I have just returned from my second trip to Madison. In my first trip, I needed to pack snow boots, this trip I wore sandals. I thought I would start by sharing with you the best farmers market that I have ever been to.
While a student at Wisconsin, I would make weekly trips to the Saturday Farmers Market. After Saturday morning swim practice it was a great place to go to get a pastry (or three), cheese and other items to grill that afternoon. What I find unique about Madison’s Market is that it is set up on the square around the State Capitol building. Madison’s Capitol building is the prettiest state Capitol building I have ever seen (sorry Austin, I think Madison’s is better).
It is open during the market and is worth taking a look inside. The best part is…
When you stand in the center and look up at the inside of the dome. Look how beautiful!
The market is full of all the freshest flowers, herbs, vegetables, meats, eggs, and baked goods produced in Dane county.
What you will find changes throughout the Spring, Summer and, Fall, but I guarantee that you will find something great to cook with. That is not all you will find! This is Wisconsin, so the market would not be complete with out….
CHEESE! There are several cheese stands throughout the market that allow you to taste the wide assortment. My favorite is Brunkow and their 10 year cheddar. So good. If you get tired of walking, you can just relax in the Capitol’s lawns and enjoy people watching.
During this trip, I made the usual loop and stopped at all of my favorite stands. One of my favorites is Madison Sour Dough Company. As you might have guessed, they make amazing sour dough and other baked goods.
On this Saturday, they had cream puffs! With fresh made cream and puff pastry how do you go wrong? I must say that the cream puff tasted as good as it looks. Cool rich cream with a light and airy puff pastry, how do you go wrong? When taking pictures of the cream puff, I got to talking with the people who work at Madison Sour dough. They told me that they had a new bakery/cafe that opened a few months ago. When I heard about this, I had to go check it out. Later in the week I will bring you what delicious food I discovered at their bakery.
As you can see, Madison’s Farmers Market is an incredible place. After being away for two years, I was glad to see that it is exactly the way that I had remembered it. A trip to the market is the perfect way to begin the weekend. You can get fresh produce, have a bite to eat, see friends or just enjoy the amazing weather! I doubt that you will be able to find a better Farmers Market experience anywhere else. I know I haven’t.
Awesome! Saveur magazine just dedicated a whole issue to 148 markets around the world and this was one of them. My husband and I are going to try our darndest to get up there before it all ends in October. Thanks for the reinforcement with this beautiful post!
~Mary
Wow looks like a wonderful day! And great photos:)
LOVE IT!!!! Madison Farmers’ Market Rocks!!!!
such great memories! i posted an homage to the DCFM last year, and that was actually the last time i’ve been. sad. thanks for posting this for a reminder of just how great madison is. and re the capitol building — have you ever found the fossilized starfish embedded in one of the stairs??
cheers,
*heather*
I am in the middle of my Mad-town recaps as well (so is ashley of healthyashley.com) ! another reader pointed me to your blog today – and it looks like we were back visiting the same weekend – crazy cool!
i could wax lyrical about the DCFM for hours, and I’m sure that doesn’t surprise you!
So glad to have been pointed to your beautiful blog. I can’t wait to poke around more – you’ve got a great thing going here.
Wonderful pictures! Love your blog!
Greeting from Sweden…
Greetings to you as well Rose! I hope to visit your amazing country one day! Thanks for checking out the blog!
Amazing photos. I’m going to make a point to go over there on a Sat. morning soon. Thanks for posting this and sharing your lovely photos.
Regarding your remark about Austin — I agree. I’ve lived in TX and for the 1st 10 years I lived in WI I would frequently slip when referring to Madison and call it Austin. Madison is similar, but prettier, because of the nice weather and beautiful grounds surrounding it.
No Hot and Spicy Cheese Bread?! It’s hardly a farmer’s market trip without it!
Janesville has a Farmers Market that I’m doing videos each week for. Here’s a link to the June 18th report if you’re interested.
http://tinyurl.com/FM20110618