On Shopping Locally

Christmas is almost here!
With the crazy rush of the season I was happy to take some time
to visit with some bloggy friends and taste some goodies from
Chef Brian telling us about some of the goodies from their catering menu.
We sampled:  
  • Buffalo sausage bites from Ratchford Farms in Marshall, AR (well, I didn’t try them as I don’t eat red meat, but they looked good) 
  • Wonderful Coconut Shrimp with Cranberry dipping sauce.  (Argenta Market has very fresh seafood flown in weekly from the Gulf- see their website for what’s in this week!)
  • Lovely fruit and cheese tray with Honeysuckle Lane Arkansas cheeses from Daley Dairy in Rosebud, AR. 
  • White Chocolate and Cranberry cheese ball with cookies from a mix by Resident Chef in Maumelle, AR.  *I normally don’t like sweet dips but this was so yummy.  Like a cheesecake on a cracker!
  • Spinach Parmesean dip also by Resident Chef.  Everyone loved this but I thought it had a tad too much onion for me.  My hubby would love it.
  • Croque Monsieur- a lovely Monte Cristo-esque sandwich made on jalapeno cornbread by Arkansas Fresh bakery, with Petit Jean ham, Argenta Market’s smoked turkey (my kids ADORE this,) and chipotle mayonnaise.  It’s dipped in an egg wash and panko breadcrumbs and oven-fried.  (Again, I didn’t try this but it had rave reviews by fellow bloggers!)
Need fruit or cheese trays in a hurry?  I’ve gotten entire fresh smoked salmons for parties that are DELICIOUS.  Just give them a few days notice as they smoke meat once a week I believe.
Entire holiday meals are even available!  
Small Turkey Dinner (serves 10-12) – $89.99
Large Turkey Dinner (serves 20-24) – $149.99
Small Ham Dinner (serves 10-12) – $99.99
Large Ham Dinner (serves 20-24) – $169.99

Dinners include meat, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, dressing, cranberry sauce and rolls.

Pie is also available (a necessity.)
Call 501-379-9980 to order!
(Ordering information can also be found online.)
For Christmas dinner the deadline is December 14th and pick up by December 24th at noon. 

 My family adores Argenta Market.  It’s on the way to school so if we have time we stop for snacks or last minute dinner ideas.   One of those local places where people remember you and 
make you feel at home.  My kids beg for their smoked turkey. 
 It’s also a great place for lunch!  During the season it’s across from the North Little Rock Farmer’s market (all organic and local!) 
Our favorite cashier! 

We were given wonderful gift baskets to sample.  The baskets are made in Little Rock and contain all Arkansas made products.  Beautiful and already wrapped!  They have two options available and both are limited so call and reserve yours today! (I’m going to!)

My basket had:

  1. K-Bee’s Cream Honey & Blueberries great on fresh biscuits
  2. My Brother’s Salsa (medium) 
  3. The Resident Chef’s Spinach Parmesan gourmet dip mix
  4. Stutzman’s Pantry Peach Jam
  5. War Eagle Mills– Hot Roll Mix
  6. Southern Girl Soapery’s Home Brew Soap (made with Diamond Bear beer!) Great manly gift!
It was so nice to see my AR Women Bloggers friends again and get great holiday ideas.
Thank you Stephanie and Argenta Market!

For more Arkansas goodness enter for a chance to win a Petit Jean gift basket
on Arkansas Women Bloggers.

 

Yummies


I scored big at the market yesterday. Awesome yellow round zucchs, baby ‘tatos, turnips, beautiful green beans, garlic and onions. I am really enjoying having a farmer’s market that is closer to home and all organic!


I made stuffed squash out of the lovely globe zucchini’s. I didn’t realize they were zuch’s, thought they were some sort of yellow squash- delish!

Stuffed Squash

  • I used 4 yellow globe zucchini (steamed in the microwave for 8 minutes)
  • Cut off the tops and scoop out the insides and put in a bowl. I smashed these and drained a bit. Add to this all the below:
  • Cooked germinated brown rice (I LOVE DHC brand but trying to find a local source) which I also threw in some barley grains that I had about a 1/4 cup left
  • Sauteed chopped onions and garlic
  • Some cooked lentils (I used Massor Gota- think they are red, but might be orange. My new favorite lentils!)
  • A bit of tomato juice or sauce and salt and pepper to taste.
  • About 1/2 cup of grated parmesean cheese

Stuff the squash with this mix and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until it looks done!
Yummy!

Farmer’s Market Blues…

Yesterday mom and I went to see “I Love You, Man.” Dumb, funny, and probably what I needed after the worst temper tantrum any of my kids have ever had (Jac, luckily in the privacy of my van.) My nerves were pretty shot. We were dittering (is that a word?) about how excited we were the Farmer’s Market was opening today and how we were going when we woke up.
Well… I emailed a good friend whom I know loves fresh produce as much as I do and she said “It’s open?” Uh oh. I could have sworn that the NLR Times said it was open starting in April… I looked on the websites for the NLR and LR markets and found:
NLR market opens April 18th
LR market opens in May!

ARGH! And us all dressed up (well, dressed anyway) with no where to go at 7am.
I will have to make do with Kroger until then, or get busy and get our garden growing. (I do have my herbs out!) Trying the Basils in a pot this year since I have no sun anywhere else. Maybe it will manage to grow.