Here’s our haul from the South Anchorage Farmer’s Market today – cheddar cheese bread (makes an excellent tuna fish sandwich), cinnamon raisin bread, cocoa coconut truffles, buffalo summer sausage, bacon and black currant jam. We’ve already dug into the jam and the summer sausage at lunchtime – pb&j sandwiches for the kids and crackers and summer sausage for me.

Today was our second visit to the market and it’s an excellent little farmer’s market. I never really dug the Farmer’s Market in Dallas because so much of the stuff wasn’t truly local. This is the real deal though. The jam, jelly and honey comes from the town of Palmer, just north of Anchorage in the Mat-Su Valley. The meats also come from the Valley and the truffles and bread are made here in Anchorage.

But really, my favorite part is how nice and friendly the vendors are. They really believe in their products and they want you to love them too. Don, who sells the jelly and jam, lets my kids take way too many samples of his jellies and jelly candies. Mae, who makes the truffles, wanted to know how we’re adjusting to Alaska. I love buying such tasty food from such awesome people.

And my kids love going to the market. They don’t love going to the grocery store. I don’t either to be honest. But here, we’re supporting the local economy, we know from where our food is coming and we’re building a new community for our family. We’ll be back all summer long.