“Love Local” this February at the Boston Public Market

With February comes several great occasions that call for good food and fun with friends and family. Whether it’s the big game, Valentine’s Day, Fish Fridays during lent, or school vacation, you can find essential ingredients and unique, engaging activities and classes at the Boston Public Market.

Check out details below about these February happenings and visit bostonpublicmarket.org for more information. Visit the Market’s 38 vendors, and explore their locally sourced and seasonal produce, meats, dairy, seafood, bread, prepared and specialty items, and more.

GAME DAY SUPPLIES

The best football fans know that food is one of the most important parts of viewing the big game! Visit the Market to pick up all your game day essentials – beer, wine, and spirits, meats and produce for your famous chili, prepared entrees, and snacks like charcuterie, nuts, and cheese. Peruse the aisles for specials and discounts, including:

  • Appleton Farms – Smith’s Farmstead Gouda spreads in horseradish, bacon, tomato basil, onion chive, creamy, and a new flavor, wine – $4.99 each. Visit their stall for samples!
  • Cellars at Jasper Hill: Bayley Hazen Blue cheese special at $24 per pound ($3 discount), 2/3 – 2/7
  • Daniele: $10 off Salame Casalingo Super Sale
  • George Howell Coffee: Bring in your own growler and they’ll fill it with iced coffee straight from the coffee keg!
  • Hopsters Alley: Stock up for Sunday! Buy two or more Hopsters IPA mix packs and get $1 off each, 1/29 – 2/7. Pre-chilled twelve packs will be available on 2/7
  • Inna’s Kitchen: Discount on pre-ordered knishes by the dozen, and mini knishes also available. Four varieties to choose from, baked or frozen. Place orders by 2/2; pricing and details available at their stall and website
  • Massachusetts Wine Shop: 5% off any 6 bottles of wine; 10% off 12+ bottles of wine
  • Peterman’s Boards and Bowls: Game Day needs a beautiful bowl for your sideline fare! 20% off any 15″ or larger bowl from 2/3 – 2/7
  • Q’s Nuts: 15% off any nut platter; and 3 large bags for $18 (regularly $20)
  • Red Apple Farm: Save $2 when you buy locally made chips and apple salsa together for your party!
  • Red’s Best: Family size clam chowder and lobster bisque for $16/32 oz.
  • Sweet Lydia’s: Snack Pack: a sleek black box filled with Maple Bacon Caramels, Potato Chip Toffee, Stout and Pretzel Marshmallows, and 3 Candy Bars – Manhattan, Twickers and PB&J
  • swissbäkers: Buy three get one free Original Pretzel; and reduced price on giant party pretzels for only $12.50/each
  • Wolf Meadow Farm: Enjoy $2.00 off per pound (one pound minimum) of Primo Sale – great for lightly breading and frying to make cheese sticks or adding to a cheese plate; 2/6 – 2/7

FISH FRIDAYS DURING LENT

Take the opportunity of the season of Lent to brush off your favorite seafood recipes on Fridays. Find fresh seafood caught by local fishermen at the Market and ask employees for their favorite recipes. Enjoy specials and discounts, including:

  • Nella Pasta: Looking for a twist on seafood? Try Squid Ink Pasta!
  • Red’s Best: 10% off raw fish all Thursdays (4 – 8pm) and Fridays (8am – 8pm) during Lent season; visit their stall to find simple fish recipes for inspiration!
  • Corner Stalk Farm: Fish and shellfish should be cooked in salt for flavor. Buy any large Marblehead Sea Salt and pick up a free medium size lettuce mix for your Lenten dinner
  • Wolf Meadow Farm: 12% off melting cheeses for grilled cheese or vegetarian dinners on Fridays from 5-8pm

VALENTINE’S DAY AT THE MARKET
From food, gifts, and date night (or day!) activities, visit the Boston Public Market all Valentine’s Day Week to “love local” and celebrate with family, friends, and lovers.

Dinner: It’s a day about love, and, let’s be honest – food. As an alternative to your standard romantic restaurant, and for a more inexpensive, fun, and delicious way to celebrate this day, stop by the Market. Grab dinner for two from one of our vendors and enjoy the ambiance of flowers, candles, and music in the Hub space.

Dates: Take dinner up a notch with an interactive date throughout Valentine’s week:

  • For the Love of Fish with Red’s Best (in the KITCHEN, Thursday, 2/11, 5-8pm): Join Red’s Best for a fun evening filled with mini culinary demos focused on New England seafood. Learn how to fillet a fish, shuck an oyster, crack a sea urchin, shuck scallops, prepare a 10-minute ceviche, etc. All demos will be paired with beer and wine from the BPM. Trustees Members: $15; Nonmembers $20
  • Date Night with Taza Chocolate (in the KITCHEN, Friday, 2/12, 6-8pm): Taza Chocolate joins forces with Brian Mercury, Executive Pastry Chef at Harvest Restaurant to bring you a perfectly unrefined evening of stone ground chocolate and delectable dessert.  Named “The People’s Best New Pastry Chef” by Food and Wine, Chef Mercury will be preparing a S’mores Tart featuring Taza’s unique stone ground chocolate. Hungry for more? Stop by the Taza Chocolate Bar on Valentine’s Day for more creations from Chef Mercury.
  • Sweets with your Sweetie! (in the KITCHEN, Saturday, 2/13, 5-7pm): Just in time for Valentine’s Day, learn to make delicious Market-inspired confections like herbed shortbread and vegan chocolate coconut mousse. Trustees Members $15; Nonmembers $25
  • Tasting with Hopsters Alley (in their stall, Saturday, 2/13, 3-5pm) Start your Valentine’s Day celebrations early and taste test Carr’s Apple Cider and wine sampled with Taza chocolates at Hopsters Alley (free)
  • Gardening with Stow Greenhouses – Valentine’s Day Flower Arrangements (in the KITCHEN, Sunday, 2/14, 3-5pm): Come with your special someone, your friends, or even solo, to learn how to create a beautiful flower arrangement. Class fee includes materials. Trustees Members $36; Nonmembers $45 
  • All You Need Is Love Party! (in the KITCHEN, Sunday, 2/14, 6-8pm): Join us with whomever you love to love and enjoy Market treats and aphrodisiacs, party games, and libations from a cash bar. Trustees Members $5; Nonmembers $10 
  • Tastings with Massachusetts Wine Shop (in their stall, Sunday, 2/14, 2-7:30pm): Reserve a private tasting for two at $5 each. Try wines from around Massachusetts (take home your glass!), enjoy red wine paired with chocolate, and try Chocolate Wine over Crescent Ridge Vanilla ice cream. Space is limited; sign up in advance at their stall

Gifts: Need a way to show them how you feel? Stow Greenhouses and Taza Chocolate are partnering to offer a beautiful, tasty, and local flower bouquet and chocolate combo. Preorders begin January 29 and can also be purchased on-site; delivery services available as well. Other local gift ideas include:

  • Boston Honey Company: “Bee in love” and bring romance back with specially priced heart shaped and container candles
  • Peterman’s Boards and Bowls: Find cheese boards, wine bottle stoppers, special wood bowls and boards for date night or as a Valentine’s Day gift. 15% off a purchase of $50 or more, 2/10 – 2/14
  • Red Apple Farm and Stow Greenhouses: Purchase $10 of fudge and receive $1 off a bouquet at Stow Greenhouses; buy a $10 bouquet at Stow Greenhouses and get $1 off fudge at Red Apple Farm with proof of purchase
  • Sweet Lydia’s: Try a variety of limited edition Valentine’s sweets: lavender caramel covered in milk chocolate topped with lavender sugar crumble, spicy passion fruit caramel covered in dark chocolate topped with pink salt & pink peppercorns, champagne & strawberry dark chocolate truffles, champagne pate de fruits, and champagne & strawberry marshmallows
  • Taza Chocolate: Catch Taza’s limited edition Cherry Almond Amaze bar – the name speaks for itself! Also try the Taza Coffee Raspberry Tart or Coconut French Macaroons with a Salted Almond Taza Crème.
  • Wolf Meadow Farm: $2.00 gift crate of wine jellies for your foodie valentine; try a sample!

A Night In…To bring a bit of the Market home for a romantic meal, find locally sourced ingredients for your favorite dishes and look for vendors’ special promotions, including:

  • Cellars at Jasper Hill: Weybridge cheese wheel on sale for $7; 2/10 – 2/14
  • Corner Stalk Farm: Featuring new Spiker’s Shrub flavor for Valentine’s Day: Berry Amour, delicious mix of apple cider vinegar with raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, and blackberry plus a zingy, tingly nip of Szechuan peppercorn
  • Nella Pasta: 15% off pink Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese Ravioli and beet extruded pasta, 2/10 – 2/14
  • Q’s Nuts: Featuring a special Chocolate Raspberry Almond & Cashew mix (try a sample!); and any large bag of a chocolate flavored nut for $6 a bag
  • Red’s Best: “$1 Buck Shuck” oysters from 8am – 8pm on Valentine’s Day
  • swissbäkers: Special heart shaped cookies and strawberry cakes

BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS VACATION

School may be out, but the Boston Public Market has a full curriculum of activities to keep kids (and parents!) busy and having fun during vacation. Sticking around town and looking for something to do? Visit the Kids’ Nook for several fun activities with Market vendors, or The KITCHEN, which will be partnering with Kids Cooking Green, an educational outreach program introducing children to the importance of eating locally grown food.

Wednesday, February 17

  • Pasta Party in the KITCHEN (10-11:30am): Learn how fun it is to make pasta dough from scratch using local eggs and semolina flour. Roll and then cut your own noodles, stuff your own raviolis, and make a delicious nut-free pesto to eat with the pasta. Trustees Members: $28; Nonmembers: $35 per child
  • Pasta Necklaces with Nella Pasta in the Kids’ Nook (2:30-3:30pm): Have a play date with Nella Pasta to make colorful necklaces using dried, colored pasta made with whole grains and veggies. Free.

Thursday, February 18

  • Bee-Licious in the KITCHEN (10-11:30am): Learn about the role of bees in our food and cook with local honey! Kids will make and eat homemade granola (nut free), and then make their own bee-licious yogurt-granola parfait. Trustees Members: $28; Nonmembers: $35 per child
  • Apple Tasting with Red Apple Farm in the Kids’ Nook (2:30-3:30pm): Meet Al Rose, the farmer himself, and learn about different apple varieties, flavors, and how they grow their tasty apples from seed to tree! Free.

Friday, February 19

  • Yes, Dr. Seuss, There ARE Green Eggs! in the KITCHEN (10-11:30am) …and brown eggs, and blue eggs! We will cook with local naturally colorful eggs and talk about the different chickens that they come from. Trustees Members: $28; Nonmembers: $35 per child
  • Stillman’s Farm “What’s Going Down on the Farm?” (in the Kids’ Nook) (10:00am-3:00pm): Massachusetts farmers Glenn and Genevieve Stillman will be on hand for a kids’ Q&A and to present what farmers are doing now to prepare for a bountiful 2016 growing season. Reserve your child’s spot for a take-home spring transplant activity and hands-on sensory fun and learning! Free.

Saturday, February 20

  • Daffodil Planting with Stow Greenhouses in the Kids’ Nook (10:30-11:30am): Come learn about gardening and plant pretty daffodil bulbs in personal pots – they’ll be blooming just in time for Easter! Free.

Sunday, February 21

  • Cheese Making with Wolf Meadow Farm (2-3pm): Meet a cheese monger and learn how your favorite cheese is made! Look and feel the different stages from milk to cheese, and learn about all the varieties made in New England. Free.

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Additional Upcoming Events at the Boston Public Market:

FRIDAY JANUARY 29

Let’s Talk About Food: Cheese Chat with the Cheese Monger from Appleton Farms (in the KITCHEN) (12:00 – 1:00pm): Stopping by the Boston Public Market to grab a lunch or a snack? Enjoy your meal in The KITCHEN and chat about cheese with guest cheese monger Gannon Long from Appleton Farms.

SUNDAY JANUARY 31

Succulent Gardens with Stow Greenhouses (in the KITCHEN) (1-3pm): Learn how to make and care for a beautiful succulent garden. Students will be able to able to choose from a variety of succulents to create a long lasting, low maintenance garden. The class, led by Barb Rietscha owner of Stow Greenhouses, will also teach the proper care of succulents. All materials are included. Trustees Members: $36; Nonmembers: $45

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 3

Market Morsels (in the KITCHEN every Wednesday) (12-1pm): Swing through the KITCHEN on your lunch break to have a taste of the Boston Public Market.

Om Nom: Yoga & Food with Emily McLaughlin (in the KITCHEN every Wednesday) (5:45-6:45pm): Emily McLaughlin, a yogi and healthy food blogger, is excited to add healthy food demos to her yoga class for the last Wednesday of each month at the Boston Public Market. Come for the yoga, stay for the food! Trustees Members & Nonmembers: $15/person.

Tasting Wine & Cheese – An Insider’s Guide to Mastering the Principles of Pairing (in the KITCHEN) (7:30 – 9:30pm): Spend an evening with wine & cheese nerd (and author) Adam Centamore in celebration of his new book, Tasting Wine & Cheese – An Insider’s Guide to Mastering the Principles of Pairing. You’ll sample amazing artisanal cheeses paired with condiments and wines. Each participant will leave with a copy of Adam’s new book. Trustees Members: $60; Nonmembers: $75.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 4

REI Hosts Thursday Morning Yoga (in the KITCHEN every Thursday) (7-8am): Looking to practice yoga in the company of like-minded outdoor enthusiasts? Join us for our REI Yoga Club! Our Outdoor School Yoga Instructor will offer a Vinyasa flow yoga class weekly as a special treat for REI Members and Guests. No experience necessary. Yoga mats available on a first come – first serve basis. This class is free.

Fast, Fresh and Delicious for Less (in the KITCHEN every Thursday) (11:45am-12:30pm & 1-1:45pm): Project Bread’s Chef Vanessa Labranche leads this free cooking demonstration to teach market patrons how to prepare healthy meals on a budget. Each week, Chef Vanessa introduces new recipes that feature fresh, healthy foods that can be purchased at the market. Enjoy simple, tasty recipes that do not require a lot of time, skill, or money to prepare. This class is free.

BBQ From the Smoke Shop with Chef Andy Husbands (in the KITCHEN) (7-9pm): Celebrated Boston chef and cookbook author Andy Husbands (of Tremont 647 and his newest venture The Smoke Shop in Cambridge’s Kendall Square) leads an interactive class all about American BBQ. Class fee includes a signed copy of Andy’s book “Wicked Good Barbecue”. Trustees Members: $60; Nonmembers: $75.

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 5

Cooking with Joe Gatto – Cuban Beat (in the KITCHEN) (7-8:30pm): Afraid to buy a whole chicken because you have no idea what to do with it? This demo will teach you how to break it down and use it in the most delicious ways – Cuban style! Trustees Members: $28; Nonmembers: $35.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 7

Taste of the Season (in the KITCHEN every Sunday) (11am-1pm): Stop by the Kitchen for our weekly seasonal tastings sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts. Each week will feature seasonal produce or products from the market. Taste of the Season is free and open to all, so visit the KITCHEN and have a taste.

Bakeology 101 (in the KITCHEN) (2-4pm): There’s nothing quite like delicious treats from a hot oven to warm you in the winter. Attend classes at our cozy KITCHEN to learn about all things baking. Trustees Members $12; Nonmembers $20.

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 10

Edible Art for Kids (in the KITCHEN) (3:30-4:30pm): Join us in The KITCHEN to make healthy and delicious winter treats and then gobble them up. Trustees Members $12; Nonmembers $20.

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 12

Kids Kitchen Story Time (in the KITCHEN; also February 26) (10-11am): Grab a snack from the market and curl up to listen to stories about cooking, growing, and eating food. We’ll read everything from classics to modern new tales. This class is free.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 18

Third Thursdays Sampling & Music Night (5-8pm): Swing by the Market every third Thursday of the month for the opportunity to enjoy live music and free samples of what’s new and in season from the vendors.

Thriving Thursdays – Vegetable Garden Planning (in the KITCHEN) (6-7:30pm): Do you want to get more out of your vegetable garden? Learn about timing, spacing, succession planting and interplanting and leave with a draft of your spring planting plan. Trustees Members $10; Nonmembers $15

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 19

Local Sharks: Dogfish & Skate, at Red’s Best (in their stall) (12-3pm): Join Red’s Best and Elaine J. Brewer, Information and Education Coordinator from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, for a fun, hands-on information session at the Red’s Best stall to learn more about the two local and abundant shark species in New England. Perfect for families, adults and shark lovers.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 20

Seasonal Soups for the Soul (in the KITCHEN) (6:30-8:30pm): Join chef Carolyn Grieco on for our winter culinary workshop series. With seasonal ingredients as our inspiration, these classes bring together the market’s winter bounty and professional chef instruction to inspire, improve, and support your culinary endeavors at home. This series features hands-on cooking of country soups, savory chowders, hearty stews and homemade bread making skills. Trustees Members: $60/person; Nonmembers: $75/person. 

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 26

Mixology Series (in the KITCHEN) (6-8pm time): Bottled Cocktails and Punches Craft cocktail bars are embracing the trend of pre-batched bottled cocktails. A master mixologist will show you the components and how to make batched punches and bottled cocktails to serve at home…bartending made easy! Trustees Members $40; Nonmembers $50.