Jean Havemeister and Veronica Brost -- they call themselves the "cheese ladies" -- will have Matanuska Creamery products available at the Dimond Center starting Saturday through Dec. 19.
"Matanuska Creamery has a wonderful surprise for all you farmers market people," said Havemeister.
"Thank you all so much for your support of our local products and hope to share more with you during the holidays."
On Saturdays, they will be near The Gap store in the Dimond Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
On Friday, Nov. 25, they will have a one-time milk, cookies and Santa Claus event.
Free Matanuska Creamery milk will be provided along with free Mrs. Fields cookies. The Black Friday event is 2 to 4 p.m.
Regular items at the "indoor market" include quarts of eggnog and several homemade butters, including chai tea, cinnamon sugar and cranberries, lemon, garlic and regular butter.
Specialty cheeses include aged, medium, sharp and mozzarella.
They also will have several ice cream flavors in both pints and half-gallons.
Havemeister suggests calling the plant for special orders; the number is 907-745-6455.
Indoor market
The indoor Center Market at the Mall at Sears continues today from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Several vendors are lined up for the market including Matanuska Creamery, the Rempel Family Farm, A.D. Farm, Country Health Foods, Vern Stockwell and Northern Lights Mushrooms.
Linda Boggs, the mall's marketing director, says the winter market is a perfect fit for the shopping area.
"After seeing the loyal clientele that the market attracted this summer," Boggs said, "it only made sense for us to try to find a spot in the Mall where they could continue to offer their products into the winter."
The Rempels will have organic sugar pumpkins, stripetti squash, acorn squash, jumbo pink banana squash, daikon radish, carrots, parsnips, beets, cabbage and eight varieties of potatoes.
Sweet carrots
Alex Davis of A.D. Farm also will have the sweet Alaska carrots, along with multiple other products, including his locally raised pork.
Davis says the carrots at the market are special. "Certified organic carrots grown in Alaska are known to be sweetest carrots on the planet," Davis says.
He said A.D. Farm and Rempel Family Farm are the only in-state certified organic carrot producers.
Country Health Farms will have Alaska grass-fed beef along with local free-range chickens, frozen Alaska seafood and local honey. Duane Clark also is taking orders for partial or whole beef.
From the sea
Halibut season comes to an end on Friday, so Dannon Southall from 10th & M Seafoods says "now is the time to take advantage of these wonderful flatfish."
Headed and gutted 10- to 20-pound halibut are $10.95 per pound and the folks at the fish counter will fillet the fish for free. Halibut fillets are also available.
Southall also is singing the praises of fresh jumbo red king crab from Southeast, which he says will be in the store today.
"Last week we brought in some of these jumbo king crab legs and I sampled them," he said.
"Wow! The sweetness of the meat added with the size of the jumbo legs was a treat. This is a very short season in Southeast and will probably be the last chance for fresh never frozen jumbo red king crab this year."
Also available from Southeast this week are fresh, troll-caught king salmon, available head-on or as fillets.
And another Southeast treat are live Alaska oysters at $9.95 per dozen.
Steve Edwards lives and writes in Anchorage. If you have a suggestion for a future Market Fresh column, please contact him at sedwards@adn.com.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.