Food and Drink

Head to the market this week and you'll be seeing red - beet red

It's a beet celebration at the Mall at Sears this week.

Raw beets are available from various vendors on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at either the Center Market or the Thankful Thursdays market. And Farm 779 is highlighting beets on Thursday.

"This week, Farm 779 is bringing back the big red beets by the busload," owner Julie Meer says. "'Phat Bottom Girls' sliced fermented beets are our original recipe. These crunchy sweet powerhouses of probiotic goodness with spice infusion have been fermenting for months at a cool temp in mineral rich Himalayan salt brine."

Get 'em while you can!

And Meer has other treats to take home – Yensis onions from Glacier Valley Farm, either raw or fermented, along with kimchi, a variety of krauts, vegan and gluten-free chocolate chip cookie drops, quinoa almond brittle and beet kvass (yes, more beets).

Duane Clark will have jams, salsa, zucchini relish, zucchini pickles, honey, beef and yak, storage vegetables and salmon from Tilgner's Seafoods.

Daisy Nicolas of Drool Central will be at the market with a variety of treats for dogs, including gift-wrapped items from $5 to $25. Nicolas also offers gift certificates.

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Center Market

Earthworks Farm will be at the Center Market on both Wednesday and Saturday (located at the Mall at Sears).

"We will have some new specialty soaps to celebrate the winter season, such as Sleigh Bells Soap scented with essential oils of orange, pine and balsam, cinnamon and clove – smells a little like mulling spices," owner Dee Barker says. "For those looking for a little Alaska-style novelty, we have our honeycomb soap containing a heavy spike of our gourmet Alaska-grown honey. And for warm winter nights at the dinner table, light up the holidays with our hand-rolled beeswax candles."

Barker says Earthworks Farm will have plenty of beeswax and honey body and skin care items at the market, along with honey, too.

Alex Davis of A.D. Farm will have pork items, Alaska Flour Co. barley products, items from Alaska Sprouts, vegetables from his farm, eggs, honey, grass-fed beef and goat meat at both the Wednesday and Saturday markets.

Davis will have bratwurst, loin roast, pork chops, fresh side sliced and slab, ground pork, Italian sausage, spicy sausage, breakfast sausage patties, ribs, roast, bone for broth, fat for rendering, liver, feet and hocks. Vegetables include kohlrabi, beets, carrots in four colors, at least five varieties of potatoes and cabbage.

La Grassa is back at the market on both Wednesday and Saturday. Pasta options include organic original and organic spinach hand-cut noodles; garlicky greens and pecorino cheese ravioli; vegan basil strozzapreti; mushroom and ricotta ravioli; and vegan sweet potato, cashew ricotta and leek ravioli.

Catherine's Cupcakes will be at both the Wednesday and Saturday markets and at their own cupcake kiosk. The market booth will feature a purple carrot cupcake with carrots from A.D. Farm, while the kiosk is highlighting the turtle cupcake, a chocolate cupcake with caramel filling, chocolate buttercream, chocolate and caramel drizzle, sprinkled sea salt and a pecan on top.

Rempel Family Farm will be at Saturday's market with orange and purple carrots, red and green cabbage, parsnips, green tomatoes, snow apple turnips, beets, seven varieties of winter squash and 13 kinds of potatoes, along with grass-fed yak meat.

Monica's Confection Connection will be at Wednesday's market with brittles, caramel, marshmallows, gummies and fudge. This week's fudge flavors include chocolate, peanut butter and chocolate, rocky road, maple walnut, candy cane and red velvet.

Order your bread

Rise & Shine Bakery is baking the next two weeks in advance of the holidays. Then they take a month off, so get your orders ready.

This week, orders can be placed online starting Thursday for bread ready for pickup on Dec. 14. Visit riseandshinebread.com for more details and to order. Bread can be picked up at either Side Street Espresso, 412 G St., or Inspire Physical Therapy, 1120 Huffman Road.

This week's bread options are: levain and spent grain pan loaves and Kalamata olive, dark chocolate and cherry, and fruited almond hearth loaves.

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

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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

Steve Edwards

Steve Edwards lives and writes in Anchorage. He writes the Market Fresh column weekly and can be reached akmarketfresh@gmail.com.

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