Weekend Foodie Warriors – Take 53!

Hello hello, again, Foodie Friends 🙂 Hope you’ve had a great weekend! Can you believe that it’s less than two weeks until Christmas?! For this edition of Foodie Adventures, we’re taking you on a tour of our weekend at The Toasty Farmer’s Market, plus new product reviews from Wildflower Cupcakes & Dessert Bar! ❄🧁

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Just because the weather is getting colder (still can’t comprehend sometimes how it can be 60*F here in mid-December), doesn’t mean we should give up farmers markets for the winter months!

Jamie and I had a dual purpose with visiting this market on Saturday. We were excited to check out what they had on tap, and one of the vendors was going to give us some Christmas presents we custom-ordered this year for family. I won’t be showing pictures of those specific items in this blog (for obvious reasons). However, look out after Christmas for shout outs, reviews, and pictures from all the local artists, shops, and foodie friends we bought from this year.

Vita Nova Coffee and Tea was one of the first food trucks on hand we saw walking around the Toasty Farmer. There was a truck called Chocolate Artworks, who knew we had chocolate related food trucks around here?! 🍫 This is also the first time I’ve seen this last truck, The Lazy Lobster, around town before; made sure to take (and added here) a picture of their menu for future reference. 🦞

There were some great gift vendors here too! From CBD products, to jewelry, and home décor, like our friends at Shop Belle Terre Studios, it was great to see the offerings had something for everyone.

But of course, we’re slightly biased – our most favorite vendors had the perfect gifts for the foodies in your life, including baked goodies from Ma’s Banana Bread, fantastic BBQ competition-placing sauces & spices from The Great Eight, and pimento cheeses from Humble Roots.

If you have never treated yourself to a Smoked Gouda Goat pimento cheese before – believe me, it’s worth the try. They also have their original and jalapeño varieties, made after the owner’s grandmother’s recipe. This was the first time we’d tried their spreads before, and they’re definitely our new local favorite pimento cheese! 😋🧀

The Toasty Farmer will be held every Saturday from now through the last Saturday of March from 11 am – 2 pm!  While mostly held indoors, it could be held outside if the weather is good. With Brewery 85’s newest expansion, extra warm indoor space is no problem now. They’re located at 61 Whitlee Court, Greenville, SC, 29607. Definitely check them out for all your local produce and artisan goods needs this holiday season!

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I love baking, but sometimes, being able to simply go and buy amazing tasting goodies I don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen for, is amazing. With me being non-dairy though, it’s hard to find places that cater to either vegan or dairy free baking. There are some that I love, but can really only count them on one hand.

My old roomie Max and I were suckers for a good cupcake. When Wildflower changed over their name about a year ago, we were one of the first ones to visit and give them a shout out on Instagram! We recently decided to go to check them out again this weekend*, as the owner of Wildflower, Kristin, has recently been doing more with Vegan (dairy-free), Gluten Free, and even Keto baking.

The shop itself hasn’t changed too much since the last time I visited, but I always loved how light and bright it is in there. The decorations were such a nice touch for the holidays! Kristin made sure to include some Hanukah decorations as well to match the Hanukah themed cupcakes she had on display.

Check out the slideshow below for some mouthwatering morsels – it would be soo easy to walk out of here with like two dozen cupcakes and not bat an eye. 🤤🧁

I got to spend almost an hour speaking with Kristin, and she’s super sweet. She took the time to walk me through the processes behind how and why she began creating more of these Gluten-free, Vegan, Dairy-free, and Keto treats:

However we can help, if we can, we will. That’s our attitude now, but that was always our attitude before, but it’s especially true now.

We want to help people, and we want to stick around so we can help people. Our menu now is meant to be more inclusive and diversified to better reflect what our community has been asking for.

Kristin Kay, Owner, Wildflower Cupcakes & Dessert Bar

Some of her newest creations on the menu we got to try include the cookies below. The top two pictures are their savory breakfast cookies – a Goat Cheese, Prosciutto, and Rosemary flavor. This was delish, as it hit the spot for the fans of more savory baked goods while still being slightly sweet.

I swear to you all, the Goat Cheese, Fig, and Lemon cookies (featured in the bottom pictures) were to die for! 😍 Super soft and moist, with such a great tangy flavor from the goat cheese and lemon. I honestly could have inhaled a whole box of those in one go.

The cupcakes Kristin sent us home with were gorgeous too! As I explained to her about my mom’s gluten allergies, she made sure to send me home with a half a dozen little gems to try in all different flavors. In the top left picture, moving clockwise, you’ll see:

• Blue Star, blue frosting = Mint chocolate chip
• Sweet potato marshmallow = middle rows in the box and second picture – these were dangerously good 😋
• Chocolate caramel with sea salt = bottom right corner in the box, probably one of my two faves 💜
• Blue star, pink frosting = Vanilla with strawberry buttercream
• Sweet potato marshmallow
• Holiday sprinkles = Vanilla frosting with vanilla buttercream

She knew I was dairy-free and made sure to send me home with some great vegan cupcakes (first bottom picture above). These were Chocolate with vanilla frosting, and Vanilla with vanilla frosting and strawberry dusting on top. This was made from pure, dehydrated, pulverized strawberries (with no added sugar), which gave the cupcakes a great flavor without overpowering the frosting with sweetness.

That’s one of the things I always loved about Wildflower from the beginning – their frostings were the perfect amount of sweetness. I never left feeling like I needed to visit the dentist after eating her desserts (which is a good thing, as much as I love my local dentist). 😂😁

These last two cupcakes here were from a custom order – they were vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, corn-free, & nut-free – a vanilla cupcake with strawberry buttercream. They too were delish, although with the cake so spongey and moist, I almost got the feeling I was eating a warm, slightly chewy sticky bun as opposed to a cupcake (texture wise). I don’t know what magic she used to whip these up, but I bet whoever they went to was very happy with their order. 😊🧁

We were really grateful to have gotten to share a little bit of baking love through these cupcakes with the friends we gave them to this weekend. 💜Through COVID-19, Kristin and Wildflower have made sure they could do the same, pivoting to include curbside pickup and delivery. Their best asset has been word-of-mouth marketing from their local fans (and publications like Off The Grid Greenville, and many others like ours shining spotlights on local businesses). Definitely check her out, she’s located in the Earth Fare shopping plaza off of Pelham Rd., exit 54 off of I85. When you do, tell her Pimento & Prose sent you! 😁🧁🙌

*Please note: We were given free products in exchange for our honest review. We’ll always be as unbiased as we can when letting you all know who we support and why. 😊

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So how was your weekend, Foodie Friends? Are you going to go check out the new winter farmers markets? Where are your favorite places to get baked goodies in Greenville? Sound out in the comments below to let us know your suggestions of what dishes to make or places we should visit next. As always, feel free to like, comment, & share 🤗