Eat your veggies: early Fall at the Dane County Farmers' Market.

Hey Madison, it's been a while. I left the country for 2 weeks on an amazing multi-continental adventure (a week in Barcelona, then a week in Israel). The jet lag was rough, and getting back to reality has been harder than I expected. But what better way for me to get back in my groove than to eat some veggies? In Wisconsin, this time of year is all about veggies, veggies, veggies. For me, that means Dane Country Farmers' Market trips and some pretty awesome boxes from my Harmony Valley Farm CSA.

My haul from the market was pretty typical: green onions, napa cabbage, and some gouda from Farmer John's Cheese (Yup, that's the guy whose cow I milked. He told me that she's pregnant. Mazel tov, Faith!). After my shopping, what I discovered downtown that was a fun surprise: a local food fest, including an enormous, stilt-walking corn:

Just hanging at the Wisconsin State Capitol with my new corn friend (and HER corn friend… look at the tiny one in her hand).

I also checked in with the Willy Street Co-Op booth, where I found myself in a bit of a pickle.

I never thought I'd get to say THIS phrase on by blog twice in one year, but…
#pickleselfie.

Once I had my mandatory ridiculous photos taken care of, it was time to head home and pick up the CSA. The most surprising thing in the box was this hairy, curly, finger-like root vegetable:

And the award for ugliest vegetable goes to… celeriac!

My to-do list for the week: figure out how the hell to cook it. I'm thinking soup.

Eat your veggies, folks!

Resolution complete: I milked a cow.

A lot of people get really into New Year's resolutions. I don't. Yet for 2014, I made one that I 100% intended to follow through on: I wanted to milk a cow. Many people have asked me why I wanted to do this so badly. Here is my reasoning:

1. I LOVE BARNYARD ANIMALS.
2. It's good to try new things.
3. It would be an awesome experience to blog about.

I'm an urban girl. I was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in the busy, typical, cookie-cutter suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina. You know the opening sequence to the show, Weeds? Yeah, that's my hometown: the traffic, the strip malls, the Land Rovers, the soccer moms… all are very familiar things to me. I'm a city dweller to my very core, and I think that's why farm life fascinates me: because it's different.

Cue the Green Acres theme song.

I met Farmer John Dougherty of Farmer Johns' Cheese at the East Side Farmers' Market in May. I gathered that by his large variety of delicious cheese for sale, he likely had access to a great deal of cows. So I asked if I could milk one. He said yes! Two months later, I was off to the outskirts of Spring Green, Wisconsin to visit the official Farmer Johns' milking barn.

Let's get one thing straight: there's more than one Farmer John (hence the apostrophe). It's currently operated by a father and son (both named John), and before that, it was operated by the generations that came first (yup, you got it, also named John). This is a true family farm business, right down to the name.

My friends Cherie and Caitlin came along for the ride, which took us through some winding country roads to this really awesome waterfall:

Beautiful!

Then, we arrived at John's milking barn. He walked us through the cow-filled building and told us all about his family farm, the milking process, and all things cows!

The lineup: Farmer John gets the cows into the barn by leading them in with corn (they love it).
See the pipes above the cows? That's where the milk goes.

After it goes through the pipes, it ends up in a huge tank.
We all climbed up the ladder to peek in.

It holds an insane amount of milk.

After our barn tour, we got to meet two baby calves, Jenny and Ryan:

Beyond adorable.

Then, it was milking time. The cows are milked by machine, but of course we had to start off old school. Farmer John chose Faith as the best cow for us to milk. He knew that her mellow temperament would work in our favor and that she was less likely to try and kick us (he has a lot of cows in this place, and many can get sassy at milking time). He noted that you always have to let the cow know when you're at her side and going to milk her. This way, she's less startled. Of course, I had to get the experience on tape:

Then Caitlin milked Faith!

And Cherie, too! 

Old school milking: check. Then, Farmer John let me put the milking machine on Faith. It's made of 4 little suction tubes that go from the udders to the pipes in the barn.

Just making sure I had everything right.

Voila! I attached the milking machine and Faith was ready to go.

A lot of cows had to be milked, so we went to the front of the barn to check in on the tank. It was very loud in there, but I fit in a quick video of "THIS IS WHERE THE MILK IS GOING! HERE'S THE MILK!"

The entire milking process takes about 30 minutes from the first cow to the last. The cows get milked twice a day (6am and 6pm), and Farmer John noted that he tries to keep the cows in the same order each time so that their schedules are consistent. I could really tell that he loves what he does and cares about the well-being of his cows, which of course makes me want to keep buying more and more of his cheese.

Speaking of the cheese, to purchase some amazing dairy goodness from Farmer John, he can be found at the Dane County Farmers' Market (near West Washington Ave), as well as many other local markets.

I'd like to send a huge thanks to Farmer John for letting us visit, Cherie and Caitlin for putting up with their quirky friend, and of course, this lovely lady:

Many thanks, Faith!

Farmers' Market trip: summer salad edition.

Realizing that we hadn't gone to the Dane County Farmers' Market in quite a long time, my friend Tonya and I ventured out for some Saturday morning shopping. Despite the chilly wind, the market was packed, and I left with an awesome haul:

Broccoli, lettuce, mini cukes, a beefsteak tomato, and sweet cherries.
Yum! Time for summer salad.

Then, off to brunch at Mickey's Tavern. A delicious morning!

One year in Madison: time for cows!

It's hard to believe that I've lived in Madison for a little over a year. I have a great job, fabulous friends, and I just bought a beautiful condo in the Atwood neighborhood.

When I was new to Madison last year, I wrote my third-ever blog post about Cows On The Concourse, which gave me the opportunity to mingle with cows downtown.

This year, I returned to the event (now in its 33rd year) with my friend, Kat. We petted a fuzzy baby calf and then I got my picture taken with Apple Cider, the Milking Shorthorn:

Apple Cider and her farmer friend were happy to pose for the photo.

Once we had our daily dose of cows, Kat and I went to Mirch Masala for a delicious Indian buffet. When I went to college in Cincinnati, I lived on a street with three Indian restaurants. Since then, it's been my favorite food, and Mirch Masala lived up to the hype.

My dairy dessert: rice pudding and a milk ball.

While downtown, I picked up some organic strawberries at the Farmers' Market:

Look at those beauties!

What can I say? My first year in Wisconsin has been exciting, educational, and memorable. Here's to many more!

To market, to market: opening day (with a side of custard).

In Madison, the third Saturday in April means opening day at the Dane County Farmers' Market. Wisconsinites gather on the square to welcome the return of the downtown market. Today's hot item: morel mushrooms, some for over $30/pound!

Kat, Mackenzie, and I braved the crowds and perused the market, where I was thrilled to get a great photo of "Piccolo Guy" (aka "Orange Guy"):

According to Mackenzie, he's a proud nudist when he's not donning his orange garb.

The piccolo was a lovely soundtrack to the market, which was peppered with the usual mix of young, old, political activists, and hipsters.

My loot from the market: R.P.'s pasta and some lovely potatoes.

After brunch at Marigold Kitchen, Kat and I went to the East Side Club for the Vintage Flea and Finds market. I purchased three vintage bangles for $2: score! We then decided to meet up with Anne at Michael's Frozen Custard for my first ever custard indulgence.

Creamy frozen goodness!

After a busy morning, it's nice to be home sweet home. My little girl is purring away:

Phoebe feels right at home in Wisconsin!

Holy cow!

This morning I went to the Dane County Farmers' Market at its indoor winter location (Madison Senior Center). Joined by my friends Kat and Bronwen, we perused the market while an acoustic guitarist sang Beach Boys classics. Kat enjoyed a delicious biscotti and Bronwen overheard a conversation about goat whey (she also recently encountered a woman who claimed to sense positive and negative cheese energy-- yup, this really happened). I visited the Gypsy Travelin' Market & Bakery booth, only to discover these cookie gems:

Winged "holy cow" cookies: precious!

Only in dairyland.

Saturday at the farmers' market: how 'bout them apples?

With the winter weather approaching, the Dane County Farmers' Market has relocated indoors to Monona Terrace. Designed by Madison native, Frank Lloyd Wright, Monona Terrace is the perfect alternative to the outdoor market, offering a great view of (you guessed it) Lake Monona.

I wandered around the indoor market, where I discovered Romanesco broccoli:

Picture perfect, isn't it?

I continued browsing and decided to pick up a few goodies:

My loot from the market: cherry jalapeño jelly and two large empire apples.

My friend Kat and I met up at the market and decided to go to Marigold Kitchen for brunch. I was craving an omelette, so this was the perfect place to go. Luckily, we beat the crowd and found a table.

My veggie & cheese omelette with toast, salad, and sweet potatoes.

The pumpkin cake was calling Kat's name:

Cream cheese frosting!

Farmers' market + brunch = perfect Saturday.

My first weekend away from the farmers' market.

As I have already mentioned, the Dane County Farmers' Market has become one of my favorite places. I have spent the past two Saturdays having a blast exploring the products offered from a variety of local vendors.

This weekend, I'm going to Columbus, Ohio for my friend's wedding, so I'll be MIA at the market. I figured this would be a good opportunity to showcase some interesting market-related photos that I have taken thus far.

One of the many cheese smorgasbords available at the market.

One of the most fascinating and moo-worthy people that I have met in Wisconsin is Larry the Gourd Guy. The name pretty much says it all. The man loves his gourds, and he's a really nice guy.

Larry was very happy to show off his many gourds!

I find it quite fun to come home from the market with great loot from local vendors.

Sugar-free apple butter, raspberry jalapeno pepper jelly, bread n' butter pickles, & pumpkin tortelloni

I have been hoping to score some homespun yarn at the market, which I haven't found yet but I did find some at Anthology on State Street.

I expect to have some major catching-up to do at the market when I'm back next weekend!