This past summer I had, what I consider, an epic foodie weekend. It was as if the foodie fairies were waving their fairy dust around to make my dreams come true (that’s what fairies do, right?).
It started out with my usual Saturday trip to the farmers market where I saw that Reid’s Orchard was advertising “Arctic Kiwi.” Always in search for a new kind of fruit, I went to take a look and one of the employees saw my interest and offered me one. The mini green and red, hairless kiwis were about the size of grape tomatoes and could be eaten whole, skin and all. They had a soft texture like a really ripe kiwi, but were sweeter and had much more flavor, so I grabbed a couple of pints. Foodie score number one.
On the way home, my boyfriend (or as he wants to be known, the ravagingly handsome photographer) suggested making them into a jam. I had been on a jam-making kick, but for some reason hadn’t even considered them as a jam option. Was that a possibility? Is kiwi jam a thing? More research needed to be had.
After some googling, I found kiwi can be made into jam, just like most other fruit. But I needed a lot more kiwi to make a batch of jam and, at that point, the farmers market was closed, and I didn’t know if they would be available the next week. At this point I was on a mission. Where could I get more arctic kiwi?
I found that Reid’s Orchard was going to be at Bloomingdale Farmers Market in DC the next day, and hoped they would have the kiwi there, too. So, I set off first thing in the morning.
Walking up to the market, Reid’s Orchard was the first truck I came to and they had the arctic kiwi. Foodie score number two.
I toured the rest of the market, all the while trying to convince as many people as I could to check out the arctic kiwi. At the market, I found Keswick Creamery which has a variety of unique cheeses and yogurt. Then I saw they had quark, which is a German soft cheese and can sometimes be found at local grocery stores (but is not quite the same). Keswick’s quark, however, had the consistency and taste I had not had since my visit to Germany ten years ago. It was delightful! I quickly picked some up along with some of their spicy Dragon’s Breath cheese. Foodie score number three.
I continued my tour of the market when a sign from Painted Hand Farm for lamb sausage caught my eye (there can never be enough lamb sausage). As I got closer, I could see they had containers of root vegetables, and lo and behold, they were sunchokes! Who cares, you say? Well, I did. I had been looking for them for weeks for a recipe and not only had I finally found them, they had even been picked that morning! Foodie score number four.
Just when I thought my day could not get any better, I saw a table with familiar artwork I had purchased several months before. I went up to the table and see there is a cookbook, Comida Latina, in the same style as the art, and a woman introduced herself as the illustrator of the cookbook. I asked her name, and she replied, “Marcella Kriebel,” to which I reply, “You’re the AUTHOR!” She seemed hesitant to agree with me since I probably sounded like some giddy school kid, but she ultimately acknowledged it. So, I asked her about her cookbook, art, travels, favorite recipes, we talked about apple butter, and I bought another one of her prints and her cookbook. And, of course, I got her to try some arctic kiwi. Foodie score number five.
It may not have been an exceptional weekend to everyone, but for me, it was one for the history books. And that was my foodie weekend.