Inside the Adams Fairacre Farms Food Show: A Taste of Local

I will admit I am a little biased when it comes to Adams. My connection to the store goes all the way back to childhood. My mother was a Brooklyn girl who ended up raising her family in Poughkeepsie after my father's job with IBM brought us to the Hudson Valley. In those days IBM shaped entire neighborhoods. Most of the families around us had arrived for the same reason.

Once my mother found Adams Fairacre Farms, it became her place. She loved the freshness of everything and the way the produce was displayed, almost as if the farm stand had been dressed for company. She was so excited when the bakery and cafe opened! Her excitement showed up in small ways, mostly in how she loved finding things she had never seen before. I can still picture her picking up something new, turning it in her hands, smelling it, taking in the whole experience. Adams was a place where she could explore, and she never rushed through it.

So when I walked into the Newburgh Food Show at Adams last month, I wasn't just there as a journalist. I was there as my mother's daughter, taking in the whole experience and looking for something new.

The food show itself was built for grazing. Vendors set up across the store to sample everything from small-batch pickles to fresh mozzarella, and the energy in the room made it clear these are people who love talking about what they make. Here's who I met.

Corey's Pickles is a family-owned business out of Montgomery, NY, started in 2016 by someone who grew up with pickles at nearly every meal and decided to make that his life's work. The variety goes well past cucumbers, into beets, okra, mushrooms, carrots, stuffed olives, candied jalapenos, and German sauerkraut, though at the show it was pickles front and center. If you have a pickle flavor idea, Corey's already has it. I also walked away with a few recipe ideas from the folks at the table. My favorite, which I plan on trying soon, is chopped horseradish pickles stirred into chicken salad.

Laughing Gut Kombucha is brewed by Adam Benziger, who set out to let kombucha taste like kombucha instead of masking it in sweetened juice. The lineup includes Star Anise & Orange Zest, Butterfly Pea Flower, and Rosemary. My favorite, and the one I'll be going back for, was the Chamomile & Mint. Simple, calming, and genuinely delicious.

Brooks' House of BBQ isn't Hudson Valley local; they're based in Oneonta, but their Kitchen Creative sauce line was featured at the show, and I tried them the way you're supposed to: dunking a chicken nugget into each one. The zesty orange yakiniku and the raspberry habanero stood out, both with just the right amount of heat and flavor. There seemed to be a different sauce for whatever protein you're cooking with, and just as good on a burrito or drizzled over grilled vegetables.

Ronnybrook Farm Dairy out of Columbia County, has spent 25 years becoming a Hudson Valley household name. Their pasture-based herd produces minimally processed dairy including chocolate milk, Creamline yogurt, European-style butter, crème fraiche, and ice cream. I had to try the chocolate milk, one of those guilty pleasures I never make for myself at home. Between the cold and the chocolatey flavor, I was five years old again. The New York Times once called them the Dom Pérignon of Dairy, and after that sip, I understand why.

Raspberry Fields Farm In 2007, inspired by their own dinner table conversations, they started making small-batch, scratch-made granola out of a converted summer kitchen they call the Granolary. There's something about small-batch food that makes it feel like you're doing something good for your body, and this granola is a good example. Warm flavors, real crunch, and just as good stirred into yogurt, sprinkled over ice cream, or eaten straight out of the bag. Adams was their first major retail store, and today their granola sits on Whole Foods shelves across the tri-state area.

Meredith's Bread has been baking all-natural, preservative-free breads, rolls, cakes, and pies since 1987. What started as a ten-product bakery now offers over 180 items, including a full gluten-free line made in its own dedicated facility. I tried their gluten-free bread expecting to notice a difference. I didn't. It was amazing. They also carry a line of jams, and I tried the peach mango habanero, which would be perfect on a charcuterie board. I can also picture it on pancakes with a side of bacon, or as a spread on a sandwich.

Cara-Sel Caramel is a small-batch Hudson Valley salted caramel sauce made with just five ingredients: organic cane sugar, cream, butter, sea salt, and vanilla. The name is a play on caramel and sel, the French word for salt, and the sauce lives up to it, no preservatives, fillers, or dyes. I was told that each batch is handcrafted just one gallon at a time, caramelized past the usual point until the sugar reaches a deep copper color, right at the edge of burnt without ever crossing it. I dipped a pretzel in it and that was the end of my willpower. It's the kind of thing you start out drizzling or dipping and end up eating with a spoon.

And then there was Adams' own house made fresh mozzarella, pulled fresh by hand, this time studded with bacon bits. The consistency was exactly what you want from fresh mozzarella, and the bacon was a genuinely great surprise. Melted onto a crostini, it's the easiest appetizer you'll bring to your next party, but my plan is to use it to elevate a pizza, or my next pasta dish.

Adams started with one store on Dutchess Turnpike and has since grown into locations across Kingston, Newburgh, Wappingers Falls, and Middletown. What hasn't changed is where the food comes from. Adams began as farmers, and that shows in how they talk about the people who supply them. Shop there long enough and you'll start recognizing names, not just labels, because Adams tells the stories behind the food.

My mother saw that decades ago, before anyone was calling it a food movement. She just called it a good place to shop. Me too!

Upcoming Food Shows: Adams has more shows coming this summer: Middletown on August 15, Kingston on August 16, Wappinger on August 22, and Poughkeepsie on August 23. Vendors vary by store, so it's worth checking each one out.