Today's Adventures
May. 23rd, 2026 09:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithToday we went to the Spring Vendor Market in Sullivan.
Part of why we wanted to go was to check out the Cousins Maine Lobster food truck. The picture menu looked promising; the lobster dishes were $20-25 which is what we expected and fine for sharing. But reading the more detailed menu with ingredients was ... nowhere near as fun. 0_o It's a very east-coast style menu with things like cabbage and lime cream. :P So we moved on to browse the rest of the show before eating.
The tables were about half random flea market stuff and half crafts.
Chris Benton Woodworking had a variety of items. One clever setup was a miniature picnic table in two versions, either holding a set of condiments or a roll of paper towels, ideal for family picnics. We got to talking about woodworking; I'm a fan rather than a woodworker myself. I suggested possible ways of combining the two designs to dispense both things, by putting the condiments on the benches and leaving the paper towels under the top.
Honestly, one of the things I enjoyed most was just talking with people. Many of the vendors were happy to chat. If you feel lonely or disconnected, a low-traffic flea market or garage sale event is a good bet for finding folks to talk with, and the event provides a natural topic so you're not just stuck with boring small talk.
At one table, I found a red bag with multiple pockets to hold the tool-cleaning kit that I've seen assembling. (For some reason, only tool-specific cleaning kits are sold. I just wanted a bunch of different brushes to clean all the things. And thus, something to hold it in.) My partner Doug picked up a Beatles themed Trivial Pursuit game.
We found a couple of edible treats worth picking up. One was a carton of homemade pico de gallo so good that even I liked it, although it's right at the edge of my heat tolerance. I believe the ingredients to be tomato, white onion, a red pepper, a yellow pepper, a green pepper, and fresh herbs. We could make that at home, but I might substitute chives for the raw onion. Another thing we got was a jar of wild violet jelly from Root to Remedy, which is a striking mauve color. I plan to make thumbprint cookies with that.
I spotted a food dehydrator, new in box, for only $10. I waited to pick it up until we'd seen everything else, but I did go back for it. I had previously considered picking up such a thing, but never bothered because in stores they're not cheap. My main interest is actually making things that I can't buy in stores, like mulberry-apple leather or pumpkin leather. But it's also a possibility for general-purpose drying of extra fruit if I see a bag of apples cheap or whatever. I'm still tempted to pay a friend to make freeze-dried tomato powder for me, though.
Field & Fire Bakery had some interesting goods, but we didn't buy anything since we have half a loaf of sourdough bread at home.
We wound up getting lunch from 5 Bugle BBQ, which offered one of the best brisket sandwiches we've ever had -- thick quarter-inch slabs of meat. :D We got a lime shakeup from The Lemonade Stand, which offers lemon or lime as real fruit plus flavor syrups if you're into that.
Then we went inside the store, G & T Fun Rentals and Resale Shop. They had an excellent selection of quality used furniture at good to bargain prices. Sadly, the retail shop is going out of business at the end of July. I did find a clear glass mug with a winter scene to replace the identical one I had that broke a while back. \o/
On the way out, we bought a blueberry hand pie to split. That was delicious, and made with real blueberries instead of the gel that is more common nowadays. We both suspect that the tender and tasty crust was based on lard.
It has been a fun and productive day.
Part of why we wanted to go was to check out the Cousins Maine Lobster food truck. The picture menu looked promising; the lobster dishes were $20-25 which is what we expected and fine for sharing. But reading the more detailed menu with ingredients was ... nowhere near as fun. 0_o It's a very east-coast style menu with things like cabbage and lime cream. :P So we moved on to browse the rest of the show before eating.
The tables were about half random flea market stuff and half crafts.
Chris Benton Woodworking had a variety of items. One clever setup was a miniature picnic table in two versions, either holding a set of condiments or a roll of paper towels, ideal for family picnics. We got to talking about woodworking; I'm a fan rather than a woodworker myself. I suggested possible ways of combining the two designs to dispense both things, by putting the condiments on the benches and leaving the paper towels under the top.
Honestly, one of the things I enjoyed most was just talking with people. Many of the vendors were happy to chat. If you feel lonely or disconnected, a low-traffic flea market or garage sale event is a good bet for finding folks to talk with, and the event provides a natural topic so you're not just stuck with boring small talk.
At one table, I found a red bag with multiple pockets to hold the tool-cleaning kit that I've seen assembling. (For some reason, only tool-specific cleaning kits are sold. I just wanted a bunch of different brushes to clean all the things. And thus, something to hold it in.) My partner Doug picked up a Beatles themed Trivial Pursuit game.
We found a couple of edible treats worth picking up. One was a carton of homemade pico de gallo so good that even I liked it, although it's right at the edge of my heat tolerance. I believe the ingredients to be tomato, white onion, a red pepper, a yellow pepper, a green pepper, and fresh herbs. We could make that at home, but I might substitute chives for the raw onion. Another thing we got was a jar of wild violet jelly from Root to Remedy, which is a striking mauve color. I plan to make thumbprint cookies with that.
I spotted a food dehydrator, new in box, for only $10. I waited to pick it up until we'd seen everything else, but I did go back for it. I had previously considered picking up such a thing, but never bothered because in stores they're not cheap. My main interest is actually making things that I can't buy in stores, like mulberry-apple leather or pumpkin leather. But it's also a possibility for general-purpose drying of extra fruit if I see a bag of apples cheap or whatever. I'm still tempted to pay a friend to make freeze-dried tomato powder for me, though.
Field & Fire Bakery had some interesting goods, but we didn't buy anything since we have half a loaf of sourdough bread at home.
We wound up getting lunch from 5 Bugle BBQ, which offered one of the best brisket sandwiches we've ever had -- thick quarter-inch slabs of meat. :D We got a lime shakeup from The Lemonade Stand, which offers lemon or lime as real fruit plus flavor syrups if you're into that.
Then we went inside the store, G & T Fun Rentals and Resale Shop. They had an excellent selection of quality used furniture at good to bargain prices. Sadly, the retail shop is going out of business at the end of July. I did find a clear glass mug with a winter scene to replace the identical one I had that broke a while back. \o/
On the way out, we bought a blueberry hand pie to split. That was delicious, and made with real blueberries instead of the gel that is more common nowadays. We both suspect that the tender and tasty crust was based on lard.
It has been a fun and productive day.
(no subject)
Date: 2026-05-24 11:58 am (UTC)Lard based pastry is the best :) I still have my mum's recipes and they're all various proportions of lard to butter, and suet of course. Old fashioned British cookery was inedible for vegetarians but they certainly knew their fats.
Also yay! dehydrator. That was a real bargain :)
Sounds like a fun time was had by all. :D
Date: 2026-05-25 04:43 am (UTC)I shredded fresh ginger for the ginger snaps to middling results ... never again, too much labor and yes, the raw ginger lost heat. :/
Re: Sounds like a fun time was had by all. :D
Date: 2026-05-25 04:53 am (UTC)Anything you want to taste really, really like tomato but not necessarily too wet; also it's good in case other tomato things are not available. I make xawaash chicken with tomato paste, but powder should work too. It would be nice in the tomato-basil bread. *ponder* You could also make dry mixes with it, like soup mix or pizza-flavored popcorn.
>> I shredded fresh ginger for the ginger snaps to middling results ... never again, too much labor and yes, the raw ginger lost heat. :/
Alas! We love triple-ginger cookies made with powdered, grated, and minced candied ginger. Admittedly we tend to use a spice grinder for the root ginger.
(no subject)
Date: 2026-05-25 02:45 pm (UTC)I've been pleased to own our thrifted food dehydrator. We only use it sporadically, but I love homemade dried banana chips and like to make them when there's a banana abundance. It was also great for drying out chocolate peppermint leaves to make tea, and for making dried tart cherries, and and and...