Saturday May 22 was the day I had waited for since last October: the re-opening of the Oak Park Farmers’ Market! I leapt out of bed at the crack of dawn – okay, I eased out of bed at 8 am, but still, I was excited. As I walked into the church parking lot that houses our market, and smelled the doughnuts frying and heard the bluegrass music playing, I felt a rush of joy. Spring is really here! The long, cold, brutal Chicago winter is really over! Picking up right where I had left off last fall, I stopped to chat with friends; cooed over babies grown much bigger; and marveled at all the beautiful flowers. (I didn’t need to buy any peonies, though. The peonies in my own yard are extraordinary.)
My expectations for the produce were low, however. I remembered May at the farmers’ market from years past: northern Illinois does not have a warm climate, and the growing season is still very young here. The real gems of the farmers’ market — the cherries, the blueberries, the heirloom tomatoes – would not be coming for several more months. I jokingly told my husband that I would be coming back with lettuce . . . and more lettuce. What I found, in fact, in addition to all the lettuce, was asparagus, green onions, radishes and rhubarb. I picked up two pounds of pencil-thin asparagus, some farm fresh eggs – I don’t know why I am willing to pay $5 for a dozen eggs at the farmers’ market when I won’t pay more than $3 at the store – and two pounds of rosy pink rhubarb. The asparagus were destined for Sunday dinner; the eggs were for the week’s breakfasts and baking projects, but the rhubarb was for canning. I had already made batches of strawberry-rhubarb jam and orange-rhubarb jam this spring using grocery store rhubarb, so I wanted to try something different. I flipped through my favorite canning cookbook and found a recipe for rhubarb conserve. I happened to have all the ingredients, so I was sold.
A conserve, for those of you who don’t know, is a soft spread made with fresh fruit, dried fruit and nuts. They are delicious on bread, like a jam, but also make wonderful accompaniments to cheese trays and even sandwiches. This conserve combines rhubarb – a lot of rhubarb — with citrus fruits, raisins, sugar, and walnuts and is flavored with a little nutmeg. It’s sweet but also tart if you get a bite of citrus and has an interesting texture. I’ve never made a conserve before because they feature nuts, and my daughter, who is frequently my canning sous-chef, is allergic to nuts. But she was occupied with visiting grandparents, so I did not feel guilty going ahead and making the rhubarb conserve without her. Allergies aside, I suspect I will be giving away most of these jars. It definitely seems like the highest and best use of this conserve would be on an hors d’oeuvres or cheese tray and I just don’t put out a cheese tray that often in my daily life.
I will be doing a lot more canning this spring and summer with all the wonderful fruits and vegetables I find at the Oak Park Farmers’ Market. This was just the beginning. But what a good beginning it was!
Because I am so happy that spring is really here, I am going to give one reader a jar of the rhubarb conserve. To enter, leave a comment here telling me what you are looking forward to this summer. (While you are at it, feel free to subscribe to my RSS feed, email updates or follow me on Twitter!) Entries must be received by midnight CDT on Wednesday, May 26, which happens to be my eighth wedding anniversary. I will randomly select a winner and announce it on Thursday the 27th. Good luck!
I am looking forward to a Cape Cod summer with its fresh fish, Main Street farmers’ market, back yard tomatoes. We will celebrate the 4th of July (and Meg’s birthday) with strawberry-rhubarb pie and with red/white/blue (watermelon, strawberries, and vanilla ice cream — Brighams, of course).
Thanks for your great blog.
Yes, I read that Meghan loves strawberry rhubarb pie. I’ll send her some strawberry-rhubarb jam! Thanks for reading!
One thing I am looking forward to this summer is going to the farmers market in my IL’s hometown in Michigan. For years, I have heard my MIL rave about it and this summer we’ll actually get to go there ourselves. I am terribly excited about that!!
I’m also looking for good farmers markets in my own area. There is one on our town square each Saturday, but I have seen stickers on some of the produce and that just irritates me. I think a farmers market should be grown and sold by the farmer – not a distributor.
Kelly, all farmers’ markets have different regulations about who can sell produce there, like whether it has to be the actual farmer. You should look into the rules at your local market. Do you have farmstands near you? When I was growing up, there were roadside farm stands with corn, tomatoes, peaches etc.
I just want to know how you got to sleep in until 8 am!! Do you have late-sleeping children or an early-rising husband? I have neither, so I am envious!!
I am looking forward to summer in the city: Manhattan may be at its best when most of the people who live here are gone! Central park is amazingly lush in the summer, the playgrounds aren’t crowded and there are great kid activities everywhere! Then we always end the summer with a few weeks at the beach in North Carolina – all the siblings, cousins, grandparents, everyone together just relaxing and having fun (and we all like to cook!)
Early-rising husband! He doesn’t do the middle-of-the-night at all, but early mornings are his specialty. Do you all have a regular getaway close to home?
I am looking forward to summer for a variety of reasons. Basically, it’s a complete change of lifestyle for me until Labor Day.
–No work at all
–A true vacation from my horrific commute
–Time with my kids
–Two trips away from home (one with the entire bunch, and one just with my husband)
Sounds good to me.
Sounds good to me too.
I’ll admit, I hadn’t heard of conserve – in this context – until just now.
I’m looking forward to my son’s first steps, which I’m expecting this summer. And of course, fresh fruit and vegetables. We spend every Saturday morning at the Farmer’s Market, and have a CSA. If only I could learn to can like you, I could have some of those fruits all year!
Cyndi, it is vey easy to learn to can…
I’m looking forward to trips to Maine, Cape May, Florida and the Outer Banks. Hooray for friends with beach houses at their disposal!
Sweet!
I’m looking forward to home grown tomatoes and mint iced tea on (hopefully) our brand new deck!
Crossing my fingers for you guys….
Summertime = BEACH and POOL time for us! I love summer and all that it brings.
The pool is a favorite in our house too.
I have never heard of conserve….but have been dying to try something that you make because they all sound delish!!!
I am looking forward to some good times with the boys. With everything in such an upheaval at work, I am looking at this summer as maybe my last with all of my current work freedom. So we have 2 vacas planned – Cape Cod and New Hampshire, some long weekends and our first summer of Camp for Nicholas. Should be fun and interesting.
What about baseball?
I am looking forward to my baby girl’s first summer!!
Jenny, I bet you will dress her in some adorable outfits!
Happy anniversary! I’m so impressed by your blog and the canning. I always have the big ideas but not so much of the follow thru. As for summer, I’m looking forward to Jeff finally getting his driver’s license and getting to the Temple for work all by himself!
Thanks Lauren. Wow. You are where will be we in about ten years!
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