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Blogger, baker, museum-goer and art lover. Not from around here. Likes: photography, single malt whisky and good writing. Dislikes: apostrophe abuse, blue cheese, and people who litter.

Monday, 26 January 2009

an extended weekend

On Saturday I attended the Lark Lane farmers market:



It was the first time I went and wasn't sure how extensive it would be. There are stalls along the quarter of the lane nearest Aigburth Road. There was a reasonably good assortment of vendors: butchers, fruit and veg stalls, brewers, and one or two with handmade soaps and the like. What pleased me most were the stalls with baked goods. One appeared to be from Sale, near Manchester and the bread looked like it was commercially manufactured judging from the signage. There were quite a few flour treatment agents (E numbers and such), which I'm not sure about the necessity of. The other stall had a French bloke behind the table and a variety of French and continental breads. I chatted with him for a bit, and it turns out the bread was made in Aintree, north Liverpool. They supply a lot of restaurants around the city, as well as Liverpool Football Club :^). They do the farmers markets around south Liverpool as well, but they're not wanting to open a retail bakery. I want to chat with him again and see if they ever take on apprentices or work experience.

The other nice discovery was an Italian stand with freshly-made pasta and a variety of sauces. The pesto wasn't cheap, but I froze most of it, so at least it will last for awhile. I also got some roasted vegetable ravioli, which we had Sunday evening.

Sunday night I made Kona Inn Banana Bread. It's in one of Marion Cunningham's cookbooks that my mother often turned to during the holidays. I don't usually put nuts in, so if I do want a bit of texture and crunch I'll substitute Grape Nuts instead of the walnuts.

I was off today as well, so I went back to Lark Lane to check out some empty storefronts for rent. I couldn't afford this one even if it was available, but it's one of the amazing buildings on a street with such a lovely and quirky atmosphere.

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