SALINAS, CA–Natividad Medical Center offers a Certified Farmers’ Market every Wednesday from 11:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. The Farmers’ Market is located at 1441 Constitution Blvd., outside of building 200-Out Patient Services and is part of Natividad Medical Center’s ongoing commitment to promote wellness and healthy eating among Natividad Medical Center’s staff, patients and their families.

At Natividad Medical Center’s Certified Farmers’ Market run by Everyone’s Harvest, shoppers will find fresh quality fruits and vegetables (many certified organic), beautiful flowers, live plants, and unique gifts from small-scale family farmers and local independent businesses. By shopping at Natividad Medical Center’s California Certified Farmers’ Market you are supporting local California growers.

Join us for on Wednesday, June 25th for a live cooking demo at 12:00 p.m. All attendees can enjoy a sample of the featured recipe and a take home recipe card.

Guest Chef:
Valerie Kazansky, Carmel Cooking Coach
Early on, Valerie earned her teaching credential from UC Davis and after seven years of public school teaching, she decided to pursue her first true passion: cooking. So she enrolled in Le Cordon Blue in Paris. Upon her return, she worked as a chef at L’Escargot in Sacramento, and started a catering business, Valerie and Company. She continues learning new cuisines and techniques, and she especially loves creating dishes for each individual taste.

Valerie moved to the Monterey Peninsula in 1980, and taught cooking classes at The Peppercorn in Carmel, at Monterey Peninsula College, and nutrition at Hartnell College. Teaching quickly expanded into catering and private cooking classes. All her life, Valerie has loved both cooking and teaching- being a cooking coach is the perfect vehicle for her to share these two creative passions.

Stone Fruit Compote with a Basil Syrup
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup sugar
• 5-6 basil sprigs
• 2 strips citrus zest about 2 inches long (I prefer the orange, but lemon is good also.)
• 3-4 cups fresh stone fruit (nectarines and peaches work well)
• 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice

Bring the sugar and white wine to a simmer. Meanwhile chop 4-5 sprigs basil. Save the rest for garnish. Remove the sugar syrup from the heat. Add the basil and citrus zest. Let steep for at least 30 minutes. Strain the syrup, pressing on the basil and zest.
Combine the fruit with the lemon juice. To serve, combine the fruit with syrup, place in a bowl or individual bowls,and garnish with basil.This is a very light refreshing dessert.

Options:
• Peel the peaches or nectarines by immersing in boiling water for about 30 seconds (depends on the ripeness of the peaches). It is helpful to cut around the stem end with a paring knife and make a small X on the other end- before immersing in water. Poach the stone fruit for just a few minutes until the fruit is soft when pricked.
• Add berries to the stone fruit.
• Vary the amount of basil and citrus zest.
• Use water instead of wine.
• Serve with ice cream, frozen yoghurt, or gelato.
• Serve with yoghurt.

For more information on Natividad Medical Center Certified Farmer’s’ Market contact :
Everyone’s Harvest
Contact: Iris Peppard, Executive Director
Tel: (831) 384-6961
Fax: (831) 582-9546
www.everyonesharvest.org

For information on Natividad Medical Center contact Marci Bracco (831) 747-7455.
About Natividad Medical Center
Natividad Medical Center is a Monterey County owned and operated 172 bed acute care hospital providing health care services to the people of the county for more than 127 years. Natividad Medical Center offers inpatient, outpatient, emergency, diagnostic and specialty medical care. NMC provides more than 34,000 patient days each year and more than 47,000 emergency department visits per year. NMC is ranked #1 in newborn deliveries in Monterey County. Natividad is the only teaching hospital on the Central Coast, through its affiliation with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). With a medical staff of more than 228 physicians, Natividad’s mission is to continually improve the health status of the people of Monterey County through access to affordable, high-quality health care services. Natividad is based in Salinas, California. For more information, please call 831-755-4111 or visit www.natividad.com.