farmers markets

Mercado Kitchen: Palmero Date Smoothie

Posted on by Mission Community Market in Mercado Kitchen, Palmero Date Shop, Recipes, Vendors, Winters Tree Fruit | 3 Comments

palmerodatesign

Have a sweet tooth but want to fulfill the craving with something healthy, kosher, and organic? Stop by the Palmero Date Shop stall this Thursday to pick up some tasty and succulent dates! Ronald will guide you through his wide variety of dates for any sweet or savory craving. His Jumbo Medjool dates are the best for snacking, as they embody the true unique flavor of perfectly ripe Medjool dates from Bard Valley California. Also highly recommended are his unique, dainty, and incredibly sweet Khadrawy dates that melt in the mouth — a delectable treat! This week Palmero Date Shop will be introducing new Varietal Date Paste balls that are great for making Vegan Date Shakes, as featured in the recipe below.

Palmero Date Shop is no ordinary date vendor. They provide traceability for all of their five varieties of dates produced on a small farm in Bard, California; 100% Organic, Kosher. They follow strict food safety procedures to ensure that their smooth pillows of natural sugar are dispersed responsibly and ethically to a wide range of communities in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City. Not only do Palmero Dates track and document every batch of their mouthwatering dates, they work hard to educate the public about the unique date growing region in Bard, California.  One of their goals is to create a larger demand for varietal dates so growers will be encouraged to plant new date palm cultivars and ultimately expand the selection of dates for farmers market consumers in the future.

PalmerostallRon

For this weeks recipe, Ronald recommends their new Varietal Date Paste pack for a healthy, sweet, protein-packed Palmero Date Shake. To add to this tasty smoothie, stop by the Winters Fruit Tree stall to pick up some Raw Nonpareil Almonds! Check out the full recipe after the jump!
Read more

People of MCM: Volunteers Lea and Jesse

Posted on by Mission Community Market in Arizmendi Bakery, Blue House Farm, People of MCM | Leave a comment

IMG_0947

I found these two market regulars goofing off at the Blue House Farm booth and decided to interview them!

Meet Lea and Jesse! Lea has been a volunteer with MCM since our very first season in 2010. She worked particularly hard during that crucial first year, both at the market and behind the scenes recruiting awesome bands to play at MCM, creating and documenting recipes for the blog, and encouraging friends and acquaintances to volunteer. She still does her part as an essential member of the MCM volunteer community, sending tons of great helpers our way, facilitating community partnerships, and always coming through in the clutch when we’re short-staffed. Her partner Jesse has not been immune to her recruiting efforts, as he’s volunteered with the market as well. Jesse also works part-time for Blue House Farm running their stand at other markets and occasionally helping out at the MCM stand.

Where do you live?

We live a few blocks away in the Mission.

How often do you visit to the Market?

Coming to the market is a fun standard thing to do on Thursday nights so we are here pretty regularly.

What have you seen change here since you were volunteering in 2010?

The market has grown so much in the past few years. So many more people visit each week and it has become a much more established community event. There are many more vendors and it’s also been a great change now that the market is running year-around.

What is your favorite thing to buy here?

I (Lea) am totally addicted to Arzimendi Breadsticks. I get them almost every time I come here and frequent their shop on Valencia as well.

What is something you would like others to know about the Market?

Volunteering is a great way to meet people and become more engaged with your community. We have a lot of fun when we volunteer and enjoy seeing the same faces week to week. Also, a lot of small businesses get their start here and it feels good to get to know them and support them as they grow.