Stacks of onions, broccoli
and radishes rest temptingly in
the vendors’ stalls, along with
bins of potatoes, bags of
spinach and piles of peas.
A tasty selection to be sure,
but what to do with all these
fresh vegetables once you get
them home?
Chef Emily Brooks of the
Bridges Healthy Cooking School
has plenty of ideas.
Brooks will be using fresh
produce from the market in
hands-on and demonstration
classes she’ll be teaching every
other Saturday morning in the
cooking school on College
Avenue, beginning July 30.
“It’s a great way to
highlight our local growers and
get people to think outside of
the box as far as fruits and
vegetables go,” Brooks said. “We
want to get people on a
first-name basis with those in
our neighborhood growing
produce.”
The school’s classes are
offered on the sixth floor of
the former Thrivent building, W.
222 College Ave. In the Saturday
morning classes, students will
learn to prepare vegetables
Brooks has brought into class
from the market.
“It’s really a different kind
of class,” Brooks said.
“Normally I have preset recipes;
what we’re going to do with this
class is use what the vendors
happen to have.”
The fresh food offered at the
farmer’s market and healthy
recipes prepared at the cooking
school make the partnership
between the school and farmer’s
market a natural one, says
Joanna Ryerson of Appleton
Downtown Inc., which sponsors
the farmer’s market on College
Avenue.
“The market is all about
eating fresh and eating healthy,
and that all ties in together,”
Ryerson said. “It’s grown into a
European-style market. The
selection we have is
outstanding. We’re fortunate to
have the vendors we have, so
much is unique.”
Xi Xiong is one of the
vendors whose produce will be
used in the class. With help
from her large family, she grows
peppers, tomatoes, peas, beans,
onions and other vegetables in a
gardening plot she rents through
the Community Garden
Partnership, a program of
Goodwill Industries. She is
happy to be sharing the produce
with the community.
“We’re glad to help out,” she
said in Hmong as her daughter,
Choua Lor, translated. “They can
use whatever they want.”
Xiong was surprised and happy
when Susan Richardson, the
community garden coordinator,
talked to her about using her
family’s vegetables in the
cooking class and selling them
at the market later this season.
When her family planted the
garden this spring she hoped to
have enough vegetables to sell.
She already has a pair of
traditional Hmong needlework
pieces to decorate their booth
with when the produce is offered
for sale later this summer.
Richardson sees the classes
as a cultural bridge.
“We’re excited about the fact
that Chef Emily is willing to
have a go at some of the
traditional Hmong vegetables,”
Richardson said. “We’re hoping
to have a cultural exchange of
ideas and recipes using
traditional Hmong food as well
as traditional European and
American cuisine.”
The vegetables are a staple
of the Xiong family’s diet, as
they eat them raw or put them in
dishes, slicing the beans and
frying them with pork, beef or
chicken, and seasoning their
food with the peppers they grow.
Xiong’s family is the first
from the Community Garden
Partnership to offer products at
the farmer’s market, and
Richardson would like to see
more follow.
“We’re hoping in the future
to promote the possibility of
gardeners gardening in the
Community Garden Partnership
sites to consider selling their
wares,” Richardson said, “and
promoting their ethnicity in
terms of the types of foods
they’re growing.”