Thursday, December 28, 2006

Food related X-mas haul.

Along with an All-Clad food mill, a lovely ceramic pie plate and a Japanese manga book about bread baking, I also received this letter just in time for Christmas. After 3 years on the waiting list, I now have a spot a the Dane County Farmer's Market. Yeehaw! I got on the list without actually having a plan about what I'd sell. I knew it took 3 years to get a spot and that seemed like plenty of time to think about it.
It seems like perfect timing with the fruition of my preserving business right? There's only one small problem. The rules of the market are such that in order to sell my preserves there, I would need to grow the produce that went into them. Seems a bit overly strict, no? I do appreciate the theory behind the rule. Our market is a growers-only market. Everything sold there is grown in Wisconsin and the person who grew it must also be there to sell it. This makes the market special. I really can't say enough about how amazing this market is.
The thing is, I buy my produce from local farmers. I would be willing to sell preserves made with ONLY Wisconsin produce. This isn't good enough, though. Instead, I will have to sell baked goods. When the market first started in the 70's, the bakers actually grew their own wheat. Over the years the rules for farmers and bakers have diverged and now bakers don't even have to use local fruit in their pies. There are fantastic baked goods already at the market but I am hoping there's a niche left for me. Any ideas?

8 Comments:

At 10:25 AM, Blogger Madisonienne said...

That's so exciting!
I don't have any ideas for you, other than sweets (hormones), but I'll make sure to stop by and get some of whatever you decide to sell.
Are you able to hand out pamphlets for the preserves business at your booth?

 
At 3:18 PM, Blogger allisonmariecat said...

Oh, yay! That's great news! I wish the rule for preserves weren't so strict, but I'll buy anything you decide to bake :)

Can you do baked goods that involve your preserves in some way? Linzertorte, marmalade muffins, pain au chocolate with your chocolate spreads, etc.?

 
At 10:45 PM, Blogger Tea said...

I agree with the idea of anything that showcases the preserves (with order forms close at hand).

Congratulations!

 
At 5:49 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, congrats! I can't wait to see you up there! I'll try to think up some good ideas for things to sell. Will you be using the Pamplemousse Preserves name?

 
At 9:17 PM, Blogger leedav said...

Thanks everyone for your ideas. The thing is, I've though about doing something using my preserves but I will (hopefully) have other places to sell those and it doesn't make sense to me to open a bunch of jars that I have canned in order to use the stuff in baked goods. Maybe I should sell scones for $5 and with it you get a "free" jar of jam? Ha! I'll keep you posted...

 
At 7:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

that is awesome lee! can't wait to see you there in august. we will try to put the farmer's market on our itinerary! xo

 
At 8:17 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hooray!
If you are looking for something not already there-how about maybe savory baked goods-eg. mushroom strudel, cabbage pie, cornish pasties- that type of thing? I don't usually see this kind of stuff at markets, and I know I'd buy something like that and take it home to heat up for supper.(Every once in a while, I've seen quiches- but never anything else savory in the way of baked goods.)
It is indeed a good idea about passing out literature about your preserves from your booth.

 
At 6:18 AM, Anonymous Seafood Recipes said...

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