Snow and ice put the winter back into Saturday’s final Winter Farmer’s Market of 2016. But Jason, at Gary’s Kettle Corn, wasn’t feeling the frosty temperatures.
In fact, he was so comfortable he was wearing just a t-shirt as he hovered over the propane burners heating the 80-quart kettle where the kernels are popped full of sweet and salty flavour.
“I definitely have the warmest spot on the block,” he chuckled as his shivering assistant served a customer just outside their booth’s heat zone.
Since moving uptown and outside last year, the Royal City Winter Farmer’s Market has been anything but wintery. Oh sure, there’s been plenty of rainy and cold market days, but Saturday’s setting of snow and ice was a first for many of the vendors. And they were doing everything they could think of to stay warm.
Like Tara at Roasters Hot Sauce; she was thinking about enjoying a hot toddy in her warm apartment to take the icy edge off that her six layers of shirts and sweaters couldn’t.
Layering is the key, said Michelle and Kathryn at Kiki’s Kitchen. They each topped a half-dozen layers of undershirts and cashmere with matching orange puffy jackets. Experience helps too, said Kathryn. She’s originally from Montreal so she spent plenty of time having a good time in the snow and cold.
“You’ve got to dance around, keep moving,” she said as the pair bopped around a propane space heater at the back of their booth.
Over at A Bread Affair, Cierra’s dancing was more like rocking back and forth from foot to foot. But her kiosk is closest to the Tim Horton’s so she was able to steal away for a hot coffee and a few moments of thawing out whenever traffic slowed.
“This is better than rain,” she said, optimistically.
Many of the vendors had the cold well in hand. They had chemical warming packets stuffed into gloves and socks.
“I love that we’re all in this together,” said Amanda at Honey Bee Zen.
But for Aaron at Ossome Acres, the frigid temperatures presented a new and unexpected challenge.
“We have to keep our eggs in the coolers to keep them from freezing,” he said.
This week’s $40 haul was all about indulgence. After all, ’tis the season:
• 2 pieces of strudel, 2 Schrippen buns and 3 poppyseed buns from Gesundheit Bakery – $10
• box of mixed cookies, that will be used as a Christmas gift, from Sweet Thea Bakery – $10 (These market fixtures have hit a bit of a financial speed bump, so they’ve started a gofundme page to help them weather the storm and ensure they can keep baking)
• tuna loin from our favourite fish guy, Ron, at Wild West Coast Seafood – $20
The next Royal City Winter Farmer’s Market will be Jan. 7. So enjoy the holiday, and the treats from this week’s chilly market!
MARIO BARTEL 