Recently, I took 7 lucky members of my cooking meetup group to the Downtown Phoenix Public Market.

We met at my place early on a Saturday morning to peruse the market for the fixins of a grand meal that we would prepare together post-shopping.  It was a glorious day as we made the short trip to 1st St. and McKinley.  We made a plan to rendezvous at a designated time and then I set them loose to adventure on their own.   For many of the gals, this was their first trip to the market and it was a real joy to watch them take in the sights and sounds together.

I was armed with many market bags and the quick list of ingredients and menu ideas I had jotted down with the thought of what I might actually find based on season.    It was a fun sort of game to see which vendors had the items I needed and it was my goal to spend money with as many vendors as possible, to ’spread the love’, so to speak.

This was my kind of scavenger hunt, and it was not only fun, but as always, I am so inspired by the varied and gorgeous bounty that is available to us here in the Valley of the Sun.  Many people probably don’t even realize that we have access to locally produced beef, bison, gorgeous organically and sustainably grown flowers, fruits as well as wonderful artisanal breads, jams, tamales, etc.  My list was smallish, but diverse, and I was able to procure everything in one quick (less than an hour) walk around the market stalls.

Here is a run down of the menu that we enjoyed–all of which were made completely from items from The Downtown Phoenix Public Market! (with the exception of the champagne and a little raw sugar for the aqua fresca)

zucchini "noodles" to go with Bison meatballs

Appetizers:

• Fresh baked baquette Bruschetta with baby heirloom tomatoes, garlic, feta stuffed olives, fresh basil, olive oil
• Baby quesadillas with grilled corn and southwest spiced goat cheese

Salad:

• Mixed greens , roasted bell peppers, sauteed pears, and spiced pecans tossed with citrus/shallot/thyme vinaigrette

Pasta:

• Saffron fettucine with whole cloves of roasted garlic, butternut squash, bacon, walnuts, crispy sage leaves, French herb goat cheese
• Organic beef meatballs with fresh garlic, basil, oregano, thyme, in a quick homemade marinara served over ‘noodles’ of barely sauteed julienne cut zucchini

Dessert:

• Fresh Peach gallette with blackberry jam glaze served with Toasted almond and Sea Salt Ice Cream

Beverage:

• Watermelon and Lime aqua fresca with Prosecco

The weather was perfect for preparing and eating out in the front yard.  What a spectacular way to spend a gorgeous Arizona autumn day!

Thanks to my sweet friend Tracy Dove for her reminder on Facebook that it is indeed getting to be sugar skull time! Come join me for some sugary fun at Mesa Arts Center for their third annual Dia de los Muertos Celebration!  I will be teaching workshops on making and decorating sugar skulls, papel picado and calacas throughout the weekend.   Check out the complete calendar for dates/times/prices.  here

If you are in the market for new pots and pans, consider this offer from Calphalon. With any qualifying purchase, they will include a shipping box (for which THEY pay the postage) that you can use to send back your old cookware and they will recycle it for you and include 2 free canvas bags in the deal.  It always makes me feel good to see big companies with a good product initiating these types of programs.