Michael Gordon arrives to shop at St. Jacobs Christmas Market |
Summer sausage at St. Jacobs |
On the periphery of the market barn, the more hardy vendors have set up al fresco stalls. Out here where a fresh wind whips roses into the cheeks of outdoor vendors, the festive season is not yet evident.
Marcello Didiano, an Italian fruit seller, has the right idea. A rollicking hubbub of foot-stomping Italian folk music blares from a van parked on the edge of his tiny selling space.
The irrepressible Marcello keeps time to his music – probably in an effort to ward off freezing temperatures - by dancing up and down and waving his arms. Marcello’s neighbor who is selling honey is equally lively. Close-by, a sweet-faced Mennonite woman muffled up in coat and black bonnet, stacks courgettes and spreads new potatoes on a frost-rimmed tray. She smiles politely, but refuses my request for a photo.
Roses for sale |
There is no place quite like St. Jacobs Market. For foodies it’s paradise. For vendors, their booths crammed with delicacies, its a welcome addition to the Christmas purse.
I’m a pushover for cookies, and ‘Gracies Christmas Cookies’ smell, look, and taste delectable. A notice propped up on a tray filled with ‘temptation’, alerts me to the fact that Gracie is not providing samples that day.
Gracie's Yummy Cookies |
Leaving Eileen with customers clamoring for her attention, I head for “The Fritter Company”. The line-up for steaming hot apple fritters stretches forever.
Cheeses of every variety are on sale at ‘The Little Cheese Company’ booth. Their specialities include Goat Milk Cheddar, Goat Milk Cranberry cheese, Goat Milk Herb and Garlic cheese and a spicy Goat Milk Jalepeno cheese. For the peckish, schnitzel on a bun is a popular midday snack. Darlene Dunn wearing a perky Santa hat wanders among shoppers, stopping intermittently to hand out samples of pork schnitzel on a toothpick. We chatted awhile as I sampled liberally her pork schnitzel handouts.
Even canines are catered to in this festive season. Massive bones – guaranteed to keep a cantankerous hound happy for days - are arrayed in a macabre display on a meat counter. The bones are going for $10 apiece.
For a bird’s eye view, I visit the upper echelons of the barn where retailers of every description do a brisk trade. There are jewelery sellers, crafts of every description including unusual Christmas tree decorations, a stall with sheepskin hats, “sheep skin, not cheap skin” as their advertisement implies, and a hat stand selling ‘hats with bling’. Nearby one can browse for undiscovered treasures in a flea market, or shop for high-end furniture made by Mennonite craftsmen at ‘St. Jacobs Furnishings’. There is something for everyone.
Mugs for sale at Full of Beans coffee bar |
Each December, as vendors, Mennonite and modern, work side by side in the warmth and sumptuous fragrance of St. Jacobs Christmas market, one can’t help but be immersed in a joyous mingling of Christmases past and Christmas present.
Images copyright Anne Gordon
Posted by Anne Gordon on Thursday, 23rd December, 2010
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