Suite Judy Blue Eyes-An Ode To Cosmic Charlie

I’ve got an answer…
I’m going to fly away…
What have I got to lose?…
Will you come see me…
Thursdays and Saturdays…
What have you got to lose…
(Suite Judy Blue Eyes-Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young)

Ok…I have been revisiting many of my favorite pieces of vinyl, this week. In times of stress, or extreme busy days, weeks, months, it grounds me, calms me, to flip through my vinyl collection.

I have put one of my favorites on play, all week long. Deja Vu by CSN&Y…go, now, grab your copy, pull up your playlist, download it…soul changing, earth moving, love connecting…

It’s a dreary Saturday morning, I have loaves of breads, rolls, goodness all cooling in the kitchen, and I am preparing to leave for my shop, downtown.

I was up, before the dawn, as usual. One of my favorite times of the day is the early morning when I bake. My colorful kitchen greets me, coffee brews, and I begin the process of assembling the different varieties of dough that will become beautiful loaves of breads for my customers, my shop, this market, the restaurants where I am featured…it fills me with such pride and happiness to have this as my morning routine. My ritual of love. My passion for local, the scene, the people, the producers, the markets, the food.

My days are so busy, so packed with meetings, planning committees, managing markets, running my shop, carving out time for my circle of friends, launching yet another business, that this early morning of baking, coffee drinking, music listening, in the soft, quiet light of my kitchen, is what connects my soul back to myself. Baking my breads is humbling, passionate, rewarding, and is a reflection of all things that are me. The way that I bake, the ingredients that I use, the fact that I am a vegan baker…they reflect me, the person, as well as the hippie girl who wears many, many hats.

When you become part of my Bread World, you become a Bread Head. Modeled after my years and years of following the Grateful Dead…when I was/still am a Dead Head.

In my little hippie way of life, and in my baking, I hope to bring love to everyone. I like to think that with my clean food, local food, seasonal/organic when not in season, belief, will help to change the world. Or my community. Or even just one person.

When you step into my shop, you are stepping into a sensory filled, colorful, music fueled adventure. You get my breads, all lined up in their bags on my shelves. You get an array of local products from local vendors of this market. You get colorful threads that are a mixture of vintage and hippie clothes. You get the faint essence of patchouli. The music reflects my eclectic musical taste. There are prints hanging all over, of rock star icons, black and white collages of 60s and 70s models/band muses, and colorful streamers, dancing bears, and a window that has become the talk of the downtown for it’s lighted whimsy.

My shop, my breads, my threads, this market, all wrapped up in a colorful kaleidoscope package, to reflect me, the hippie, the bakestress, the shop girl, the market manager…and my love that is this local community. My passions all coming at you…ready or not, in this quest to bring more and more local to the front and center.

My earliest description of my first breads, 7 years ago, was this…

Cosmic Charlie Baking and Bread…Made with love in my heart and a song in my head…Reflecting my devotion to The Grateful Dead..

And there you have it…the bakestress, the girl about town, your market manager…and one hippie’s quest for the best of the best in local love…

Peace, Love, Good Vibes…
Cosmic Pam

Our Favorite Soaps!! On Sale!!

Laura sent the market some really great news!!! She has limited soap varieties on a really super great sale, right now!! Grab them while you still can!!

Thanks, Laura!!

Flash sale on soap! Limited quantities of certain scents are temporarily marked down to $4/bar! Quantities shown are exact number available. Get ‘em while you can! Scents on sale are: Tea Tree, Cedarwood & Lemon Eucalyptus, Thieves Blend, and Frankincense & Myrrh. Our soaps are made with food-grade organic coconut, palm and olive oils and we only use essential oils for the scent…NO synthetic fragrances!

Laura Miller

ELM Tree Essentials

937.524.5411

www.elmtreeessentials.com

Closing Time

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end (Semi-Sonic-Closing Time)

Such an odd song to open up the market for the week, I know…But, this song has meaning to me, and sums up what I would like to say, as I open things up, welcome all of you to another week of the little local market of love, and to say a few kind words…

First, this song ended one of my favorite shows of the early 90s. Melrose Place, and the main character is how my own daughter got her name. She both loves AND cringes that she was named after a television character. This song was the last song of the series end, fading out…

I was reminded of this song, after a heart to heart with my daughter who is now grown, and paving her own paths. Her question, in a text tonight, was…At what age do you figure life out?

My reply? I am still trying…lol. So, she is questioning, learning, full of that early twenty angst that plagued us all, just out of college, as we pondered these great life questions. For me, at that age, the answer was hitting the road, motoring across the USA, landing me in California. We all seek different answers. We all grow in different ways, at different times, hopefully all arriving at a point in life that brings us to where we were meant to be heading.

Just like her new life journey, I reflected on the journey of this market. We are fast approaching our five year anniversary. We have grown in so many ways, we have nurtured, worried, smiled, frowned, applauded, cursed, welcomed, and said farewell, all at different times in this crazy market time span.

This market is near and dear to my heart. I am so proud to be your market manager, and I have been so very lucky to have been trusted with this volunteer position from Heather, our founder. I was then so lucky to have two assistant managers in Charlene and Mark. The market trio worked hard to get this market to the levels it has reached. I am so proud and thankful.

But, tonight, we had to say goodbye to one of our assistant managers who has decided that it would be her closing night. Her closing time. Charlene has been with us since the very beginning, but she is now ready to take on a new chapter, or I should say she is revisiting a program that she helped start, The Market Street Gardens. She is also trying to get The Champaign County Farmers Market ready to open, and she is concentrating on Swisher Hill Herbs. We wish Charlene so much happiness, and say THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts…You will still get all of the amazing SHH products, you just won’t see Charlene, on Thursday evenings…

So many crossroads for people I care so much about…every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end…

Tonight, I open the market, with Charlene in my thoughts, my daughter in my thoughts, and all of us who are poised to begin new and exciting adventures!!

You now have two market managers, as we wave goodbye to our third…much love, Charlene…

Peace, Love, Good Vibes…
Cosmic Pam

Tonight's The Night!

It’s a short and sweet post as my internet connection goes in and out, and while I listen to this wind tunnel of noise!!

You have until 10pm, tonight! Tonight’s the night, it’s gonna be, all right…as long as you order!!

Peace, Love, Good Vibes…
Cosmic Pam

A Fond Farewell to February!

Tonight we get ready to say farewell to the month of love…the month of February!! And, to me, this is always the goodbye to the winter dreary, and hello, soon, very soon, to the springtime loveliness of sun, warmer days, and the onset of the growing season!!

Yes…goodbye to the dormant days, and hello to the oncoming vibrant days of growth, color, sun, and longer hours of lightness…

We have so much to look forward to but we also have so much to offer, you, now!! Take this time, up until tomorrow evening at 10pm, to get your orders in!!

Help us say, hello, to March, by placing an order that will help to greet the sunshine days!!

Peace, Love, Good Vibes…
Cosmic Pam

Thoughts From Swisher Hill Herbs

We are always looking to make new herb and spice blends to introduce to you. Some
2016 food and flavor trends that could reflect the movement of the consumer are on the
horizon.
Cuba ,a lift of the embargo allows foodies to enjoy more Cuban Cuisine, Africa’s cuisine
reaches out to the masses, the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro is sure to bring South
American Cuisine to the forefront.
Smoking hot heading into 2016 consumers are looking for a little spice in their live!
Major smoke and flavor trends coming up in the world are; smoked paprika, chipotle
powder, Tumeric, Thai sweet seasoning, curry powder, gingers, nutmeg, cayenne and
other flavors to entice you. These many versatile ingredients may be included in some
of your savory dishes.
In baked goods and sweets, consumers are looking for non-traditional, Goodbye sugar!
Exotic flavors and ingredients. But the flavors must authentic and natural.
When you are thinking outside the box for new flavors to compliment your dishes, check
out Swisher Hill Herbs. We have just added Ground Ginger and Nutmeg for you
shopping convenience.
Take Thyme,
Joe and Charlene

The Only Market You Will Ever Need!

The market is now open for the week!!

Thank you for always being such dedicated little local market of love customers!!

A huge thanks to Charlene for running the market, alone, tonight, so that Mark and I could work the Empty Bowls event!!

I was honored to be the bread donator for this event, and the love for my products were amazing!! I was honored to be asked to work with this amazing cause! Together, Mark and I took our new business expansion, Hippie and the Farmer, to the event as one of the evening’s soup sponsors!!

Thanks, so much, to all of you who came out, tonight!! It was crazy busy, and as many of you saw, at the last part of the evening, the breads were down to crumbs, and the many gallons of our soup was down to just a bit in the last container.

Your love and dedication to local is why we do what we do…all for you, all for this market, all for keeping the local vibe strong!

Go, order, be happy…
Peace, Love, Good Vibes…
Cosmic Pam

Long Live The Love!

Love you, Love your health, Love our wallet, Love your local community…

When you shop, locally, from THIS market, you get nothing but attention to you, your health, your wallet, and your local community!!

Let us hook you up to help you in your daily quest to keepin’ it all real, all local, all good…

The market is open until 10pm!! Get your orders rockin’ and rollin’!!

Peace, Love, Good Vibes…
Cosmic Pam

Long Live The Love!

Love you, Love your health, Love our wallet, Love your local community…

When you shop, locally, from THIS market, you get nothing but attention to you, your health, your wallet, and your local community!!

Let us hook you up to help you in your daily quest to keepin’ it all real, all local, all good…

The market is open until 10pm!! Get your orders rockin’ and rollin’!!

Peace, Love, Good Vibes…
Cosmic Pam

Thank You!!

Thank you for being the most awesome customers at the most awesome market showing us the most awesome kind of love…

Your market manager is beyond tired, tonight, and has a busy weekend planned! So, tonight is a short and sweet market opening…

Thanks, so much, for being such loyal customers!! We couldn’t rock this market without you!!

Peace, Love, Good Vibes…
Cosmic Pam