WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE — I only recently became familiar with the essays of M.F.K. Fisher and wonder how I have not picked up her work before now. Perhaps it’s a function of time, of which there is never enough. Or priority. Or timing. Whatever the case, my evening reading is now, “The Art of the Table,” a compendium of five of her books on food and eating. I’m sure I’ll ponder her writing frequently this summer. She writes of food, but more of tasting, finding pleasure in, the snobbery of, how foods differ by place and custom. She wrote in the 1930’s through ‘50’s, but she may be read more today, when many in these states have grown to appreciate that food is a pleasure, not just a necessity.

My favorite essay so far is “Two Birds without a Branch” (which you have to read for yourself to understand what the title might mean). In it she provides her experience of living in Dijon, France and the regional recipe for gingerbread or “pain d’epice.” The included recipe is so “homey.” I can imagine it being handed down verbally over many generations but never written down. It includes “two pounds of old, black honey, the older and blacker the better” which I find intriguing! Black honey? Old? After heating the old, black honey, “the finest bread flour” is added, and then, “Put this hot paste away in a cold place. It must stay there at least eight days, but in Dijon, where pain d’epice is best, it ripens in the cold for several months or even years!” (The spices, about which she waxes eloquent, are added much later.) Fisher’s writing is so evocative, I can almost smell the baking bread, which must be somewhat a sourdough fruit cake, with or without the fruit, which is best stored for several months after baking. It is difficult for me to imagine ever making this bread, but if I’m ever in Dijon, I will definitely seek out this delicacy.

You will not need to travel nearly as far as France to find fine fare and delicacies. The Fayette County Farmers Market is packed with so many delicious foods, including breads, sweets/desserts, beef, salsas. Shop for produce, plants, food items, crafts, lotions and so much more.

This week’s community guest will be Indigo Roots – offering yoga for everyone in downtown WCH since 2015. Stop by the booth to learn more about their many classes and their mission, and free offerings through the summer.

Children visiting the market this Saturday can stop by the Kid’s Activity Table and craft a lovely butterfly with Mrs. Debra made out of a coffee filter, clothes pin, pipe cleaner and colorful markers. They’ll also receive some fun facts about butterflies.

The Market is open Saturday morning from 8:30 to noon. It is located in the municipal parking lot on the corner of South Main and East East streets. SNAP EBT food benefit cards and credit/debit cards are accepted. Those using the SNAP EBT card for food purchases receive matching dollar “Produce Perks” tokens ($1 for $1) good only for fruits, vegetables, and food producing plants. So,”buy one, get one” for up to $25 every market day. Five dollar coupons will be available again for Fayette County Farm Bureau members at each Saturday market; these can be spent at both the Wednesday and Saturday markets.

The following list contains the names and products of the vendors that expect to set up this Saturday. Other vendors may participate as well.

Cozy Baby Blessings (Nancy Cutter): Handmade baby essentials including crochet blankets, hats, flannel burp cloths, teethers and pacifier clips. Also crocheted kitchen dish cloths, pot scrubbers, quilted pot holders and wax melts in over 50 scents.

DSC Produce Farm (Darren Cox): 10 flavors of salsa (including bacon and carolina reaper), 5 salad dressings (including blueberry vinaigrette) and 3 BBQ sauce flavors. Sampling bacon salsa.

Edlynns Attic (Robin Dement): Dog treats, loveys, baking mixes, fingerless gloves, animal baskets, yarn, and wax melts.

Engeti (Alana Walters & Janet Bick): dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, cakes, brownies, pies, cookies, and other baked goods.

Greens & Greenery (Katrina Bush): Garlic scapes, green garlic, rhubarb, leaf lettuce, plants (heirloom tomatoes, herbs, native perennial flowering plants and trees), raw unpasteurized honey, pear butters, elderberry jelly, sourdough crackers.

Hostetter Kitchen (Melody Martin): Pies (strawberry, rhubarb), yeast breads and rolls, cinnamon buns, zucchini, pumpkin and banana (tea) breads, cakes, bars, whoopie pies, buckeyes and more.

Jim’s Premium Ground Beef (Jim Hobbs): Premium ground beef in assorted packages (patties, bulk tubes).

Julie G’s Cookies (Julie Greenslade): Chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, ginger, snickerdoodle, pineapple, sugar, macadamia nut, peanut butter, peanut butter jumbos, peanut butter fudge and lemon bars.

PPCF/ The Jam Man (David Persinger): (Will not be set up until June 1)

PPCF/The Pie Lady and S. Plymouth Raw Honey (Julie & Dennis Mosny): 1 lb beeswax blocks (honey coming soon). Banana cake with old fashion burnt butter icing, bunns bars, cinnamon rolls and cinni mini’s.This week’s pies will be strawberry, black raspberry, cherry, raisin, blackberry, rhubarb, strawberry rhubarb and apple.

Red Maple Goats and Soaps (Cindy Grover): All natural goat-milk products.

Teter Farm (Owen and Kate Teter): Radishes, spring onions, houseplants, strawberry hanging baskets, small cut flower bouquets.

Wood Designs by DW (Debbie Welch): One of a kind handcrafted wood items— signs, tables, gnomes, as well as bird feeders (freestanding and hanging) and hanging bird houses. Wooden solar mushrooms and sunflowers. Crocheted items including a variety of stuffed animals, kitchen towels, pot scrubs, pot holders, baby booties, and afghans. Will take custom and special orders.

Your Other Mother’s Kitchen (Don & Sara Creamer): Bread and other baked goods. Sewing crafts.

Bridge View Gardens (Hunter & Lorelle Rohrer): Fresh produce including rhubarb, radishes, and lettuce. Bedding plants: vegetables, herbs and flowering plants.

Katrina Bush is a vendor with the Fayette County Farmers Market.