First Fall Flavours at the Halifax Farmers Markets

It's a foggy, sleepy day in Halifax today. I guess everyone is hiding under the covers trying to avoid the fact that Summer is officially gone for another year. This is the first Fall Saturday and I headed out to see what I could see... foodwise that is. My first stop was at the new Seaport Farmers Market and then on to the Historic Farmers Market at the Old Keith Brewery, just a short hop away.

Usually by 7:30am the place is hopping... aisles full of chatterers and shoppers and long line ups at some of my favorite vendor stands.
I was surprised at how quiet it was. In fact, the line ups were quite short so it was easy to buy some tasty sausages from Sweet Williams Country Sausages.
Usually I stick to turkey fennel, but since the guy in front chose chicken curry and swore they were awesome and the lady behind me suggested another of her favorites - sweet Italian... what was a girl to do?... buy some of each, naturally.
What would a Saturday morning be without some pain chocolat and an interesting artisan bread from Julien's ... and a chat with Nathan & Barb, of course.
Some garlic & cayenne goat cheese & free range eggs from Ran-Cher Acres (my scrambles & frittatas are so much better for them). And what would a trip to the market be without a visit to Chris and the gang at Getaway Farms for my Honey's favorite... strip loin steaks and some chuck stewing meat because it's definitely the weather for a good old fashioned beef stew. And just a quick aside... the brisket I bought for the Rosh Hashanah feast was fantastic!
But back to the reason for this post... It's the first Saturday of Fall. I expected to see pumpkins and kolrabi.
I expected to see beautiful, crunchy apples and...
I expected to see juicy pears & plums. But I was surprised to see gorgeous red strawberries . These look like the kind you see in supermarkets in December and January ... the ones that look like the cover of magazines and taste more like the paper the photos are printed on. The difference here...and it's a HUGE difference is that these strawberries are sweet and delicious.

Although there was obviously more to buy, I decided to check out the Historic Farmers Market, still housed in the Keith Brewery Building just a hop, skip and a jump down the road. Don't let anyone tell you that the "old" market is dead. It's just a little quieter.Some of the vendors actually have stands in both markets and one of those, is my favorite produce guy...Ted Hutten.
I love his exotic vegetables...his glorious greens, his wonderful eggplants (this time I passed the cute little babies for some light purple beauties). I think it's time for my Roasted Eggplant with Preserved Lemons, especially since I recently made a new batch of Preserved Lemons that are ready and waiting.
And what says Autumn more than this adorable speckled squash? Here's one of my favorite Fall Squash recipes...roasted with fresh thyme and drizzled with maple syrup.
Last, but certainly not least is the only place in Halifax I'd buy my lamb....Bill of Wood & Hart is always there with a smile. Today, by 8:30 he had already sold all his lamb steaks and racks of lamb (I'm told business is even better than before the split)...

...so I settled for a couple of pounds of ground lamb. Trust me, they make the most awesome Greek-style Burgers or these, which I call Sneaky burgers, because I finely chop eggplant and no one's the wiser.

And now it's time to whip up a delicious, late brunch starring a frittata of today's bounty.