Another sun-filled day and another sales and attendance stunner at the Des Moines Waterfront Market. So far the market is up +25% over last year’s record year! On a personal note, my wife and I picked up some out-of-the-water fresh king salmon from vendor Wilson Fish and slow grilled it on the BBQ Saturday night, basted only slightly with infused olive oil. The only time I can remember having salmon this good was when I was a kid growing up on the coast and my dad brought home fresh Columbia River Spring Chinooks. Those were the days when you could actually fish the Columbia. I am happy to report that the WSLCB has accepted our application to have wine and beer tasting and is in the process of issuing our license. Look for more information in this column. The new law this year is intended to help small wineries and microbreweries showcase their products so they can compete with the larger outlets. We will start out having tasting of our own market wines and will invite others to participate later. Speaking of food and wine, if are little nervous about cooking with wines and worry about what wines to use, click here for my guide. You can also download this week’s delicious recipe “Pistachio Crusted Chicken Breasts” using our Waterfront White by clicking below:

The Des Moines Area Food Bank has concluded their free lunch program now that school has started. They told this reporter that over the summer they served kids at 32 locations and served over 62,000 meals. Our hats are off to the all the leaders and volunteers that helped to make this program such a huge success. They now will start focusing on the Weekend Backpack Program. This program is to help distribute backpacks of food to children at risk of hunger over weekends. Please bring your donations and drop them off at the collection table in the Market Information Booth. Individual serving items needed: Oatmeal, EZ Mac, 100% juice, Cup-o-Soup and Fruit Cups. Market Sponsor Corner Judson Park Senior Living will be showcased this Saturday. They are celebrating 50 years of service to retired seniors in our community. Since 1963, Judson Park has earned a reputation for quality, stability and leadership in the Seattle area. They are always looking at the future of retirement living, so they can anticipate and address the changing expectations of those they serve. Vendor ProfileHolmquist Hazelnuts At family run farm Holmquist Hazelnut Orchards, they pride themselves with a superior sweeter variety of the hazelnut, the DuChilly. Grown in the shadow of the North Cascades in the fertile soil of the Nooksack River Valley, it is a sweeter more thinly skinned variety of the hazelnut without the bitter skin of the more common round variety. If you are into making your own salad dressings, try their pure hazelnut oils. You can also order their products online by visiting their web site. Music & Food Trucks Back by popular demand this Saturday is Flannel Asparagus. So grab some lunch from these food trucks Skinny Phoenix, Stella Fiore Pizza, Lumpia World and enjoy music of yesteryear on the Boardwalk. Upcoming events One week from this Saturday is our annual Kids Back to School/Safety Day. Also it will be another Kids Fishing Derby. And, for all you food lovers, it is SeattleFoodTruck.com‘s first ever Food Truck-In with all your favorites from this summer and a few new ones. Also on September 14th the South Highline National Little League will operate a Root Beer Garden for all the young at heart to raise money for new equipment. So far 10 teams have signed up for the Chili Cook-Off on the last day of the market, October 26th. If you think you have the “right stuff” to compete against the 20 teams that will be mixing it up, click here for the application and cook-off rules.]]>