Farmers Markets, Summer Stands For the Summer

Hi All,

It's summer and that means fresh fruit and vegetables for all.  Imagine those crisp cucumbers, lovely tomatoes and mouth watering watermelons.  Don't forget those awesome strawberries, berrylicious blueberries and other fresh fruits and vegetables.

And while your local Stop 'n Shop or King Kullen or Waldbaum's or Best Market might have fruit and vegetables, Farmers Markets and Summer Stands have superb fresh fruit and vegetables as well.

But where do you find these farmers markets and summer stands you ask?  Great question - and read on for more information.

Farmingdale Patch wrote this article back in June of this year - titled 'Long Island Farmers Markets, Farm Stands to Check Out This Summer' - which is a great starting point for all things 'farmer market related'. The article has a list of Farmers Markets in both Nassau and Suffolk county. Included in the list is the location of the farmers market.  Also included are dates and times when the market is open to the public. Note that there are at least twice as many markets in Suffolk County as there are in Nassau County.  Which kind of makes sense because Suffolk is closer to farms on Long Island!

Click on this link to go to Google Maps so you can plan and get directions for all the trips to the Farmers Markets and Summer stands that you'll be making this summer!

Enjoy the link and the healthy fruits and vegetables that you'll find at the various farmers markets!

Regards,
Stu

All Things Stew Leonards

Hi All,

It looks like Stew Leonard's is opening a new store in Farmingdale.  The new store will be in Airport Plaza where the old Dave and Buster's used to be. 

Click on this link from Newsday for more about the grand opening on January 20th!

Also, click on this link which goes directly to the Stew Leonard's website. You'll find lots of links to Weekly Specials, Recipes, Gift Baskets, StewTube Videos, About Stew Leonard's and more.

Enjoy the site - it should be a unique food shopping experience.

Regards,
Stu

Thanksgiving 2013

Hi All,

Today is the day that I post my annual 'Thanksgiving' entry.  It's an interesting one.  Here goes...

What makes a great Thanksgiving dinner? Great question - glad you asked.  Click on this link from NJ.com entitled, 'Poll: What's your favorite Thanksgiving food?'  Well, it seems like Turkey (big surprise) is the winner - along with sides like stuffing, sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole.  Yum!  I'm getting hungry! Click on any of the links above for recipe related information - trust me, you'll really, really like it. And you'll find other recipes that are just as good with a simple click of the mouse!  Click on this link for a short course on the history of Thanksgiving foods. (from the Buffalo - New York - News)

Okay, so now that you have the recipes for Thanksgiving 2013, how are you going to cook and bake and serve all that food?  Indeed, click on this link from ivillage and your Thanksgiving Day will, in all likelihood, run smoother and give you less stress.

Oh, and if it seems like you spent a bit less this year on Thanksgiving Dinner, you probably did.  Click here for the lowdown on the lower prices of Turkey Day!

Click here for some images of Thanksgiving Dinner courtesy of Bing Images - notice I'm not using Google Images this time?  Yep - I wanted to mix it up and doing something a bit different.  Notice how juicy and tender the turkeys look? Scrumptious! Absolutely delectable!

So...football is a tradition on Thanksgiving as well.  Click here to find a list of the games being played (and the times) on Thanksgiving Day 2013.  Wow - that's a full schedule!  My faves...Packers, Raiders and Steelers (go Big Ben).  Games start at 12:30pm, 4:30pm and 8:30pm on FOX, CBS, and NBC.

And if you have a whole passel of toddlers (or just a few), you might want to keep them busy during the game - and dinner.  How in the world can you do that, you ask?  Easy...click on this link from Bing.  I did a search for 'easy Thanksgiving Crafts'.  Hey, at least you tried to keep the little tykes busy! Okay, okay, here's another link to keep the young ones busy with some crafts!

Finally, click on this link to get the full story about the first Thanksgiving - courtesy of Wikipedia the link is very, very interesting. Here's another link that discusses Thanksgiving - courtesy of Plimouth.org; which is a Smithsonian Institution Affiliations program.  Heck, you might just learn something new about one of the most American of holidays!

Enjoy the holiday and drive safely!

Regards,
Stu

Summer - Gardening?

Hi All,

While summer is NOT typically the time to start gardening, somewhat cooler weather (think temperatures' in the high 70's and early 80's) might not be such a bad time to do some gardening work.

Some caveats though:
1. drink lots of water and stay hydrated

2. try to do the gardening in the early morning (before 10am perhaps) or the late afternoon (after 4pm perhaps) so the heat isn't too intense for you or for the gardening

3. wear a hat and take lots of breaks while you are gardening...

Okay, that being said, on to the gardening aspects...

Click on this link for a few summer gardening tips from Michael McGroarty - the author and owner of the popular gardening website Free Plants.

This next link is a bit more generic, but still worth reading nonetheless. Click here for an article from Ezinearticles.com.

Got vegetables, then you'll want to view this next site. And while the site is pretty basic (no flashing icons, no pictures, and lots of text), you'll want to click on this link for a brief intro on how to 'Grow Vegetables and Culinary Herbs in Summer'.

Click on this link from PlanetGreen.com - the link is to a site which is 'Your Complete Guide to Summer Vegetable Gardening'. The article discusses summer gardening for tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, eggplant, peppers and corn. Yum!

I've mentioned the Cornell Cooperative Extension in a previous post - but I'll mention it again since it is such a valuable resource. This is the link to Gardening which has other links to the following: Gardening news, Children's Garden, Horticulture Leaflets, Long Island Gardening Quarterly, Farmers Markets (yum) and Gardening Links.

Enjoy the free information and I hope your green thumb gets even greener!

Regards,
Stu