Announcements
- Saturdays 8-11am Farmers Market
- Wednesdays 7:30pm Lincoln Park Concert Series
- July 4th (Thursday) 5-10:30pm Lions Park 4th of July Celebration
- July 14th (Sunday) 7pm VRA Garden Club Meeting
Letter from the President
It was so great to go to the Lincoln Park Concert Series this week and see well over 300 people there to hear the music and to share good times with their neighbors. This is such a fun event for our neighborhood; I hope you make the time to come down for at least a few of these concerts this summer. Feel free to walk down to our house afterwards for a libation.
At 4 of the concerts the VRA has a table where you can sign up, or pay your dues. We have a great new brochure and there will be VRA board members there to chat with you about our organization. I do have to send a very special thanks to new VRA member Jodi Bauman. She and her husband Chad and their two girls moved into the old Carnegie house on Cedar St several months ago and are so happy to be in the Village after being out on a Farm in rural Boone county for many years. It is so great to have them here and I was quite pleased that Jodi lent her time and talents to creating our new brochure—it just looks fantastic.
While many people are still out on vacations and the like, the VRA is starting to make plans for the picnic and the progressive dinner. We do need your help with this, so before I start voluntelling you what you are going to do, please let me know if you have any time to help with these things—otherwise you’ll be cleaning up afterwards with Marc Zack. Also, we need homes for the progressive dinner! I think I have a few homes in mind, but if you would like to be a stop on the holiday seasons’ best party, please let me know.
Lastly, the search committee for the new VRA Board has found some excellent candidates for our 2014 board, but there is still room for you. If you have any thoughts about being part of our leadership group, contact myself or Scott Lusk as soon as possible.
Hope your summer is going great!
Chris Bucher
President@zvra.com
Purchase your ticket for a chance to win your choice of a
Weber Grill or Kamado Grill
plus accessories (valued at over $1000)
2nd Place $250 Cash
3rd Place $100 Cash
4th of July Raffle to help restore Lions Club Park after the recent floods. All proceeds go to the park restoration fund. Purchase at Akard’s True Value or find a Lions Club or Little League member to buy from!
Meet A Village Merchant
The Joseph Pitzer House
Joseph Pitzer, born in 1815 was a local wheeler dealer, a frequent county office holder and always a man with money. Rumors at the time said that Squire Pitzer was bragging about town that he had recently acquired a large sum of money and was keeping it in his home. Late one night, Nov 8, 1876 to be exact, the squire awoke to the sound of breaking glass- maybe a window. Rushing downstairs with his trusty shotgun and finding no one, he stepped out his back door and fired a warning shot. Back to bed he went. The next morning when he headed to the back lot to feed his dog he found the intruder, shot dead! And after an investigation and the identification of the dead man the Indianapolis newspapers reported that all burglars should think twice before they strolled into the town of Zionsville.
Farmer’s Market Vendor Spotlight: Sage’s Simple Syrups
by Patricia Scott
Last weekend marked my first trip to the market of the season. As I strolled, a neatly arranged table displaying vintage styled bottles whose contents shimmered in the morning sunlight immediately caught my eye. Established in 2012, Sage’s Simple Syrups is a deliciously creative and addictive new addition to the Market this year. I sampled several syrups that morning in addition to sipping the herb- infused lemonade made with chef’s reserve strawberry mint in honor of strawberry shortcake day. I happily returned home with my fabric bag with the big “S” on the front, and two of Sage’s Simple Syrups: guava and the chef’s reserve strawberry mint. Armed with recipes on the back of each bottle for both cocktails and mocktails, it was a very good week in our house; I am definitely hooked.
I sat down with owner and Chef Ryan O’Neill to learn more about his company and the flavor-packed all natural products that he creates.
Tell me about Sage’s Simple Syrups and the flavors you offer
Chef Ryan:
We currently offer 6 flavors:
· Lime Mint
· Mango Ginger
· Cucumber Basil
· Peach Lavender
· Coffee Vanilla bean
· Guava
Our products are all natural and hand-crafted in small batches. In addition to the flavors listed above, I will also provide seasonal options—a chef’s reserve– based on the freshest available ingredients. Last week we offered strawberry mint and in the coming weeks I plan to make mulberry.
What are the best uses of Sage’s Simple Syrups?
Chef Ryan: The possibilities are endless and limited only by your imagination. Traditional uses include cocktails such as martinis, tonics and club soda drinks as well as mocktails—or alcohol free versions of cocktails—such as lemonades, iced teas, hot tea and hot coffee. I provide a recipe for a cocktail and a mocktail on the back of each bottle.
They are also good to drizzle on ice cream or pound cake. The coffee vanilla bean can be used in place of coffee liquor in Tiramisu. I really encourage people to try different combinations and to be creative; that is part of the fun and enjoyment.
How did you get the idea to create Sage’s Simple Syrups?
It is something that I have been playing with for years. I personally do not drink alcohol and I was looking for alternatives to just cola drinks and iced tea. As a chef, I love experimenting with flavor combinations; especially using fresh herbs from my garden. I developed signature cocktails based on simple syrups for several vacation trips where my friends and family taste tested for me. A trip to the Jersey Shore, for example, featured a basil cucumber cocktail. After several trips and great feedback, I was inspired.
You mention that you are a chef. Where did you receive your training?
I was trained at the Scottsdale Culinary Institute, Le Cordon Bleu. I interned at the Four Seasons in Scottsdale, Arizona and then went on to work there. I actually met my wife, Bryna, there in an employee benefits class. We travelled around the world through our Four Seasons connection and landed at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia. Although my wife is from Philly, we eventually moved back to Indiana, which is home for me. My wife currently works in events at the Indiana State Museum and collaborates with me on developing our new business.
Are your products offered anywhere else besides the Zionsville Farmer’s Market?
The only market we do is Zionsville, although we are only here every other week. We also have syrups available at the Indiana State Museum and through our website: www. Sagessimplesyrups.com.
Do you plan to expand your product line or add additional flavors?
We do. We started with six classic flavors as a foundation, but will not be limited to that. In the future, we would like to offer a champagne topper line including flavors such as hibiscus and rose. Two additional future twists will include a line for brown liquors such as mango chutney which is great with warm brandy; and a line of savory syrups.
What makes your product different than other simple syrups one might find in the stores?
We use all natural ingredients and no preservatives or corn syrups. Our flavors are unique in combination and concentration. All of our products are hand-crafted in small batches. There are only a handful of companies in the US that are doing this.
We also offer custom services. That is, we will customize a syrup for you, based on your specifications. We are also looking into making smaller (4oz.) bottles available for wedding and party favors and hosting house parties to introduce people to the product line.
We want to involve our customers in the creative process by hosting recipe and new syrup combination contests via social networking. We want the process to be fun, experimental and interactive.
Welcome to the Market Sage’s Simple Syrups. I will be back next week to try a new flavor!
Garden Club News
It’s summer and I haven’t been to a new movie in a while. It is usually more of a winter activity for me, so I thought I would tell you about an old (2006) favorite of mine. Little Miss Sunshine is a comedy about a dysfunctional family–always an excellent basis for a hilarious story. The three generation Hoover family comes together to fulfill the dreams of their youngest member, 7 year old Olive, to compete in a beauty pageant. Olive isn’t the typical contestant and, with the help of her Grandfather, creates a unique approach to the pageant.
Each family member has a different dream of life’s fulfillment which turns into disappointment. As in real life, the movie depicts that it is not in those dreams and disappointments that we find satisfaction, but in our resiliency and enjoyment of the journey that brings happiness.
It has an R rating, mainly for the language, so it is not for young children. But for teenagers and older, it provides good insights and material for conversations about life when it doesn’t quite work out like we expect.