Chef Adam joins The Countryside Kitchen

One of the most interesting and unique aspects of the Market is located on the Second Floor. It's called The Countryside Kitchen, and it is a place of enjoyment because it is a place about FOOD!



Isn't it just the honest-to-goodness truth that we love to gather around food?



In the past we have had some wonderful cooks and chefs who have participated in presenting some interesting and educational classes and demonstrations. They have built a foundation of quality and expectation on which we now build.



Beginning in December we will offer cooking classes every Saturday with Chef Adam Williams, a local restaurant owner who completed his culinary classes in Mississippi and did his internship in Europe. He will bring his expertise and knowledge each week, Culinary Journeys with Chef Adam, starting with the theme "Southern Travels" on December 19 at 1:00. His menu will include: Sweet Magnolia Jambalaya, Dorothy Mae's Apple Dumplings, Smoky Mountain Fried Corn, Cajun Toast, and, of course, Mint Julep! Come hungry because this is a meal!



Each one of these recipes comes with a story...and isn't that what recipes are all about...the stories of the people who developed them, loved them, and shared them.



Chef Adam always had an interest in food which his mother recognised and encouraged. With her continued belief in his ability and then the help of his wife, Maggie, he has achieved his dream and is in the process of growing it.



The American Countryside Farmers Market is excited to connect our story to Adam and Maggie's, sharing the story of food and giving people another opportunity to connect and enjoy!

Please come and join us!

Family Visits and A Pink Tractor

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I'm sure there are few people who haven't been affected one way or the other by this horrible disease. Right now and for the entire month we have on display inside our Market a full sized John Deere tractor which was painted pink by a friend in honor of his wife who is currently battling breast cancer. (We moved it inside when it got cold outside.) Next to the tractor is information which you can take home or to direct you to donate to help researchers find a cure. This picture is of three sisters who came to visit the Market with a bus tour group. They were from Peoria, Illinois and were just thrilled to see this tractor. Their mother and grandmother had both died as a result of breast cancer. They were full of life and living it to the fullest with great optimism and joy. They were an inspiration!

Our Scarecrow Contest is also in full swing this month, and I can honestly declare it a wonderful success! The idea is that visitors and shoppers bring in non-perishable food items and place it in a box next to their favorite scarecrow and/or vendor. Our scarecrows are fun and some of them are quite creative! The contest part is for our vendors and at the end of October we will determine the winner based on how much food they collected! The vendor gets a nice prize, but the important thing is that we are collecting a boat load of food to help feed the hungry. On the 31st all of the food will be given to Joseph's Storehouse, a local food pantry run by Voice Ministries here in Elkhart.





In my last post I wrote about Lillian and how she came out just to bring some food. In this post I have to tell you about a lovely family who came out to do the same thing. I talked to the dad and he explained how he read about our Scarecrow Contest and food collection on our monthly email newsletter which he had subscribed to off of our website. He thought that it would be a great opportunity for he and his wife to do a fun thing with their two kids and also help them to learn to give to other people who are less fortunate. I was so happy to hear this story since this is exactly the kind of activity and opportunity we as a Market hope to offer. People connecting with people!

Meet Lillian

We are having a food drive at the Market right now to help replenish a local food bank here in Elkhart. The supplies are low, and we want to help.

So we are having a Scarecrow Contest to encourage people. They bring in non-perishable food items and put them in the box next to their favorite scarecrow...or their favorite vendor. The vendor with the most items donated by the end of October will win a nice prize! But the real winners are the needy folks in Elkhart County who will be able to pick up some great food to eat this winter!

There are so many people who come into the Market every week, but let me tell you about Lillian. One day not long ago I was in our Welcome Center in the food court. This very nice older lady walks up and asks if we have a cart or something she could use to bring in some food donations. She says she saw it in the newspaper that we were having a food drive, and she wanted to donate. Now I'm thinking, "How much stuff could she have that she would need a cart!" But I say to her, "I will get a cart and help you bring it in." She denies that she needs my help, but I insist and go off to find a cart.

When I come back with the cart, she takes me out to her Ford Explorer and opens the hatch to reveal two very large trash bags full of groceries. I am astounded! How generous! I also thought that she really did need my help. There was a lot of stuff, and it was heavy. I load it onto the cart and head for the door with her alongside me. As we are walking along I ask her if she has a favorite vendor where she wants to leave her items, and she is quite adamant about where she wants to donate. "Shipshe Casuals and Bea's Doll Boutique," she says without hesitation. These were definitely her favorites!

So we unload half at Shipshe Casuals and half at Bea's Doll Boutique. I thank her profusely for her generosity, and then she states, "Now I need to shop!" And shop she did. I saw her later with her shopping bags...one from Bea's Doll Boutique and one from Shipshe Casuals. Lillian, you're my kind of people! Thanks for being one of our regulars!

Keeping It Real

I find myself seeking out moments of genuine humanity. They happen all around me, but sometimes I miss them. I am distracted by the shallow, the petty and sometimes the perverse. But it is my choice which gets my attention, and I choose to focus on the side of humanity which most resembles the glorious.

At the Market there are opportunities for both. In a place where a community gathers and the diversity of backgrounds and beliefs is so vast, I have seen the best and the worst, but the best does prevail. At least, this is my focus of choice.

I myself have been the recipient of so much of the "best." I have enjoyed unsolicited letters and notes of encouragement and praise which have fueled both my personal and professional fire. I am always humbled and grateful. I have been helped when it was unexpected and given aid when overwhelmed. I have also received the gift of a discount on product or been given product when I had expected to pay. These are the people of this Market.

It has also been my delight to observe vendor to vendor acts of kindness. These moments don't really surprise me, but they do take me to a place of personal pride. Pride in this place. Pride in these people. Again, gratitude to have the opportunity to be a part of this community where people do genuinely care for one another, and they demonstrate it daily.

Focus on the glorious!

Welcome to the ACFM Blog!

The American Countryside Farmers Market is all about bringing people together. Every weekend I see people sitting down over a meal, laughing and talking...or happily sharing a great discovery at one of our artisans' booths.

I experienced this lovely phenomenon first hand recently. Last week I was called down from my office on the second floor to the Welcome Center in the Food Court because there was a couple who needed some help. When I arrived I was delighted to meet a lovely older couple who were eagerly wanting to purchase an item from one of our first floor vendors. They were actually helped before I got there and having had their goal accomplished, they were happy to spend some time with me.

I noticed right off their charming accents, and I encouraged them to talk with me so I could enjoy the full tantilizing lilt of their speech. They obliged me without hesitation. My first question to most of our guests, especially those with charming accents, is always, "Where are you from?" When this couple told me they were from Plymouth, England, ("where the Pilgrims sailed from!") my curiosity was even more piqued and the second question, of course, was, "How did you find out about the Market?"

They explained to me that they had taken a month off from their jobs and had come to the States, rented an RV and were seeing our beautiful country. They were camping at a campground east of South Bend and had picked up one of our brochures. (Yay! Marketing does work!)

The day before they had spent the day in Chicago, and the "mum" exclaimed over how they loved the city and how clean it was. When I expressed a desire to visit London, she said, "Oh, you'd be disappointed. It's not nearly as clean." I explained to her that I was raised in and had lived most of my life in the Chicago suburbs and knew of some areas she would find "not nearly as clean" as well. I told her that my desire to see London had to do with the history and the antiquity of the city...something we don't have here in this country. I also expressed an envy over their ability to take a month off and travel another country. They encouraged me to try it!

We probably spent only 15 minutes together, but we connected. I almost expected them to invite me to come visit them when I finally make it to England. If they had, I would have accepted! Imagine! - a bit of tea in jolly old England!

My days are primarily full of deadlines, phone calls, meetings, and the usual marketing concerns. This chance encounter with some people from "across the pond" made my day and made me smile. Where else could this happen? You just never know who you might meet and how they might inspire your life. Every day is an adventure when there are people connecting!

See you at the Market! It's so much more than just a Farmers Market!