Italia Week 2

Well last week was certainly the most exciting market day so far - if you don't count our butterflies on the first day of business.

Thousands of people and dozens of extra booths were on site for the We Art the People folk art festival. Along with many other sights and sounds, there was a parade - complete with dancers, giant puppets, and drummers - that wound through Robinson park. You can see photos on Adelita's blog at Duke City Fix.

To kick off our Italian menu we made a triple nut biscotti:


I used my treasured, well-seasoned cast iron skillets to press down our capicola and ham paninis:


For this weekend I'll be putting together another sandwich. This time we'll be making a seven layer pressed focaccia sandwich with turkey, lettuce, mozarella, roasted red peppers, local basil, local tomatoes, local onion, all on local bread. Italian pressed sandwiches are large cold 'wiches weighed down to compress and meld together the flavors, then cut into smaller portions to serve. When sliced, the ingredient colors make beautiful tight layers.

There's just one issue... the sandwich doesn't involve the grill in any way. Gasp!

I'm worried about how I'll acclimate to a day without live fire.

Perhaps I'll help Kei serve up her new addition for this week. We're serving almond chocolate sticks that are thin, crispy, and packed with flavor. Our baked item table will also feature crowd favorites, the Death by Chocolate Drops, peach tartlettes and peach buttons.