Announcing the Publication of the Lehigh Valley Farmers’ Market Cookbook

Words and photos by Carrie Havranek

Not only has farmers’ market season begun here in the Lehigh Valley, but it’s also the beginning of a very exciting farmers’ market-related project. You see, Laini and I are going to publish a cookbook together. I’m the cooking/writing half; she’s the designing/publishing half. The recipes will be original and culled from various sources: my own brain, farmers and vendors who know well what to do with their wares; chefs who shop at the markets and/or collaborate with the markets in cooking demonstrations; and finally—you, the market-shopping public.

To that end, we’re officially putting out the first call for recipe submissions for dishes you typically make from May through August. We will put a second call out for recipes in the middle of the summer, for recipes that suit the harvest of September-November. I hope we receive more recipes than we can possibly handle; at least that’s the ideal situation. Here’s what we’re looking for:

• Recipes must be complete, clearly written, and include instructions that can be easily reproduced; make sure amounts are specified, cooking temperatures, number of servings, etc.
• Please write a short statement (a few sentences) about the genesis of the recipe: What’s the story behind it? When do you make it? How and why do you make it?
• We cannot simply reprint established recipes. However, if you have adapted a recipe from somewhere else, please tell us from where by providing the name of the book, the cook or chef and/or the URL, depending on the source. And please tell us what you’ve done differently.
• Please specify the market at which you shop and identify, in your recipe, the vendors you typically use for each item, where applicable.
• A minimum of 1/2 of the recipe ingredients should be locally sourced. We don’t expect you to be able to source pantry staples, grains/pasta, nuts, certain cheeses, lemons, and spices locally, so those won’t count in that total. You may of course use something you purchased at a local store and in which case (I’m thinking of Seasons in Bethlehem, for oils and vinegars), please tell us. Anything that’s a fruit, vegetable, or animal product (even honey!) should be as locally sourced as possible and available at a Lehigh Valley Farmers Market. There will be some exceptions; we will consider really great recipes that showcase a single ingredient but which may require items that are unavailable at farmers’ markets.
• Please think seasonally! We don’t want recipes that are heavy and/or require extensive use of high heat in the oven. What do you eat from May through August?
• Please submit no more than THREE recipes per call for recipes. We need to play fair; it’s a big Valley with lots of people. We won’t publish more than one per person, however.
• If your recipe is selected for the book, we will contact you by the end of the market season (fall 2012). The recipe will be printed with your name along with it and you will receive a copy of the cookbook upon publication.
• Please submit the spring and summer recipes via email to [email protected] no later than August 1, so as to provide ample time for me (and my squadron of testers) to test and photograph those we’ve selected. The sooner, the better, however, for fruits and veggies that will come and go in May and June.

You can follow the progress on Facebook and Twitter and on the blog Lehigh Valley Farmers’ Market: Work in Progress, which itself is a work in progress I just started. In the meantime, here’s some food for thought from last weekend’s glorious day at the Easton Farmers’ Market. Don’t worry: I’ll be making the rounds to all of them.

And thank you!

Carrie Havranek is a writer in Easton who’s looking forward to your recipes, so let’s get started!