Jayne Simmons is one of the happiest vendors at the local farmers markets. Every time I see her, she’s got the biggest smile on her face. Not only does she sell products designed to help you feel better, but talking to her always leaves me happy. Her passion for her products and way of life is obvious from the first moment you visit her booth. I spent some time talking with her in person and over email a few weeks ago and she agreed to be interviewed for Seattle MetBlogs.

Continue after the jump to read the interview.
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SIFF creative director Carl Spence with Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin at the world premiere of their film, Good Food at the Egyptian last night. Photo courtesy SIFF.

Do you eat?
If so, do you know where your food comes from?
Good Food is a new documentary that spotlights a wide variety of Washington and Oregon’s local farms. Now I’m a locavore. I blog about cooking and eating local regularly [E] and [CL]. If you’ve been following my occasional Meet Your Local Farmers Market Vendors series, you’ve even met a number of the stars of this film! If you shop at the farmers markets, you might even be IN the film!
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I’m not confident that it’ll last, but at least right now the sun is shining where I am. So this weekend for me is all about the outdoors. There’s the University District, Ballard, and West Seattle Farmers Markets of course, as there have been all year. But this weekend the Broadway Farmers Market comes back! If you tried Trevani Truffles after reading about them here, they are moving to the Broadway Farmers Market soon, so get over there and get yourself some amazing chocolate!

If you missed the Seattle Tilth Plant Sale last weekend, you’re not out of luck for your summer gardens. The Friends of the Conservatory Plant Sale is Saturday from 10-3pm. You can also enjoy a wide variety of indoor plants as well. There will be experts on hand to help you resurrect any plants you might have languishing at home.

And last, Daily Candy reports that a new artisan ice cream shop is opening in Wallingford. Molly Moon’s looks to be my kind of ice cream shop. And with flavors such as Balsamic Strawberry and Salted Caramel, and the possibility of a local celebrity or two showing up, it just might be the place to be this weekend.

Welcome back to Meet your Local Farmers Market Vendors! I know we’ve been a bit sporadic lately, but all of you wonderful local shoppers out there are keeping the market vendors hopping and I certainly can’t ask them to take time away from their customers to talk to me. So I’ve started conducting interviews via e-mail whenever possible. This also allows me to bring you the interview in the vendor’s own words.

This week, we’re talking to Jenny of Pies by Jenny. She sells her beautiful pies at the University District Farmers Market on Saturdays from 9am-2pm.

So, Jenny, tell us a little about Pies by Jenny.
“Pies By Jenny” opened December 8th, 2007 at the U-District farmers’ market. Currently the U-District market is the only location I sell my pies and I hope to expand to other markets in the future.

What’s your favorite part of the market?
My favorite part of selling at the market is being a part of a meaningful community of people I deeply respect and admire. It’s great being Eiko’s neighbor at the market and hearing her laughter, what a joyous person! I enjoy listening to the wisdom of farmer Wade Bennet (Rockridge Orchards). Also, I love and am moved by the loyalty of the “Pies By Jenny” regulars. For example, it’s great to see Teri every Saturday at 8:55 a.m., waiting for her Organic Vegetarian savory pie. Beautiful way to start the market day. It is very fun to meet new customers as well and our “regular” list is growing.

Where do you get your ingredients?
All of my pies feature ingredients from the farmers I am surrounded by at the market.

How do you choose your flavor combinations?
I consult with Chef Tamara Murphy on new pie ideas and her generosity is endless. She provides the Brasa restaurant kitchen space for me to prepare and make the pies, in the mornings, for free and her support has made my dream a reality.

Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?
One dollar from every pie sold is donated to the Good Farmer Fund, a disaster relief fund for local farmers.

We’re back! Yes, that’s right. Meet Your Farmers Market Vendors is back! This week’s interview is Anne from Trevani Truffles.

I’ve been enjoying Anne’s truffles for several months now. She has interesting flavors like Grand Marnier, Pear Ginger, Blackberry, an Espresso Mocha, and of course, rich, decadent chocolate (among others).

I contacted Anne the other day and I’ll let her tell you about her business in her own words.

Here’s my story:  My little Trevani Truffles business began only last summer at the urging of my children.
 For several years the family and close friends were the sole recipients of these chocolates.  But my son, especially, kept bugging me to “DO something with these!”.  The opportunity came when, seeing that my sweet old momie was going to be living with us and needed some serious care, and that I couldn’t take care of her and work outside of the home, too.  I needed to scramble and get SOMETHING going.
I made a phone call to the Renton Farmer’s Market people to get info on how to start at the outdoor markets.  After an initial rejection because I don’t GROW the truffles and the market is an agricultural one, I was informed that 5% of the vendors could be not farmers as long as they were local.  I live in Renton so I was IN!
Now I have two year-round markets, University District on Saturdays and West Seattle on Sundays.  I’m looking to get into the Ballard Market and have Broadway and Renton this summer.

I use Venezuelan chocolate, 58% cocoa mass for the ganache and 73% for the shell.  Only DARK chocolates here!   I like the earthy quality of the Venezuelan chocolate.  It seems more raw.  I use local ingredients when I can.  Like the “CreamyDreamy Pear Ginger”,  the pear is from the Booth Orchards in Twisp. They sell at the Seattle farmer’s markets.  And the hazelnuts, too, are local market vendors. Chili peppers, local. Also organic ingredients when possible.  So ,yes, some of the flavor combinations are seasonal.  Local sweet wines and Whidbey’s Port are ingredients also used. I made a porter beer truffle last week.  And of course coffee!

As for how do I choose and decide what favors?  It  is a constant and  quite unscientific experimentation.  Just think of a thing delicious to you and if it sounds good dipped in chocolate!  Well, there you are.  A new experiment!  And a possible HIT!
My favorite part of the market scene is meeting the people and chatting with them.. Folks have a way of inspiring me to continue with this venture.  When their faces light up from (surprise?) tasting their 1st bite…OH! I want to take their pictures!  And the little kids who favor dark- not- sweet- chocolate!  who knew !?
Right now the outdoor markets are my “store”.  It has been a cold wet winter!  One day soon I’ll find a perfect little shop, like in the movie, CHOCOLAT.    ‘Til then, pray for beautiful cool sunshine!

–

Till next time, shop local, cook local, and if you find a new vendor because of this series, please tell them that you read about them on Seattle Metroblogging!

As much as I’d love to be one of those annoying people who finishes their Christmas shopping before Labor Day, it will never happen. I’m forever buying gifts at the last minute, usually on the way back to whatever family function I’m attending (all of which require me to drive a decent distance, thus affording me the opportunity to shop).

This year I have an additional challenge. I’m on a pretty strict budget (stricter than usual as I have a rather important event to pay for in, oh… 21 days - eek!)

I’m looking for the best reasonable local gift ideas that my family will actually like. I’m not talking about the Space Needle magnets or the Sleepless in Seattle soundtrack. I want gifts that they’ll use and enjoy.

I’ve listed a few ideas after the jump, but I’m counting on you, dear readers. Help me fill my holiday gift bags and still have the money to pay for my wedding.
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Friday 17th-18th - Pure Cirkus presents: Dead Alive @ CHAC - “Dead Alive is PURE Cirkus’ tribute to those low-budget slasher films of the 70s and 80s that we all know and love. Romero! Jackson! Raimi (well, up until Spiderman)!” They promise lots of fake blood, yum.

Friday 17th-19th - The Spy Who Loved Me @ Central Cinema. My favorite Bond film. “Nobody does it better…”

Friday 17th - Pike Place Market turns 100 @ You know where - A bunch of Cool Kids performers perform tonight in celebration. From Fankick! to Sean Nelson to Spoonman to…
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Last Thursday, I attended the first Queen Anne Farmers Market. As part of our cheese series, I spoke to Julie Steil of River Valley Ranch.

Julie and one of her sons from River Valley Ranch

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Estrella Family Creamery’s booth at the local markets is always swamped. They have an amazing setup with a counter and glass enclosure to protect the cheese and let customers see exactly what they’re buying. Because they are so popular, finding time to interview them has been difficult. I was lucky to carve out a few minutes on the phone with Kelli Estrella the other day to bring you this interview.
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I don’t know about you, dear readers, but I’m loving this cheese series. Take one of my favorite foods, and combine it with two of my favorite things: writing, and visiting farmers markets. Today’s entry in our series is Golden Glen Creamery. I found them at the Bellevue Farmer’s Market and had a lovely chat with Judy Jensen, one of the owners and cheesemakers of Golden Glen Creamery.

Golden Glen Creamery at Bellevue Farmer’s Market

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