A Trip to the Market: Joustermerke

Thursday is usually the day I visit our local Farmer's Market,
which I have shared about in a post here and here.
I love the colourful array of local produce, the variety and availability of many ethnic foods and as well as the merchandise.
The atmosphere is bustling, with activity from the vendors as well as the purchasers.
When my hubby mentioned to me that he was going to take me to one the oldest markets in Friesland, the Joustermerke, which dates back to 1466, I had no idea what to expect.
We biked into town, then parked our bikes with the masses of other bikes near the library. We walked through the midstraat or centre of the market just to get an idea of what was all available. There were many food vendors as well as clothing, cards and card-making, dishware and tea towels, stroopwafels and poffertjes, scarves and purses, hats and shoes. There seemed to be no end to the rows and rows of tables with merchandise and food.
We also took in the livestock area, including the auction of the black and beautiful Friesian horses, such a graceful horse as you can see in the photos below:
(taken for my friend K who owns and rides her own friesian horses here)


It was a challenge to take photos as the crowds continued to get thicker. As you can see everyone and their relatives come out to the Joustermerke every Fall for this annual event. I have never been in a crowd like this before and at one point the traffic flow stopped because of congestion; a human traffic jam! I moved myself out of the crowds as I was feeling claustrophobic and went into the shops to browse. This photo was taken with my camera by our cousin, S, who stood tall above the crowds with his height and was able to give us an idea of just how busy it was.
Away from the crowds again, we stopped to listen to the ancient pipe organ grinder:And this is where we bought our poffertjes, thanks to our friend M, who sent us that card with euros for this very reason:



Served with a cube of butter and icing sugar, they were such a treat:
The variety of cheeses was amazing:
Gift packages were available here:
And my favourite stroopwafels were made and purchased here:
It is a tradition to come home with a bag of oliebollen, which we enjoyed later with our tea:
The Joustermerke was an experience I will never forget:)

To Market We Go....Local and Fresh

We left early this morning for our local
Farmer's Market in St. Jacobs,
where we met up with friends for a quick hello
before they headed off again.
We continued on our mission to buy
local and fresh produce and to take in
the market atmosphere.
The first performer we encountered made me think of my son as he sang:
"Think I'll go out to Alberta,
Weather's good there in the fall.
I got some friends that I can go a'working for..."
~Four Strong Winds by Neil Young
The harmonica/mouth organ, along with the guitar sounded great!

Playing the digereedoo; a native Australian instrument:

Celtic fiddle:

This photo was taken for my dutch husband who has really enjoyed watching
the FIFA World Cup and is of course
cheering for The Netherlands, his birth country.
KNVB stands for Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond,
or Royal Dutch Football Association.
Yes, soccer here is known as football in Europe.
These greyhounds made me think of my time in England
as this is a popular breed there:

The following photos were taken for my family
who operate a fruit farm
in the Niagara Region:
DeVries Fruit Farm
I thought it would be fun to include the prices for comparison.
(click photos to enlarge)


Mennonite jams and maple syrup:
Lunch-time after the cattle auction:
Canadian Flags waving everywhere in honour of Canada Day:
A stop at Martin's Fruit Farm Retail Store:

Home again after an enjoyable morning.
This is the results of our farmers market excursion.
The sunflowers were purchased at
a roadside stand for $3.00 a bunch.
They look so cheerful and happy!


The afternoon was spent making strawberry jam, doing laundry and clean-up,
(never-ending here) then enjoying our peaches and cream corn on the cob, the first of the season, for supper, followed later in the evening by stunning
but noisy fireworks,the conclusion to our
Canada Day Celebrations!

Summer: Five Favourite Foods

This week's theme was quite obvious:

summertime and the livin' is easy, so....
I thought that I would share some of my

favourite summer foods,
as I join others in friday's fave five.

1) My favourite summer drink is sun tea,

which I make every summer.

This will give you an idea due to the fact

that the sun has not been shining alot

over the past week:)

(image found online)

2) Salads are a meal around here in the summertime,

that and a BBQ consisting of

hamburgers and sausages on a bun.

I could go without the meat,

but I do love my salads.

I have shared some of my favourites

over the last few months...

(Photo taken on Father's Day)
Fabulous Greek salad made by my friend, S:
Fennel Salad made by K:
Nicoise Salad made by S:
3) Fresh fruit in season, including the local strawberries we are now enjoying:

4) Watermelon is one of our family favourites
and we have been enjoying it several times already:

5) Markets and Fresh Produce... I love my local market!



You can read more about friday fave five's at
Living to tell the Story
hosted by Susanne...

Home and Gardens and Market

This morning my dear friend, W, arrived early to my home to join me on my Thursday Morning Farmer's Market excursion. The weather was cool but sunny with brilliant blue skies as we made our way along the booths to pick up produce and plants. I have been busy preparing for a Ladies Retreat with our church to be held at Conestoga Bible Camp, a beautiful facility overlooking Conestoga Lake. I am in charge of decorating and wanted to fill the place with flowers
(will share photos later) which we had success in finding. We stopped at a few more places, went out for a leisurely lunch, then meandered home along scenic country roads before parting ways again.
I took some time to enjoy the weather and to wander in the gardens to check out the progress.
The bleeding heart is so dainty and so pretty:

I love these daffodils:
Bright yellow cheerful tulips:
I couldn't resist cutting a small bouquet for our patio area:

"The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth"
~Dorothy Frances Gurney

Meet our pullets/laying hens who arrived this morning. They are just becoming aquainted with their new home:

After supper, I started baking and am still taking batches of cookies out of the oven; Sure smells yummy here! Pictured: banana walnut bread, oatmeal raisin cookies, lemon bars:
Adding dutch buttercake: (boterkoek)....think I'll call it a night now!

Farmers Market Day

I left early this morning to meet up with my eldest daughter, K, who was just getting off night shift. Although it was still cool, cloudy and overcast, the sun made an effort to break through, making the sky look stunning!
We arrived together at the St. Jacobs Farmers' Market and were greeted by many booths displaying an abundance of fruit and vegetables as well as vendors selling a variety of merchandise.
I bought my first rhubarb of the season. Can you spot the rhubarb on this display?
I could not resist this gorgeous display of flowers and bought three large bouquets:
(a great deal)

More vendors with fruit and vegetables:

There are musicians at every corner. Most of them are students who are making an effort to earn more money toward their university tuition. My daughter really enjoyed this young man's music as he was so talented and had the ability to play several instruments at the same time. He was very innovative in his approach and played great bluegrass music:

We made a stop at La Casbah in the market for take-out lunch which we enjoyed in the sunshine!

"Moroccan cuisine is home to some of the most tantalizing food imaginable with its sweet and spicy combinations, and its exciting use of cumin and coriander, saffron, ginger and cinnamon, chilies and turmeric, olives and preserved limes. "
We ordered the Mahajeb (semolina pancake stuffed with spinach and feta cheese) served with salad and hummus....so good!
I also purchased their spicy pita chips to go along with their roasted red pepper dip:

We took our bikes along and spent the afternoon exploring another great cycle trail. The weather turned out to be sunny and warm with temperatures going up to 27'c, again unbelievable for April. The farmers were all out in full force doing field work and making the most of this weather before the expected rains tomorrow.
We arrived home again later in the afternoon to wind down and relax with a cup of tea and apple fritters. The rhubarb and apple squares are a treat for the company we will be receiving on the weekend. (click photos to enlarge, double click for full screen)


http://www.lacasbahkw.com/

http://missadventureathome.blogspot.com/2009/10/st-jacobs-oktoberfest-sausage-and-apple.html

http://seasonalontariofood.blogspot.com/2007/08/visit-to-waterloo-farmers-market-st.html