Fun in Saratoga

News from the Saratoga Farmers Market

I received the following email from the Saratoga Springs Farmers Market:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saratoga Springs Farmers' Market November 13, 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Market News ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WE are settled in our new winter digs and its great!   Yes, the winter market will began with a gorgeous day, 101.3 live and the awarding of our first winter market basket all at the Division Street Elementary School!  We are very excited about new digs and hope you are too.  The school allows us ample parking for all, easy handicap access and more room for MORE VENDORS!  Product is plentiful. Cauliflower abounds, brussel sprouts are gorgeous, winter squashes and beautiful greens are plentiful.  In addition we will be having new baked goods, new prepared foods, new mushroom vendor, prepared food, sauces, coffee and all our wonderful true blue regulars: yogurt, cheeses, meats, eggs, apples, soaps and holiday greens. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Parking will be on the both sides of the school.  Please keep the front lane open for safe pedestrian travel.  Thank you. Note: Dogs are not allowed inside the school building.  School rules. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MARKET SHED has been converted to the Market Table  at the winter market and will continue to provide "market money" (tokens) for those short on cash, but are carrying credit cards or EBT cards.   We also have the great gift ideas: market tote bags (canvas and insulated),  t-shirts and gift certificates!    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanksgiving Raffle is On! proceeds from the winter market basket raffles will be going to offset the extra expense of our beautiful new location at the gym of Division St Elem School. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Enter now at the market table: THANKSGIVING BASKET WILL BE GIVEN OUT  NOVEMBER 28th, 11 am at the market *Starting this  week our monthly raffle basket will have a Thanksgiving theme.  Ticket prices  are $2 each or 3 for $5.   The gift baskets have over a $100 in product value.  Tomorrow's basket is worth over $125!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   LIVE MUSIC:will be on hold until we find suitable space at the market ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RECIPE OF THE WEEK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  FALL SALAD GARNSIHED WITH ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES This week I had the pleasure of representing the Saratoga Farmers' Market at the March of Dimes Signature Event held at Vapors.  What an amazing fun food event (12 local chefs, 6 competing in an Iron Chef type format and 250 plus guests eating, talking and watching the Chefs go at it).  The fall salad I prepared was a hit with the appreciative crowd and I share it with you now (pared down to family size quantity). Ingredients 3 large carrots 2 turnips or 2 parsnips (or one of each) 2 large beets 2 thin skinned potatoes l  butternut squash 1 large yellow onion 4 garlic cloves 2-4 tbsp butter 1/4 cup Ballston Lake Apiaries Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette 2 tsp Rosemary salt and pepper 2 tbsp Blueberry Honey (BL Apiaries)  Mixed greens (with Shredded Cabbage optional)  Directions Wash/scrub all vegetables thoroughly and peel the beets and squash (and deseed squash).  Dice all veggies into 1/4 inch size and put in a large bowl and toss with the diced garlic, the vinaigrette, rosemary, and salt and pepper.  Set oven to 375, and melt butter in a large shallow roasting pan. When melted, remove pan from oven and add contents from bowl, stirring so all is lightly covered with butter.  Put the pan back in oven and roast until all veggies are tender, but not mushy.  About 10 minutes into the roasting stir veggies around.  At 20 minutes stir in the honey and roast for another 5 minutes or until done. Let cool (overnight is fine)*.  Serve over shredded mix greens and cabbage and add a touch of the Balsamic Vinaigrette for taste and moisture.   One of the nice things about this recipe, is you can vary it wildly with what root veggies you have on hand and it always tastes great.  *The other handy things is you can serve roasted root vegetables straight from the oven, hot one day, save the leftovers in the refrigerator and then use it as here, as a garnish for a great fall salad. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Saratoga Farmers' Market is open for its winter season, Nov.-April, Saturdays 9a-1p at the Division Street School in Saratoga Springs, NY. For more info go to www.saratogafarmersmarket.org

Virgil's House - buy one get one free

I receieved this email from Virgil's House, the very comfortable coffee house on Henry Street which doesn't allow laptops, cell phone usage, or other electronic annoyances.  They have art, puzzles, chess, checkers, books (!), and more. I am assuming if you print out this page, they will honor the offer printed below even though it was originally only sent to those on their mailing list. 

OUR DELICIOUS CHAI LATTE!

Buy one Get one Free

 

Print out this coupon, and bring it in to double your pleasure

 with the sweet and spicy
flavors that make our chai latte
so special here at ~

 

 

 

This offer expires November 20,2009

Rachel Alexandra vs. Zenyatta matchup in February down in Florida?

From the anything can happen files, the Tim Wilkin of the T-U's Talking Horses blog is reporting that Gulfstream Park is trying to lure both superfillies (I believe Zenyatta is technically a mare but....) to the Donn Handicap on Saturday, February 6th.  The entry explains that the Superbowl will be played the next day just a few miles down I-95 in Miami, so the world's sports media would already be there.  It's an interesting and fun idea, but I have had my hopes dashed a few times before by the two ownership groups of these respective thoroughbreds so I won't get too excited.  OK, I can't help myself, I'll get a little excited.  Let's hope. 

Bettie's Cupcakes

The Post-Star had a short article about the soon to be opened Bettie's Cakes that gives you some insight into what the place will be about.  I poked my head in there a while back and it looks bright (bright pink, that is) and fun, as opposed to now defunct Spa City Cupcakes which was dark, quiet, and quite honestly sort of depressing.  The article talks about the fun atmosphere they are striving for including the Double Decker bus that will be part of their promotional efforts.    

After reading that information and seeing some of their pictures I get the feeling this place will be really enjoyable to visit and successful - sort of like PJ's Barbecue is.  PJ's has great food, but for me it's more than just the barbecue.  I go to PJ's for the total experience, which puts me in a great mood. I think Bettie's will do the same thing for me and a lot of us.  According to the article Bettie's Cakes will open next week on Wednesday November 18th.  See you there!

 

 

The Irish Times this weekend

I received the following email from The Irish Times and am posting it here FYI:

WHAT'S NEW AT THE TIMES... 

NOW BOOKING CHRISTMAS AND HOLIDAY PARTIES!

CHECK OUT OUR NEW CATERING MENU!

THIS WEEK...

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12: 

MATT NAKOA

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13:  BUDWHEAT/GOOSE ISLAND HONKERS ALE PROMO

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14: CLEANSTREET

WORLD CUP QUALIFYING PLAYOFFS, INCLUDING IRELAND AND FRANCE! 

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14 AND WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18

COME TO THE BEST HAPPY HOUR IN SARATOGA! 

MONDAY - FRIDAY, 3-7 PM

1/2 OFF ALL DRINKS AND APPETIZERS

(AT THE BAR)

Saratoga Convention and Visitors Bureau advertising on Monster.com for President

I just saw this on a tweet which was posted on the Post-Star's Saratoga Snippets blog.  You can find the Monster.com link here.  It pays between $85 and $125K.

Saratoga Springs Victorian Streetwalk on December 3rd, 2009

The 2009 Saratoga Springs Victorian Streetwalk will be held on Thursday December 3rd, 2009 from 6-10PM in downtown Saratoga Springs.  This is of course a great event that is one of the highlights of the holiday season in Saratoga Springs. 

 

Susan Farnsworth, of the Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association, told me that the free event will include 49 venues and that there will be quite a bit of entertainment.   More information will be forthcoming soon on the DBA web site.  As always, businesses will be open late and Broadway will be closed to vehicular traffic. Let's hope the weather cooperates this year - remember 3 years ago when the temperature was in the low 60s?  This year I hope to make both the festival as well as the Festival of Trees.  See you there. 

 

Sperry's price drops by nearly 1/3

 

I posted an entry back in July about Sperry's Restaurant being up for sale, and in recent days the asking price has been reduced by $450,000.  The original asking price for the real estate was $1.4 million, with the business being offered without the real estate at $300,000.  Now the asking price for the real estate only is $950,000 (reduced by almost 1/3), and the business only asking price was cut by an even third and is at $200,000.  With the state of the economy and the realities of owning a restaurant in Saratoga, I just don't know if that price reduction is going to make any difference at all.  I wish the current owners luck and hope something happens because with this recent effort to interest prospective buyers, it is quite obvious that they are motivated sellers who would like to be out of there.

Click here for the MLS Listing

Click here for the web site for Sperry's Restaurant

Saratoga Arts Fest to he held June 10-13, 2010

I received the below information from the Saratoga Arts Fest organizers and am posting it FYI:

Save the Dates! June 10-13, 2010 In This Issue Arts Groups Receive Funds for 2010 SaratogaArtsFest Artist Application Deadlines Approaching Partner Guiding Statement Reflects Collaboration News from Our Partners Donations Available for Silent Auctions & Events Interested in the arts? Have a little time to spare? Support SaratogaArtsFest 2010 Quick Links SaratogaArtsFest Website Sponsor Information Get Involved Join Our List November 2009 Arts Groups Receive Nearly $10,000 for 2010 SaratogaArtsFest Programming This year, SaratogaArtsFest launched a new grants initiative to provide opportunities for Partner programming support. For the first time, we are able to support Partner programming with nearly $10,000 in funds to our Partner arts organizations, helping them to enhance their programming for the 2010 festival. The grant recipients are the Albany Symphony Orchestra, Caffè Lena, the Empire State College Foundation of the State University of New York, Home Made Theater, Lake George Opera at Saratoga, and the Saratoga Chamber Players. The recipients were selected by a grant review committee made up of local grant administrators and artists. READ MORE on the exciting performances to be funded by these grants, and comments from some of the partner organizations on the impact of this funding.   Funding for SaratogaArtsFest Partner programming support is made possible by the generosity of donors and from the proceeds of Prelude, our signature fundraiser that kicks off SaratogaArtsFest each year. Deadlines Approaching for Artist Applications for 2010 SaratogaArtsFest Artists are still encouraged to apply for SaratogaArtsFest 2010. There are different application forms for performing artists and visual artists. The final deadline for performing artists is December 1. Visual artists are encouraged to apply by December 1, with a final deadline of February 1, 2010. Letters of notification will be sent to all artists in mid-February 2010. Partner Guiding Statement Reflects Collaboration SaratogaArtsFest has developed the following statement to guide our work with our Partner organizations, which include wide-ranging community organizations, arts venues, galleries and museums, performing arts organizations, public and private schools, and places of worship. (See the complete list of SaratogaArtsFest's 2009 Partners.)   Partner Guiding Statement SaratogaArtsFest works in partnership with community and arts organizations to grow audiences for all the arts in Saratoga. Collaborating in the areas of programming, exhibits, financial and logistical support, and marketing and outreach efforts, SaratogaArtsFest and Partner organizations enrich the arts landscape and encourage increased cultural tourism in our region. News from Our Partners Flores Fine Art Gallery:  4th Annual Landscape Show November 13 at 7 p.m. at 462 Broadway, 2nd floor Albany Symphony Orchestra:  Composer to Center Stage   The ASO's Composer to Center Stage program continues its commitment of advancing new music, and is a symbol of the recognition the ASO has received in its field. Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the program fosters collaboration between the ASO and several nationally-acclaimed composers over the next three years, generating a variety of concert and commissioning events, recordings, community engagement and educational outreach activities. All of this promises exciting and innovative experiences in store for ASO audiences. Take a look at the exciting things the ASO is doing this year as part of Composer to Center Stage, and be sure to Listen Adventurously!   Partners, do you have news to share?  E-mail Kirstin Drabek (kdrabek@skidmore.edu) and we will publish it in our December newsletter. ARTSPASS Donations Available for Silent Auctions and Events Are you organizing a special fundraiser or member appreciation event for a community group? SaratogaArtsFest may be able to donate an ARTSPASS Admission Package to help out your cause. We make these donations to events that will attract a crowd of 150 or more adults. We will provide a colorful ARTSPASS certificate for the recipient, including instructions about how to redeem the award next spring. For more information, contact marketing@saratogaartsfest.org Interested in the arts? Have a little time to spare? June sounds far away, but we are already making plans for promotions and advance sales for SaratogaArtsFest 2010. If you would like to help, we have a number of opportunities! Contributions of just a few hours to pass out promotional materials or volunteer at advance sales events would be very much appreciated. E-mail us at volunteers@saratogaartsfest.org to volunteer. Support SaratogaArtsFest 2010 There are a wide range of sponsorships available for SaratogaArtsFest for businesses and individuals within a variety of budget ranges. Your tax-deductible contribution to SaratogaArtsFest, an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) public charity, is vital to the ongoing success of our citywide celebration of the arts. Contact sponsors@saratogaartsfest.org to learn about the many benefits of being a sponsor. Sincerely, SaratogaArtsFest

NY Times article on rogue trainers

I hate to dampen any enthusiasm for the Breeders Cup, but I just read this article from the New York Times regarding many thoroughbred horse trainers finding ways to essentially skate around, and even benefit from, punishments handed down on them for alleged horse drugging violations.  The article of course has numerous connections to people we are familar with at Saratoga Race Course and the NYRA circuit, so I am posting it here because I thought it was interesting.