Election Day is over and now it's time to vote for your taste buds.
The Thankful Thursdays market continues to grow and the Center Market offers two options during the week. Red or blue doesn't matter when there are purple potatoes or carrots available.
Center Market
Alex Davis has a huge selection of pork products, along with produce, eggs, Alaska Sprouts and Alaska Flour Co. items. Davis is at both Wednesday and Saturday markets.
Davis' pasture-raised pork lineup includes chops, loin roast, fresh side-sliced and slab, ribs, roast, ground pork, Italian sausage, breakfast sausage patties, bones for broth, fat, liver, feet and hocks. He also provides custom-made 40-pound boxes of a variety of cuts, and offers half and whole hogs.
The produce offerings include kohlrabi, beets, carrots in four colors, a selection of potatoes, red and green cabbage and Brussels sprouts. The Alaska sprouts items include tofu, microgreens, sprouts and basil.
The Rempel Family Farm is at Saturday's market with locally grown yak meat and a variety of storage produce. Veggies include orange and purple carrots, red and green cabbage, snow apple turnips, daikon radishes, red and golden beets, parsnips. eight varieties of winter squash and at least 10 varieties of potatoes.
Earthworks Farm will be at Wednesday's Center Market and at the City Church Alaskan Christmas Bazaar on Saturday. The bazaar is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1301 W. 100th Ave. Earthworks will feature its Abeille Alaska beeswax and honey body and skin care products. Dee Barker says new products include peppermint lip balm and Homespun Honey soap, which features a honeycomb design.
Monica's Confection Connection will have sweet treats at the market on Wednesday. Monica Droz says she is introducing fudge to her existing lineup of brittles, caramel and gummies.
Thankful Thursdays
Duane Clark's new market at the Mall at Sears has more than a half-dozen vendors lined up for Thursday.
Catherine's Cupcakes will be at Thankful Thursdays, along with both Center Market days and at the Colony Farmers Market on Monday. Cupcake flavors include salted caramel, cookies and cream, chocolate sundae, Nutella, chocolate lovers, Madagascar vanilla and purple carrot cake.
Farm 779 is featuring "energy-packed, allergy-friendly bakery items" at this week's market, Julie Meer says. The treats include chocolate drop cookies and cacao quinoa tea-cakes featuring fair trade cacao from Modern Dwellers Chocolate Lounge. Meer says the booth also will be stocked with body products featuring coconut and honey. Other items include turmeric kefir reduction, coconut kefir in three flavors, krauts and kvass.
Drool Central will be at the market with their traditional treats for dogs, along with Pupsicles, frozen homemade chicken broth and wild Alaska salmon broth snacks. And they are paw-shaped too.
Clark will have grass-fed beef and yak, honey, zucchini relish, jams, salsa, green tomato salsa, carrots, potatoes, cabbage and beets.
Clark highlights some of the other vendors: "Keven Windel of Three Bears Farm has his wide range of jams and jellies, as well as his winter squash and Brussels sprouts. L Cheapo Card Co. has a wonderful selection of artistically created work that are made into greeting cards … these are great gifts for birthdays and the seasons ahead. Non Essentials has fresh eggs and great baked items as well as popular local items."
Steve Edwards lives and writes in Anchorage. Contact him at akmarketfresh@gmail.com.
Local farmers markets
Monday in the Valley: Colony Farmers Market, noon-6 p.m., 610 S. Valley Way, Palmer
Wednesday in Anchorage: Center Market, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., The Mall at Sears, Benson Boulevard and Denali Street
Thursday in Anchorage: Thankful Thursdays market, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., The Mall at Sears, Benson Boulevard and Denali Street
Saturday in Anchorage: Center Market, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., The Mall at Sears, Benson Boulevard and Denali Street