Peaches Roasted in Vermouth from Wellspent Market!
The season for peaches here in the Pacific Northwest is short and glorious. The region’s peaches aren’t nationally celebrated like the fuzzy stone fruit from Georgia or California, and neither Oregon nor Washington make the list of the top ten peach producers. But good weather and experienced orchardists can produce the juicy, sweet peaches of your dreams. And they’re ripened on the tree, not picked hard and green so they survive travel from far-flung orchards. Here’s how Jim likes to eat them.
When the local peaches arrive, I follow the example of Portland’s favorite eater, James Beard. Eat as many as I can while they’re here.
I might preserve some, usually in a simple jam-like spread like our German-inspired pfirsichmus. I’ll usually make at least one olive oil cake with peaches (like this but with stone fruit instead of rhubarb), a batch of peach gazpacho, and a peachy version of the Italian bread salad called panzanella. More often than not I’m standing over the kitchen sink with juice running down my arm while biting into a peach, and I’m eating bowls of sliced peaches drizzled with cream several times a week.
If I want something that seems sophisticated, I roast peaches in sweet vermouth. The herby, slightly bitter vermouth plays well with the sweet, acidic fruit, and a drizzle of the Italian syrup made from the buds of the dwarf mugo pine gives the peaches a subtle, evergreen finish. Blackberries ripen around the same time as peaches, so add a few along with some fresh mint if you’ve got them.
Wow! We had the quite the turnout for last night’s Cutter Cascadia release party. Big shout outs to Fulamingo, AstralPDX, and Ripe Cooperative for providing such tasty bites, and to DJ KLW for spinning the wheels of steel all night long! And of course, a big thanks to all of you who came out! It was so nice to see so many friendly faces, and we can’t wait until the next one. As ever, we’re following CDC guidelines and will be hosting all future events outside, including our upcoming Dina No ceramics sale and Landmass wine tasting. See you soon!
Beloved local clay genius Dina No is cleaning out 2 years worth of studio seconds, one-offs, and production samples before going on hiatus, and we’ll have it ALL at Wellspent Market! If you know No, then you know this event is not to be missed! This will be the one and only time Dina does a blowout sale like this, and it will NOT be online, so come early or don’t come at all… this will sell out faster than you think.
In addition to Dina’s ceramics, we’ll have Madre Linen + Vibrant Valley Farms with their stunning locally dyed textiles, local illustrator Camille Shu with beautiful prints, Ripe Cooperative‘s superlative frozen custard, and ice-cold beverages from Wellspent Market featuring a host of NA options, wine, and spritzes galore!
In addition to her sample sale at Wellspent Market on Saturday, Dina is raffling off a set of plates, with all proceeds going to Cascade AIDS Project (CAP), an organization near and dear our hearts. Judith, Jim’s better half, spent many years as the volunteer coordinator at CAP, and has helped them with various fundraising efforts over the years. Find all the details on Dina’s Instagram page.
Landmass Wine Tasting
Our favorite local winemaking team, Melaney & Malia of Landmass, will be hanging out, pouring tastes, and explaining how it is they fit all that liquid magic into those stunning bottles. Taste through their entire portfolio of still and sparkling wines, learn about what makes this part of the country such a dynamic winemaking region, and begin to understand the mysteries of terroir. Landmass makes the wines, Wellspent makes the snacks, and everybody wins! Not to be missed!
Our Olive Oil CSA helps to support our small farm partners. It works like this: Early in the year you buy a CSA share for $100. We use the cash to pay the farmers, and when the season’s olive oil arrives here, that share is worth $120. It’s good for anything we sell at Wellspent Market, not just olive oil. Money well spent indeed!
