This second week of June marked our sixth trip to the Hollywood Farmers Market, following our new $30 farmers market plan. We’ve been continually pleased with the results of ‘forcing’ ourselves to spend no less (and no more) than $30 at the farmers market each week.

This week we moved outside the comfort zone and decided to stretch out into our first market dairy purchase of the year. Specifically, I hemmed and hawed over the delicious options available from the fine folks at Jacobs Creamery, located in Canby, Oregon –previously of Crabtree, the home of our friends at Noris Dairy. Jacobs Creamery is known for their ‘award-winning’ ricotta pies (which I have yet to sample) and pudding. At the Hollywood market, they also provide a good selection of fresh handmade cheeses and dairy products, including ricotta, cream cheese, and a hand-churned European style butter. I must admit that I’ve passed by Jacobs’ tent several times without stopping –this was definitely a mistake.

This past Saturday I stopped by the Jacobs tent and was greeted by a friendly young lady who had great knowledge of the products. After much deliberation I walked away with a small tub of whole-milk ricotta ($5) with the intent of adding it to some yet-to-be-identified pasta dish. Fortunately, Keri decided that our Sunday pizza bake should mix things up a bit and she called the Jacobs ricotta into service. We elected to use the entire tub of ricotta to supplant the sauce on one pizza. While it certainly is creamier in texture than any ricotta I’ve ever sampled, it was still a challenge to spread on fresh, unbaked pizza dough.

local ricotta, shitake, basil, onion pizza / fresh backyard garden salad

Still, the ricotta spread well enough to create a beautiful creamy foundation for thinly sliced sweet onions (also from the market), basil from our garden, and fresh Shitake mushrooms from my friends at Peak Forest Fruit. Selling a wide variety of beautiful, locally harvested wild `shrooms at the Hollywood market, Peak Forest Fruit also offers heirloom and novel sweet cherries. Peak Forest is located in Banks, Oregon just off Highway 26. You can speak with their friendly staff directly at the market, or by calling (503) 324-0117.

Our ricotta, onion, basil and Shitake pizza was the finest creation we’ve churned out to date. This specific combination is truly delectable, with the Jacobs ricotta providing the most delicious buttery base that any pizza-lover could ever hope for. This ricotta is so supple it forced me to rewind back to every ricotta-based dish I’ve consumed in my life. I shudder to think of the vast quantities of wanna-be ricotta I’ve consumed over the years, so pathetic and Styrofoam-like compared to the pillowy goodness that is the Jacobs whole-milk ricotta. If you are a lover of fine Italian dishes –or just a cheese-lover– you will find the Jacobs ricotta to be one of the most delightfully satisfying cheeses to ever grace your table. Walk –no, run– to the Hollywood Farmers Market to get some.

$30 farmers market haul

In the photo to the right, you’ll see our $30 farmers market haul for June 13, which includes the following:

• two large shallots
• one organic zucchini
• one organic crook-neck squash
• one hothouse tomato ($2.30)
• one pint of organic strawberries
• 2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes
• Shitake mushrooms ($3)
• Hood River cherries from Maryhill Orchards in Goldendale, Washington
• one small tub whole-milk ricotta from Jacobs Creamery
• one 4-pack of Hot Lips soda ($7) –two bottles blackberry and two bottles pear

The four-pack of Hot Lips soda truly was an impulse buy. I almost always order a glass of their delicious soda when I visit a Hot Lips pizza restaurant, but the free soda samples offered up at the market pushed me over the edge. All Hot Lips sodas have four ingredients (fruit, cane sugar, lemon juice, water) and use only local, organic fruit –even the lemon juice and cane sugar are organic. While environmentally well-intentioned, Hot Lips sodas make their biggest impact on your taste buds. They really are some of the tastiest beverages you’ll find –a perfect complement to a tasty local pizza.