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Farmers markets continue to gain in popularity, mostly due to the increasing consumer interest in obtaining fresh products directly from the farm. Today, there are more than 4,600 farmers markets operating throughout the nation, even in the hearts of big cities. But how do you find one?

Farmers markets sell locally grown, farm fresh produce, and often let you deal directly with the grower who raised the product you’re holding. Want to know the best ways to cook baby bok choy? Ask the farmer who raised it!

Shop smart, ask a lot of questions, and you’ll find delicious, “ripened in the field” quality you just can’t get anywhere else. Farmers markets also often sell rare items you just won’t find at your local supermarket.

Imagine taking home some tomatoes that were ripening on the vine just the day before, nearly as fresh as some you might grow in your own garden. If you’ve never had a tomato that fresh and ripe, you’ve honestly never tasted tomato. And that’s just one item you might find. Have you ever tasted Mt. Rainier Fireweed Honey? Blackberry honey? At our local market, one of our local beekeepers often has a table with at least a dozen varieties of honey. And yes, you can even get the honeycomb.

Lots of markets also feature locally made crafts items — in fact, half of the fun of going to farmers markets is the never-ending variety and constantly changing line up of products and vendors. You never know what you’ll find — so don’t go expecting it to be like your local supermarket. You have to have at least a smidgen of appreciation for being surprised to be a true farmers market fan!

When you support farmers markets you’ll also be supporting your local farmers and helping the environment — when you buy food locally, it doesn’t have to be transported hundreds or thousands of miles by truck or train. That’s win/win/win, and we haven’t even talked about the fun and the “meet your neighbors” community building parts of farmers markets.

Your local farmers market probably doesn’t have a lot of money to promote itself so you may not even know if it exists or where it is. I found a couple of resources that list a lot of them and you can search by your home state or even your zip code. A tip, though — whomever programmed this first web page wasn’t thinking like a user, so if you don’t check “ALL” for “payments accepted”, you’ll get no results for your state.

This is the URL for the USDA’s site that lists (and promotes) farmers markets:

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/farmersmarkets

And this site lists not only farmers markets, but roadside stands, “pick your own” farms and more.

http://www.localharvest.org/

The author of one of my favorite cookbooks, (Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone), Deborah Madison also wrote a great book about the joys, benefits and how-to’s of farmers markets and buying locally: Local Flavors is a book filled with Deborah’s passion for good food and for life in general.

About the Author

Michael Burnette founded Great2Cook.com, a site devoted to creating a global community of friends who love to cook. Great2Cook.com features almost 2000 free cooking videos.

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The thought of my mother making fruit cake using candied cherries is one of the greatest memories that I get to recall vividly from time to time. These candied cherries that were cased in light air tight containers come in two colors: green and red however, they did not have that special and distinct taste. Of course, the candied fruits available now, given that there are more choices are way better in terms of quality and taste.

Making your own candied fruit to use as a garnish for dishes, in cookies, as a snack, and in cake decorating. Making candied fruit is a simple process. You infuse fruits and citrus peelings in a sugar syrup. You can candy orange wedges, orange peel, lemon peel, grapefruit peel, pineapple and fresh cherries. You can also candy fruits, such as carrots for carrot cake decorating.
You will need two sauce pans, one for making the syrup, and another to blanch the fruit. This is a recipe for Candied orange peel.

Simple Syrup
This syrup is used for making candied fruits, adding flavor to cold drinks, and adding moisture to sponge cake. There are different strengths of simple syrup for different uses. Thin simple syrup, made with 1 part sugar to 2 parts water, is used to brush on cake layers, mostly sponge cake, to provide extra moisture and sweetness. Medium simple syrup is made with equal parts of sugar and water. This is excellent for adding sweetness to mixed drinks, coffee, iced tea and to candy fruit. A syrup made of 2 parts sugar and 1 part water is used as a base for sorbet, and making rock candy.

Combine equal parts of sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and let the sugar dissolve. You do not need to stir the syrup, but if you do it will do no harm. You can flavor the syrup. Take the syrup off the heat and cool slightly. Stir in 1 or 2 tsp. Of vanilla for a basic vanilla syrup. This syrup can be kept in a lidded jar in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Remove the bottom and top of an orange. Set the flat end of the orange on a cutting board. With a sharp paring knife, slice the peel off in strips, starting at the top and slicing downward, following the curve as much as possible. Don?t worry about cutting off the white pith of the peel. Although it is usually bitter, blanching it will make it translucent and the syrup will sweeten it.
You can candy the peel as it is, or cut into strips that are 1/4 inch wide, to use in cake decorating and garnishes. You can also dip it in chocolate and use it for a snack. Larger peels, like grapefruit should be cut into strips for even cooking.

Place the peel in a pot of cool water. Bring water to a rolling boil, remove from heat and transfer the peel into a colander to drain. Repeat the process twice more. For grapefruit or a more tart flavored fruit, you will need to blanch them seven or eight times. Cherry and pineapple do not need blanching and can be placed directly into the syrup. Between blanching taste the peel, if it is tender it has been blanched enough. Place the peel into the pot of syrup and bring to a low simmer. Let simmer for 15 to 30 minutes or until the orange rind becomes translucent and the peel tastes sweet and tender

Remove the pot from heat and let it cool. The orange rind can be stored in it?s own syrup for weeks in the refrigerator. You may choose to drain them and roll them in sugar. Sugared rinds tend to dry out quite fast and should be eaten within a couple of days. You can dry the peel and dip it in tempered chocolate to make it last a bit longer.

You can use the orange flavored syrup in other drinks or dishes. Nothing really goes to waste!

Camille Heimbrod
http://www.cakedecoratingthemes.com

A certain occasion is set and you need to bake a cake to commemorate it. Even though you have an idea how to bake a cake and trust your sense of creativity, you still need a fresh and new idea to work with. Cakes are a part of almost all types of special celebrations if you come to think of it that is why it is important that you know how to bake your own cake and decorate it creatively as well. Here are some cake decorating ideas that you might want to use for your reference:

- Characters: There are hundreds of famous characters to use for cake decorating. You can make any cake special by drawing in Dora the Explorer, or Blues Clues. Or you may want to cut up the cake to make the entire cake into a favorite character.

- Themes: Maybe you would like to go with a 50?s theme, underwater adventure, sport theme, or a roaring 20?s theme for your cake decorating. Use your creativity and find a theme that will thrill the person you are making the cake for, and the guests . You may want to have a masquerade party in that theme. Whatever you decide, have fun.

- Motor Cakes: Boys are usually crazy about trucks, cars, fire engines, boats, tractors, helicopters, or airplanes. Again you can use your cake decorating expertise to make a farm with a 3-D tractor, a racing strip, or a scene showing a fire being put out by firemen. Of course it all depends on what the particular birthday boy is fond of.

- Animals: You can also use an animal theme by cutting the cake to look like any animal, or draw in a scene using animals. It could be a zoo scene with several animals or choose one animal and decorate the cake with other decorations showing where it came from. Use your imagination.

- Food: Maybe you are making a cake for the opening of an Italian restaurant. You could create a scene depicting the building, or if it is for a chef opening the restaurant, a scene of the kitchen with different Italian dishes would be fun. You can also cut the cake to look like a hamburger, hot dog, taco etc? The sky is the limit when it comes to cake decorating using a food theme.

- Holiday Themes: I remember when bunny cakes became popular at Easter, Wilton has pans and decorating supplies for all holiday cake decorating designs. A heart on Valentine?s day, or a 4 leaf clover on St. Patrick?s day is a wonderful way to say happy holidays.

- Your Own Creation: If you have been involved in cake decorating for quite some time, or if you are a novice with an artistic flair, you can create your own cake based on the theme or the celebration.
Regardless of the type of cake that you bake, it is certainly the center and core of any type of occasion. In fact, the existence of cakes in special occasions can even be regarded as a tradition of its own sort. Of course, knowing that you are the one who especially decorated the cake in a certain occasion can definitely give you the attention and applause that you deserve.

Camille Heimbrod
http://www.cakedecoratingthemes.com

It is very common for you to see edible flowers being used to garnish a salad or to use it even as an ingredient to make the appetizer much tastier. Of course, not all types of flowers are edible but it shouldn?t be hard for you to find as much options as you can find out there.

Nasturtiums have a Peppery flavor, Chive blossoms taste like a mild sweet onion, Roses, Violas and Pansies taste a bit like grapes. Other edible flowers are apple blossoms, almond, lavender, borage, chamomile, lovage, lemon, orange blossoms, plum blossoms, peach blossoms, and squash blossoms. We also have daisies, chrysanthemums, geraniums, marigolds, jasmine, lilacs, and violets.

Candied Flowers
Candied flowers are great for desserts and in cake decorating. Here is a recipe to make that you can use and even make your own when it comes to candied flowers for cake decorations.

Time to prepare: 8 hrs. and 15 minutes
Yield: 2 dozen flowers.
1/4 cup beaten egg whites
1/2 cup superfine sugar
2 cups edible flowers of your choice

Clean and blot flowers dry with a paper towel. With a paint brush, brush on a thin layer of egg white on each side of the flower petals or blossoms. Place flowers into a shallow bowl of superfine sugar and sprinkle more sugar over the flowers so that they are coated. Make sure all of the flower has been sprinkled with sugar. Remove flowers and place them on a sheet of waxed paper. Sprinkle each flower with another layer of sugar, again, make sure the entire flower gets a layer of sugar.
Allow flowers to dry on the waxed paper for 8 hours. Store these tasty treats in an airtight container at room temperature until they are needed.

We are seeing more real flowers and fruit in cake decorating than ever before. The addition of these wonderful edible gifts of nature, gives the cake an elegant look. Whether you are making a wedding, anniversary, retirement, birthday, or a cake for any special occasion, you will get many compliments on your choice of decoration.

Cake decorating can be a bit frustrating and time consuming, but once you learn the techniques and utilize the newest ideas when cake decorating, you will find that it can be fun, rewarding, and lucrative. Most cake decorators have an artistic background, or artistic talent.

If you are thinking of starting a cake decorating business at home, you will need to keep up with the latest trends in cake decorating to be able to offer your clients new unique and wonderful choices. As with anything designs get old, while some will stick with the traditional white or ivory for a wedding cake, but there are those who want to step out of the mold and have a little color in their wedding cake.

Camille Heimbrod
http://www.cakedecoratingthemes.com

Emergency preparedness is a noble endeavor, one that every individual should be engaged in. But, in order to make it an well-organized quest, it shouldn’t be taken on randomly. Many people start out with respectable intentions, but are unwise in their preparedness and food storage activities. They have a great aim in mind (i.e., being ready for the worst should a disaster or emergency occur), but there is no logic to their madness. After they have aimlessly accumulated some of the provisions for any feasible perceived threats, they are not then sure if they have all they need, and if they have allocated their means properly. Of course almost anything is better than nothing, but there should be some prioritization beginning with preparation for a short-term disaster survival scenario all the way through to a “doomsday” predicament. Not everything can be prepared for because it is impossible to accurately predict the future, but it is without doubt superior to be over- than under-prepared, and the best approach is to create a rock-solid emergency preparedness foundation and increase it in the proper sequence.

Here’s the way to do it: the first thing that one and all should store in case of emergency is a 72 hour emergency kit. A 72 hour emergency kit is an easy-to-carry and easily accessible package that contains items such as three days of water (major) and non-perishable food items (preferably ready-to-eat goods), personal toiletry/hygiene items, first aid kit and medications, flashlight and batteries, blankets and sleeping bag, a radio, pocket knife, etc. 72 hours is the designated period in which it is most likely that after a disaster occurs regular services can resume. You should plan on being self-sufficient for at least these three days.

The next degree up in the readiness pyramid is a three-month supply of food storage that would include things that you customarily eat and can be rotated easily, eliminating any waste. These are such things as canned goods that fit with no trouble into your food pantry or an extra closet, as well as frozen foods (meat, preserves, and vegetables).

MRE’s (meals ready-to-eat), freeze-dried foods, and dehydrated foods are the next stage up in prioritization. These food storage items store for extended periods of time in a climate-controlled environment, usually between 10 to 30 plus years.

Dry-pack storage items such as wheat, white rice, and beans progress us even further up the readiness pyramid. These items are very nutrient dense, and take more exertion to prepare meals with, but are exceptionally versatile and can be included in too many recipes to count. They are important go-to’s on your emergency preparedness menu. Other dry-pack items include powdered milk, powdered eggs and powdered butter, bullion (chicken and beef), flour, pasta noodles, etc.

After having considered food preparation adequately, it is time to move up the readiness pyramid to the level containing extra clothing and footwear. Remember you must think about the climate in which you live and the change (or not) in seasons. If you live in a locality that has harsh winters, be certain to have sufficient coats, sweaters, thermal underwear, warm clothing, gloves, boots, and blankets.

The next stage up the pyramid is firearms and ammunition. First and foremost these serve as tools for killing game animals for meat should this become needed. Secondly, these may serve as defense in the event of a disorderly societal breakdown (rioting, looting, etc.) where you may need to safeguard your family from harm.

Camping equipment basics such as tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, camping stoves/Dutch ovens, fishing pole and tackle, a Leatherman, matches, a lantern, and porta-potties will all make you much more self-assured in your abilities to survive in the outdoors if you need to move even further up the readiness pyramid, and have to leave your home for whatever reason for a period of time.

People can get away witout showering, though it may be distasteful. That is why this category of personal hygiene items is nearer the apex of the readiness pyramid, but still very much a legitimate and useful part of it. The individual items you should include here are soap, shampoo, toothbrush and toothpaste, a razor and shaving cream, deodorant, feminine napkins, and diapers.

Now you’ve gotten all of the preceding done, complete the readiness pyramid with an emergency fund. This should cover as much as three to six months of living expenses, and then be supplemented with gold and especially silver (poor man’s gold) bullion.