~The Frankfort Country Market had cancelled its Spring market due to the coronavirus, but today was the first day of their modified Summer market! Some of the modifications that were in place were that everyone was required to wear masks, no free samples, and if you were paying with cash (and it wasn’t exact) you wouldn’t get change back. I had been dreaming of this day for weeks, feeling like a kid at Christmas haha. I decided to bring one of my dear friends with me to opening day.
We arrived a little after 10am and joined the line of eagar market goers waiting to enter (they were trying to limit how many people entering at the same time). Not long after we jumped into line we were suddenly immeresed in the sights and sounds of the sprawling market. I made a bee-line to the Stamper Cheese Company stand, one of my absolute favorites. I started talking to the owner (Chad? I think that’s his name :/), who recognized from last year and the years before that, and ordered a chunk of their Morel & Leek Jack and half a pound of the goat Gouda. It was $17 for the two of those, but I only had a $20 and they can’t give change. But he threw in $3 worth of 4 year aged Cheddar to make it an even $20. Delighted with my purchases, I bid him good day and moved along the market.
Next, we stopped at Twisted Olive’s stand. They’re a company out of Naperville, IL that makes a variety of flavors of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I purchased a small bottle of their aged balsamic and a small jar of their Meyer lemon olive oil. I’ve had lemon infused olive oil in the past and it was very good, so Meyer lemon (the king of lemons in my opinion) infused olive oil had to be great. The lady running the stand recommended mixing the lemon olive oil and the balsamic together as a dressing and reporting back to her next week. When I got home, I made a spinach salad for lunch and did as she recommended, mixing the two oils together. She wasn’t wrong, it was delicious! And so was the addition of goat Gouda shavings on top.
After purchasing a pound of yellow potatoes from Bothwell Farms, we arrived at the final stop in our journey: Grandma’s Goodies. This stand maked excellent jellies, jams and pickled vegetables. I got my annual jar of their apple butter (which my friend got as well), a small jar of strawberry jam and a tiny 1oz jar of a jam/jelly of something called aronia. I’ve never heard of aronia before, but I’m very curious to try it (you can expect a future blog post on it).
Overall it was a great day at the Frankfort Country Market. Not only did I get to spend of quality time with my friend, but I was able to stock my fridge and pantry with all my favorite goodies ^_^
The Garden Goddess 