is falling off the bones.


I deplore mixing sweet and savory as a rule, so the squash alongside white rice just didn't work for me. Maybe I should have dropped a big ol' pat of butter on it like Dan did.

Chicken Kitten Update

The Chicken Kitten has finally decided to stay in the barn and parlor area. As you can see, she has put on some size and has her winter coat.

"Veal Meatballs" recipe

Another recipe from the farm printed in the Green Mountain section of the Burlington Free Press.

Weekend Cook: T-bone (and salmon)

A surf and turf done inside the house instead of outside on the grill, due to the darkness of the late hour. Those are beets from Arethusa Collective, our own beef, a salmon fillet from the Hannaford (trying to slide in a healthy fish whenever I can), and sticky sushi rice. Of course for the fish to be truly healthy for you, I think you are supposed to eat it instead of beef, not alongside it.

I don't like to make steak indoors because of the grease spitting all over...

and because I can't get the dark color I want on the meat. I seared it on both sides (8-10 minutes each), then put the pan in a 300f oven for 20 minutes. I also put two center cut salmon filets in to bake.

My plate: the salmon was coated in Tasty Licks Salmon, a lemon-pepper rub. Very good, but I didn't find out until the following morning that it contained "modified food starch" which could have cause the slight digestive upset I experienced. I should know better by now not to use anything without proper labeling - the rub was a free sample that came with an order from the company.

Both the salmon and beef were done at the same time.

This was Dan's plate: rare meat as usual, and he agreed that the salmon was a real winner. I will certainly put more Montreal Seasoning on the steak next time.