Last Day For The Winter Market

It's your last chance to get to the final fling of the Boulder Farmers' Market this year, their Winter Market out at the fairgrounds in Longmont. In addition of lots of gift-buying opportunities from wonderful local crafts people, you can stock up on winter produce from those farmers you love. On that front, here's what the Market says to expect:

In Season Now

arugula, bell peppers, beets, cabbage, cardoons, carrots, celeriac, chevril, escarole, frisee, garlic, horseradish, kale, leeks, lettuce, mache, minutina, mushrooms, mustard greens, onions, pac choi, parsley, potatoes, radishes, rutabaga, scallions, spinach, Swiss chard, tatsoi, tomatoes, turnips, winter squash 

Alfalfa's Loves Beef Lovers

Since a fabulous holiday tasting fair was happening, I did my shopping today at the Alfalfa's in Louisville, not terribly far from me. I was so impressed, I'm planning on ordering my standing rib roast for Christmas from them instead of Whole Foods this year. While I don't yet have info from Whole Foods to compare it with, Alfalfa's price of $13.99 a pound for a bone-in rib roast, plain or seasoned with rosemary and garlic or smoked salt and pepper, seems very reasonable for the very good beef they carry. Speaking of which, Alfalfa's is also courting beef lovers with an excellent price on organic ribeyes and NY strip steaks and roasts, $12.99 a pound, half off, in their regular sale through December 15th. That's from the flyer, and it may have been a fluke, but today the strip steaks were marked at just $9.99 a pound instead.

Alfalfa's Louisville Tasting Fair Tomorrow

Tomorrow, the 5th, the Alfalfa's store in Louisville will offer a holiday tasting fair from 4 to 6 p.m. If it's anything like the one I went to at the Boulder store for Thanksgiving, it will be fabulous. By the way, they also have wild caught king crab for $16.99 a pound through Sunday.

Hanukkah Celebration Guides

Despite the lovely warm weather, Hanukkah is just around the corner this weekend. If you are looking for some culinary inspiration for your Festival of Lights, here are a few guides to help you out: Our Best Hanukkah Recipes from the New York Times' Cooking collection, Hanukkah from Epicurious, and Hanukkah Recipes from Cooking Light magazine.

Winter Farmers' Market This Weekend

With its regular season now ended, the Boulder Farmers' Market will host a special Winter Market out at the Boulder Fairgrounds in Longmont this weekend, both Saturday and Sunday. A good chance to check out both local food and gift possibilities from local crafts people. Here are the details from the Market (but oh no! this is one of those things that will cut off on the right when I paste it in - think you can get all the info you need, though):

9th Annual Winter Market December 5 and 6 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Boulder County Fairgrounds Exhibit Building 9595 Nelson Rd., Longmont

In Season at Winter Market Fresh produce arugula, bell peppers, beets (gold, red, chiogga), cabbage, cardoons, carrots (yellow, purple, orange), celeriac, chevril, escarole, frisee, garlic, horseradish, kale, leeks, lettuce, mache, minutina, mushrooms, mustard greens, onions, pac choi, parsley, potatoes (yukon gold, sweet, fingerling, red), radishes (cherriette, watermelon, daikon, black), rutabaga, scallions, spinach, Swiss chard, tatsoi, tomatoes, turnips, winter squash (spaghetti, acorn, butternut, pumpkin) Other farm products beef, cornmeal, dried beans (anasazi, hidasta red, scarlet runner, purple crescent, tiger eye, black), lamb, pig leather, popcorn (red, purple, yellow), pork, seeds, sheep pelts, wool Winter Market Weekend Schedule     Saturday, December 5 Live music from Heartwood Duo and The Heartstring Hunters Gift-wrapping by Firehouse Art Center, sponsored by Two Hands Paperie 10-11am: The Roost Chef Demo 11-11:25am: Silver Canyon Coffee Demo 11:35am-12pm: Colorado Aromatics Demo Sunday, December 6 Live music from Defunkt Railroad and Flynn & Co. 11-11:25am: Homemade European Foods Demo 11:35am-12pm: Daybreak Criations Alpacas Demo Join our Facebook event to stay updated on Winter Market vendors and events

Weekend Sales At Whole Foods

After our recent feeding frenzy, Whole Foods is laying back by offering us just a duo of special sales this weekend. Tomorrow's cheese happy hour from 4 to 7 p.m. only Mountain time will be Uniekaas duo cow-goat cheese 50% off. For the whole weekend, tomorrow through Sunday, some scarves and accessories will be 30% off.

Cookie Love From Whole Foods

A while ago it was 25 cent coffee, then 25 cent oatmeal. Now Whole Foods is celebrating National Cookie Day by giving us their own baked chocolate chip cookies for a mere quarter, not just for a day, but for a week, running through December 8th. Caveats being while they last, limit three per customer. Like I need this temptation right after Thanksgiving...

One Week Sale At Whole Foods

From today through December 8th, peeled and deveined raw shrimp are $9.99 a pound. The online listing doesn't specify size or fresh/frozen, so it's hard to compare with Sprouts' shrimp sale this week at $6.99 a pound (look one post below for that one).

This Week's Hot Grocery Deals (IMHO)

Back to a more normal Wednesday after last week's holiday rush and sale hiatus, we have new sales starting today at our Boulder Sprouts and Whole Foods stores, while the current one continues at Vitamin Cottage through December 12th (use the list of posts at the lower left to find that one). Here's what's looking good to me now.

Sprouts' new sale lasts through December 9th, and it's interesting that after their taking last week off from new sales, this week their flyer is only two pages instead of four, so half as many items to peruse. In any case, I'm liking value packs of boneless skinless chicken breasts (thighs also) for just #1.77 a pound, if I'm ready for more poultry, all chicken sausage $3.99 a pound, and their very good stuffed chicken breasts $2.99 a pound (guess I'd better be ready for chicken). In fish, previously frozen wild Alaskan sockeye salmon fillets are $9.99 a pound, and previously frozen 31/40 count peeled and deveined wild shrimp are $6.99 a pound (not very big, but all the work is done for you).

Not much to report regarding organic produce at Sprouts, as the only item listed in this abreviated flyer is organic mini seedless watermelon at $2.50 each. If you're willing to go conventional, five pound boxes of Cuties mandarins are $3.88 each. Elsewhere in the store, I'm liking some Earth Balance buttery spreads (sticks also) at just $2.99 each (timely, as Thanksgiving nearly wiped out my supply), 40% off the entire line of very good Back to Nature products, Organic Vally salted or unsalted butter $3.99 a one pound package, Tillamook Greek yogurts 77 cents each, some Delallo pastas $1.50 a one pound package, and to go with it, Rao's pasta sauce $4.99 a jar.

In the new sale at Whole Foods through December 15th, I'm liking organic Pink Lady apples at just $1.68 a pound, domestic sockeye salmon fillet $12.99 a pound (although you'll find that cheaper at Sprouts this week, but Whole Foods always has such glorious fish), 12 ounce Isigny St. Mere brie for $5.99 each, my favorite Imagine organic broths $2.50 a box, and their own organic cranberry baguettes sound intriguing at $2.49 each (just how would you enjoy a cranberry baguette?).

Holiday Recovery Foods

If like me, you've spent too much time finishing off those rich Thanksgiving leftovers in the fridge, you might be interested in the post holiday detox suggestions from Food and Wine magazine. Quinoa and veggies do sound good about now. Just in time to start thinking about Christmas and all those holiday foods yet to come, since it's happy December 1st.