Visiting Chef Series - Brazen BBQ

This weekend at the Hillcrest Farmers Market we hosted our monthly Visiting Chef Series with Hillcrest's highly anticipated Brazen BBQ.

Owners John Bracamonte and Chef Brad Thomas joined us at the heart of the market at 1pm this Sunday to give the Hillcrest market goers a taste of their delicious barbecue and tease us for another few weeks before their restaurant opens up it's first location at 441 Washington Street in Hillcrest (the corner of 5th and Washington).

First we started off with herbed polenta cake on top of a roasted red pepper coulis, topped with smoked brisket and crispy fried onions. Drizzled with an ancho garlic bbq sauce. It's as amazing as it sounds.

Next up were the most tender, fall off the bone delicious pork spare ribs with a smokey pomegranate BBQ sauce. Brazen BBQ believes in smoking delicious meats low and slow to ensure the best flavor and bring out the most tender qualities of the meat, and they succeed!

We started our event at 1pm and by 1:15, 5 racks of ribs and 30+ polenta were GONE. We had market patrons coming out of the woodwork to try Brazen's delicious meats, with many looking to purchase racks of ribs right then and there!

Unfortunately, we will have to keep our eyes open for their official Grand Opening date, but luckily it will only be a few weeks. These pit bosses are waiting on a few state restaurant permits and then we'll have an official opening date. They're slated for the end of July, and we want to be first in line!

Check back with us here, and on Facebook and Twitter for more info about Brazen BBQ as well as all of our fabulous updates. Find us at hillcrestfarmersmarket.com for more market updates!

Next week we'll be celebrating July 4th at the market with patriotic arts and crafts, followed by a watermelon eating contest on July 10th!

Can't wait for next week! We'll see you there!

Happy Father's Day from the Hillcrest Farmers Market!

This weekend the Hillcrest Farmers Market celebrated Dad's everywhere! We invited market patrons to the Info Booth to come by and create something for Dad! We had tie making kits with glue and glitter, and all kinds of fun stickers and paper for kids to make a card for a special guy in their life. Of course their were markers and crayons galore and many a father walked away with their smiling child and a thoughtful card. "DAD YOU ROCK" and "I LOVE YOU" were just some of the messages found inside of the Father's Day cards we made this weekend.

Next week we have our monthly Visiting Chef Series with Hillcrest's highly anticipated 'Brazen BBQ' guys at 1pm at the heart of the market, followed by Patriotic Pinwheels on July 3rd, and a Watermel0n Eating Contest on July 10th!

Check out HillcrestFarmersMarket.com for all of your market updates and a full calendar of upcoming events!

Maraca Making Mania at the Hillcrest Farmers Market!

This weekend at the market we made super sweet maracas! Market patrons came by the Info Booth and used all kinds of fun materials to make one of a kind instruments.

We had pirate themed stickers, underwater creatures, and monkeys swinging from branches. We used glue, glitter, markers, crayons, and plenty of ribbon, and then filled our cups with popcorn kernels, beans, and rice before sealing up our cups and waiting for the opportunity to jam out with other market patrons!

Next week we'll be celebrating Father's Day so make sure to bring your day and come by the Info Booth to make something fun!

Also, check back here and on hillcrestfarmersmarket.com for all of your market updates!

Catching rays @ the Market

This Sunday at the Hillcrest Farmers Market we made sun catchers at the Info Booth! It was a beautiful day packed with the usual hustle and bustle that comes with such nice weather. We invited market patrons to come by the Info Booth to make sun catchers with us out of multi-colored beads and clear lanyard.

After a little while the kids took matters into their own hands and started to make necklaces, color, and one little girl started doodling with chalk on the ground. We had a lot of fun and got excited for our upcoming maraca making/musical jam session that we'll have next week!

Check back here and on hillcrestfarmersmarket.com for all of your market updates! Also, next week, Maraca Making, followed by some Father's Day fun & Visiting Chef Series, and ICE CREAM MAKING (can you tell we're excited?) the last weekend of June. See you there!

May Face Painting at the Market!

This weekend we had face painting at the market! May gray didn't keep market patrons away and we had a great time with kids that came to the Info Booth to transform themselves into tigers, dragons, and fairy princesses. One of our vendors even got involved because everyone was having so much fun!

Join us next week for our monthly Visiting Chef Series. We'll be hosting Hillcrest's anxiously anticipated Brazen Barbecue at the heart of the market at 1pm!

For everything fresh and fabulous, visit us at hillcrestfarmersmarket.com!

Fish Throwing Competition at the Market!

This week was WILD at the market as we paired up with Bristol Bay Salmon Co. for a Pike's Place inspired fish throwing competition! Bristol Bay Salmon Co. sells wild caught salmon every week at the farmers market until owner Jarret Stevens goes away for the summer on a fishing expedition!

We kicked off after 12:30 and had a mass of people waiting to toss fish. People paired up with friends, family, and even strangers and wrapped themselves in disposable gloves and aprons before lining up across from each other at the center of the market.

We had an absolute awesome time pulling people out of the crowd to toss fish across the width of Normal Street! In our winners face off round we had a pair of young brothers against a young couple for a chance to win $25 of merchandise from Bristol Bay Salmon Co. Check out all of our photos on Flickr or Facebook!

Join us next week for face painting at the Info Booth, followed by our monthly Visiting Chef Series on May 29!

Stay fresh! And as always check out hillcrestfarmersmarket.com for all of our fabulous updates!

Mother's Day at the Market

Happy Mother's Day to you and yours!

What a great day at the market! Many of our usual market goers came by with their families yesterday to get some fresh food for a Mother's Day celebration, and stopped by the Info Booth to pot flowers for some of the special ladies in their life. We brought in some pretty pink, purple and white annuals and potted them in biodegradable pots that kids got to decorate with markers and crayons, and some even decorated pictures and notes to attach to a wooden skewer to stick in the dirt!

Next week we have our Pike's Place inspired Fish Throwing Competition. We'll be giving away prizes to the winners of each round, and then will have a grand prize at the end for the ultimate fish throwing winners!

Join us May 22 for Face Painting, May 29 for our monthly Visiting Chef Series with Chef Mary-Jo, and June 5 to create your own Sun Catcher! For our full calendar, and all other market needs visit us at hillcrestfarmersmarket.com

Stay Fresh and Fabulous, we'll see you next week!