WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE — I love the allium family, which includes onions and garlic. Ramps, green onions, storage and sweet onions, leeks, garlic scapes, garlic bulbs and shallots are all dear to me. Many of us may use dry or powdered garlic and onion, and these are important cupboard staples if you don’t cook much or use a lot of allium. But the fresh produce is always more tasty as well as more versatile. And while we take onion and garlic for granted as “base” ingredients (the base of marinara sauce or pretty much any soup), there are so many fantastic ways to make these alliums enticing and exciting.

Who doesn’t love beer-battered onion rings? Sure, your kitchen is a mess with oil splatter briefly (and it is certainly not a food we want to eat every day), but this treat is so much better when made at home than that made at the fair. Buttermilk for soaking sliced onion rings, followed by a batter of only flour and beer and then fried in vegetable or peanut oil.

Or pickled onions….so easy. Red onions should be the base and they can be pickled simply with white vinegar and salt, or fermented with warm water and salt (and perhaps chilies or any number of “warm” spices) and then used to enliven tacos, salads, eggs, and beans and rice. And talk about flavor enhancing – pico de gallo requires simply tomatoes, onion (any kind), hot pepper of your choice, salt and cilantro. This is the peak of tomato season and tomatoes and onions love each other. Sweet and bitter bite.

Pick up ingredients for salsa, a BLT, desserts to follow a barbeque and much more. Stop by the booth of our community guest, Fayette County Public Health. They will be doing blood pressure screenings and playing plinko.

Modern Woodmen members will again hold a food and supply drive at the Saturday Fayette County Farmers Market to benefit the Dream Center on Rose Avenue. Items for their community meals will be collected. Needed items include spaghetti, macaroni, pasta sauce, Velveeta, rice, instant potatoes, taco shells, pork and beans, corn, green beans, gravy, chili, and taco seasoning as well as paper plates, nine oz plastic cups, paper bowls, plastic forks, plastic spoons, toilet tissue, paper towels, 30 gallon trash bags, foil wrap, and Clorox wipes.

The Dream Center has grown to provide for physical concerns within the community ranging from food, clothing, material assistance, budgeting, and other life skills training designed to provide a hand up to those seeking new life opportunities. Modern Woodmen improves the quality of life for members and the communities where they live, work and play. This is done through financial guidance and social, educational, and volunteer activities. It’s all part of what makes them unique as a fraternal financial services organization. For more information, contact Dan Mayo 937-725-0445.

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.

Edlynns Attic (Robin Dement): Restocked animal baskets, some new fingerless gloves, baking mixes, oatmeal soap, popsicle holders, dog biscuits, loveys and scarves.

Engeti (Alana Walters): pies, cakes, cinnamon rolls, yeast rolls, bread, cookies, sugar scrub.

Gerhardt/King Farms (Kevin Gerhardt & Jeff King): Sweet corn, white and Yukon Gold potatoes, tomatoes. cherry tomatoes, zucchini and squash.

Greens & Greenery (Katrina Bush): Produce (and plants) grown using organic practices, including cucumbers, green beans and cherry tomatoes. Raw unpasteurized local honey, strawberry jam, sourdough crackers. BAKLAVA and BUCKEYES are back!

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, sugar, pineapple, macadamia nut, peanut butter, peanut butter jumbos and chocolate salted brownies.

Karyn’s Kreations (Karyn Brunton): Crocheted items.

Red Hot Baking Co (Alondra Ridenour): Cookies: Cookies, pretzels, and brownies.

Rural Beans Roastery LLC (Kameron Rinehart): Assorted freshly roasted coffee (beans and ground).

The Casual Gourmet (Jason Gilmore): Variety of baked goods.

The Pie Lady and S. Plymouth Raw Honey (Julie & Dennis Mosny): local raw honey, honey comb, bees wax, black raspberry, strawberry, apple, peach, cherry, rhubarb, blackberry, strawberry rhubarb pies. Also cinni mini’s, buns bars, banana cake with burnt butter frosting and cinnamon rolls.

Wood Designs by DW (Debbie Welch): One of a kind handcrafted wood items— birdhouses, signs, tables, gnomes. Crocheted items including 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, other baked goods, sewing crafts.

Bridge View Gardens (Hunter & Lorelle Rohrer): Fresh spring produce including zucchini, home grown tomatoes (cherry, slicing, heirloom), green beans, new potatoes, peppers, peaches and more. Variety of potted plants.

Cozy Baby Blessings (Nancy Cutter): Handmade baby essentials including crochet baby blankets and hats, flannel burp cloths, teethers and pacifier clips. Also crochet dishcloths and pot scrubbers, beaded pens, key chains and wax melts.

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