Santa Ana Farmers’ Market Debuts March 27

 The newest addition to Downtown offers fresh produce, artisan foods, and specialty items from local farms and vendors in an engaging, outdoor setting.

[Santa Ana, Calif.] –  The Santa Ana Farmers’ Market comes to life Thursday, March 27 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., and continues every following Thursday, rain or shine. The market features locally farmed produce, eggs, and meat, along with artisan foods from specialty vendors. The community-oriented event teams up with local residents, restaurants, and organizations to bring Santa Ana a thoughtful, quality market fit for all ages and every walk of life.

The Downtown area continues to experience a revitalization period, and the new market offers a fresh take on neighborhood shopping. Craft vendors like Santa Ana’s own Bread Artisan Bakery will offer fine baked goods and breads. Taart Pan gives passersby an opportunity to indulge in beautifully crafted hand pies and desserts made with natural ingredients. Niche products like Laguna Salt Company’s environmentally sound, whole mineral sea salts will gain new exposure at the public market. Massey Honey also caters to specialty shoppers with their Yorba Linda harvested, 100% raw honey that comes in various flavors including wildflower, orange blossom, and avocado.

Produce and meats are an integral part of farmers markets, and Santa Ana is proud to feature the finest family farms and ranches in Southern California. Sunny Cal Farms has grown produce in The Golden State for the past 100 years, and will offer Santa Ana countless varieties of stone fruit, pomegranates, citrus, dried fruit, and nuts. Da-Le Ranch brings grass-fed beef, lamb, chicken, pork, eggs, and various game from Lake Elsinore. Gaytan Family Farms furthers the produce options with year round, locally grown vegetable offerings. Gaytan Family Farms is also proud to accept WIC.

The Santa Ana Farmers’ Market fuses community, family farms, and small businesses to serve as the newest element in the burgeoning Downtown area. Various local restaurants will be sourcing directly from the market and participating in weekly specials for those who shop at the market and then dine in the downtown. For more information visit http://dtsafarmersmarket.com.

The New Southwest Cookbook

Classic Flavors with a Modern Twist

Was recently sent a copy of The New Southwest: Classic Flavors with a Modern Twist cookbook by Meagan Micozzi, who runs the Scarletta Bakes blog, and published by Hippocrene Books. Meagan moved from the East Coast to Arizona where she encountered and was intrigued by Southwestern cuisine, a style that blends Mexican, Native American and American cuisines. She dove right in to learning all about the Southwestern style, including its flavors for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and more. Her immersion in the topic led her to start her popular blog, which eventually led to the creation of this cookbook. The recipes in the cookbook are all new so they can't be found on the blog, which is fine, because with as much time as I spend on the Internet sometimes I have to take my eyes off of the computer monitor and just read some traditional print.

I've gone through my review copy and left little Post-It flags on all the recipes I wanted to try. I ended up lots of flags sticking out of the book. The book strikes a good balance between traditional and contemporary. There's recipes for Navajo Fry Bread and Chorizo but there's also Vegan Puffy Tacos and Peanut Butter & Jelly Empanadas. And then there's Fancified Frito Pie. Oh, and Avocado Doughnuts. So, with this cookbook you can be traditional without being boring. Right now I'm headed out to pick up some of the ingredients. The first recipe I'll be trying is the Caramel-soaked Mexican Chocolate Pancakes… and then the Skillet-baked Corn Pudding… and then the Hatch Chile Cheeseburgers…