Tour of the Markets-Farmers Market of Wausau, Wausau, WI
For this adventure, my travels took me over to Wausau, WI, where nestled amongst a bustling street and tucked between strip malls, the unlikely setting unfolded to a beautiful farmers market that was bursting with fresh goods! Walking through this market made you feel as if you were in the middle of a large country park, not the downtown of a busy city, and the delicious smells reflected this!
Upon walking up to the entrance, rows and rows of beautifully adorned tables greeted you-a surprising number of vendors for the location. Most vendors had a wide assortment of both flowers and produce, and while the vast majority were grown outdoors, a few had indoor options which widened the offerings for the time in the season.
As I continued walking through the path, it was hard to not notice the overwhelmingly fresh smell of flowers. Unlike some markets where there are specific areas for certain goods, flowers were sprinkled throughout the entire market and gave an overall aroma that set the tone perfectly for a delightful tour.
You could tell that this was not just your typical bouquet of flowers type market, as most vendors also had some craft related displays, and offered everything from sculptures to baskets to handmade containers showcasing plants of plenty. The flowers were not the only item of interest, as many of these were fairly ornate craft projects that were gorgeous on their own!
As the path continued, more and more produce stands started to unfold. While I’m accustomed to baskets or individual bags offered for sale, many of the tables here were sold by weight, which was a fun change of pace.
Even when items were bundled, they seemed to be very generous on portions all around, and almost every vendor I spoke with was happy to tell me about their farming operations. It was very interesting hearing about the regional differences in soil, indoor/outdoor growing, and especially ideas of what they make with their produce. I would not be doing justice to try to recreate these recipes, but the ideas sure were fun to hear (shredded green onion slaw…?).
Another unique aspect to the Wausau market was how family focused the whole place seemed to be with activities. Speckled throughout the grounds, there were several tables that offered interactive crafts and it was really adorable watching a lot of children attempt the feat of balancing their fresh lemonade in one hand and grabbing a handful of dirt to make a succulent pot with the other. Typically accompanied with a dog (I made friends with many at this market!), the environment was about as wholesome and happy as you could paint in a picture.
For the challenge ingredients this week, I picked the snap pea, but specifically in two different forms. First, I wanted to look at the pea itself. As many of you may know from my other blog posts, peas aren’t always my favorite, but I live by the philosophy-it’s not the food that you don’t like, you just have yet to have it prepared in a way you like. So, the adventure began. And, as an aside, I am rethinking my dislike of peas. All of these recipes were absolutely fantastic!
Slivered Sugar Snap Peas with a Honey Goat Cheese Vinaigrette
Sauteed Snap Pea and Cucumber Salad
The shoots themselves posed a little more of a challenge, because the flavor was not as discernable. I felt as if this was cooking with a small green, but because of the course shoots themselves, they had a firm texture that I would typically serve sauteed. I tried both ways to see what flavors worked best.
As a bonus recipe, I did make a fantastic recipe out of slices of lemon, garlic, onions, butter, olive oil and shoots. I wasn’t sure how the lemon would taste cooked, but once fully cooked down, they were so tender that I ate the rinds as well. Drizzled over some shrimp and the shoot leaves, it was wonderful! And just as I leaned over to take a beautiful picture to share with all of you, the wind had other plans and I spent my photo shoot time cleaning up a broken plate. I guess this is the joy of being your own photographer! But, funny story, lesson learned, and a recipe I will try again soon. Moral of the story-cooked lemons. Worth it. Delicious!
For those recipes that I’m able to share 🙂
Snap Pea and Herb Salad with Whipped Lemon Ricotta
Thank you for following along on my adventures and hopefully this leads to ideas and creative challenges in your own kitchen! It’s been a really fun summer trying out some foods I thought I already knew better than I actually did, expanding my horizons and the way I approach cooking in general. I’ve also been fortunate to meet some really great people along the way and learn from them! For me, this is not just walking through a market but engaging with the experience, and I hope that comes through as I share this tour with you.
As the summer is in full bloom and more produce is available every week, I have been making a few more stops than usually and will have lots of content coming your way, so please check back often, and if you are a Facebook user, follow my page to receive notifications. I am working on a newsletter to share when a blog is released, but as I promised from the beginning, cooking may be where I’m best suited, not the technology desk. Stay tuned on that…. I would love to have more people along on this journey and share in ideas and feedback, so please feel free to pass along if you know others that would find this enjoyable!
Thanks for tagging along on this journey!
Hannah (your fearless culinary visionnaire)
