Market watch

Maybe I love pie so much because I find it so difficult to pull off. Hammond resident Frances Chauvin, a relative newcomer to the Red Stick Farmers Market, produces some nice ones, including the sweet and mellow cushaw pie, a better alternative pumpkin or sweet potato pie. The double crust Granny Smith apple pie was full of cinnamony, thinly sliced firm-to-the-bite apples, each slice holding its shape after separation. It is the innards of these pies, more so than their crusts, that make them shine.

And in case you missed the Spatula Diaries entry extolling the virtues of the fresh goat cheese produced by another market vendor, Belle Ecorce Farms from St. Martinville, here it is again: I highly recommend the “Italian” or herbed disc with flecks of sun dried tomatoes.

Elsewhere in the market, the always friendly John and Betty Chauvin from Opelousas now have buttery Yukon Gold potatoes, along with the purplish All Blues potatoes. The latter were gone before I had the chance to buy them, but the Yukons were fresh, firm and wonderful.