Winter Farmer's Market in Basalt, Colorado

When David and I go on vacations, we always love to visit the local farmer's markets. There's something inspiring about the fresh products and the people who lovingly bring them to market. We are now truly blessed in our new location to be able to visit a farmer's market year-round. There's a fantastic Winter Farmer's Market in Basalt, Colorado which is about 10 miles from our home in Carbondale. According to the Post Independent, about 300-500 shoppers have been coming to the market every week since it opened around Thanksgiving.  The market runs every Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm and is located in the Willits Town Center in Basalt just off Hwy 82. The entrance to the Farmer's Market is just down from the Kitchen Collage of Roaring Fork, which is another great place to visit to find beautiful glassware, pottery, and that unusual kitchen gadget you've always wanted to find.

I was so excited to see so many vendors of variety at the Winter Farmer's Market. The indoor market was filled with vendors selling wines, cheeses, specialty oils, breads of all shapes and flavors, pastries, pastas, gourmet chocolates, soups, honey products, coffee beans, photography, furniture, and hand-made garments.  There was even some live music. If I could have, I would have purchased something from every vendor but alas, I had to narrow it down to a few but believe me, I'll be back.  Megan Lund is the coordinator for the market. She is also a running and fitness coach for Hit the Ground Running. Megan, you've brought together a great collection of entrepreneurs and artists under one roof. Thank you for making this happen!
 
I wish I could write about every vendor I saw but these are some that I spoke with briefly. Quinn Gallagher of Midland Baking Company located in Basalt, was the first vendor we saw as we opened the door to the farmer's market.


Beautiful breads, baked goods, and brownies... oh my, the brownies!!  We did take one home with us and it was so amazingly good that I could feel it dance through my veins. These brownies were laced with swirls of caramel... one of the most beautiful brownies I've ever seen.

Carol Rathbun, the Singing Heart Honey Lady displayed bee products of all kinds. I personally thought the light and sweetly fragrant honey skin cream was wonderful but her jars of honey, bee pollen, and honey soaps really made me want to buy some next time.

John Barbier and his delightful French accent charmed the crowds with his Maison La Belle Vie Winery samples. John's vineyard is located in Palisade, Colorado near Grand Junction. He brings 150 years of family wine business tradition from Loire Valley, France to Colorado.

Steve Johnson, who runs the Back Alley Coffee Company in Carbondale offered his freshly roasted coffee beans. Steve is a wholesaler of organic coffees and finds that providing coffee to area businesses a perfect balance to his life.

Yalonda Long (right) and friend Susie Jacobson (left) had a booth with uniquely named soups. Yalonda explains that her soup and tortilla product names are inspired from her recent divorce.  Her tortillas are named after men and her "In the Soup" brand named soups have labels like "Bankrupt Butter Nut Squash, Termination Tomato, Alimony Minestrone, and Cheapskate Chicken Noodle".  Yalonda and her delightful sense of humor reminds me of the saying "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!"

Heather Morrow's booth of Morrow Chocolate in Aspen was filled with a wide variety of chocolate delicacies such as chili chocolate. I tried her hot chocolate which was made from all the leftover broken pieces of chocolates. It was smooth, delicious, and made me happy all day long.  Heather mentioned that she may be doing some chocolate making demos at the market.

Doyle demonstrated a special and ingenious rocking chair, hand-made by the Roaring Fork Custom Billiards company. The RFCB, owned by Greg Gimbel specializes in billiard tables artfully crafted from logs and timber of various woods. Their specialty is uniquely designed billiards tables but I was very intrigued by the rocking chair made with several rows of blocks held together by ropes. The blocks would conform to the body, which made it super comfortable. Hmmm, I wonder if they make office chairs or gaming chairs????

Julie Bloomingdale presented Pappardelles' Fine Art of Pasta. I was amazed at the 30+ varieties of pasta for sale.  Pappardelle's is known for their slow-cooked pastas made from durum semolina flour. I was also interested in their long list of raviolis on their website.  It was difficult to decide which pasta to buy but we took home the one made with chives and loved it.  We combined it with chicken, onions, bell peppers and a little marinara sauce.  It was such a treat. The pasta was thick, full of body, and flavorful. We could have eaten the pasta alone and been happy.

So that was part of our Saturday. We look forward to visiting the Winter Farmer's Market again. Who knows what new adventure in eating we'll find next time!