Farmers Market season is the best season. Last year, I stopped by the Putnam Farmers Market to see all the vendors. Here's a sampling of who was available: Katie's Country Kitchen:
Hazelnut turnovers
Blackberry lime Turnovers
Lemon Shortbread cookies
Vanilla bean Cake balls
Chicken eggs
Duck eggs
Dried Sage, Basil, chamomile, thyme, and oragano
Blueberry jam
Strawberry jam
Blackberry jam
Triple berry jam
Strawberry lemonade jam
blackberry lime and lemon blueberry jam I got vanilla bean cake balls here. Mountain State Fungi: Picked up some fresh oyster mushrooms from them. Kyndall's Kitchen: Brownie & no bake cookie here Wee Greens Microgreens are my fav topping for pasta these days. The Ugly Cupcake: Ironically, they didn't have cupcakes. But they did have mini bundt cakes. Hope's Harvest: Broccoli
Celery
Onions
Garlic scapes
Romaine hearts
Kale
Collards
Hope’s Harvest Maple Syrup
Hope’s Harvest Maple Syrup glazed nuts

On my way to Glacier National Park (which is in Montana - not to be confused with Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska), my friend and I stopped at Curly Bear Cafe. It's a casual counter-service café known for oversized deli-style sandwiches, milkshakes, ice cream, and quick meals before or after exploring the park. I ordered a huckleberry lemonade. Huckleberries are related to blueberries and cranberries and kinda taste like a mix of the two. I ordered The Ptarmigan, which had turkey, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, mayo and avocado. All in all, it was an average sandwich. Fine if you need something quick, but not super special. Grade: C

Did you know there are only 6 Rax locations left in the country?

At its peak in the 1980s, Rax had grown to 504 locations across 38 states.

West Virginia was once one of its strongest territories, but the last location — Parkersburg — closed in 2016. Now, Ohio, Kentucky and Illinois are home to the remaining locations. I visited the Circleville, Ohio, location on my trip back from Columbus. Rax is best known for its roast beef sandwiches. The restaurant’s signature offerings include thin-sliced roast beef sandwiches such as the Regular Rax, King Rax, and Beef & Cheddar. In addition to roast beef, Rax serves a variety of chicken, turkey, ham, and fish sandwiches, as well as sides such as fries, baked potatoes, and fried snack items. Milkshakes and desserts round out the menu. I ordered a Beef N Cheddar, because I panicked, really. I didn't know what else to get, wasn't really hungry and knew Arby's had something comparable -- even if I don't love it. In general, I'm just not a fan of a nacho cheese-esqie sauce. It just tastes too synthetic to me. This sandwich was fine for a fast food sandwich. I wouldn't be excited to order it again, but it filled the belly. Grade: C

If you’re flying through Denver, the airport location of ChoLon - Modern Asian is one of the better sit-down dining options at DIA. It’s the airport outpost of chef Lon Symensma’s well-known Denver restaurant, which built its reputation on modern Southeast Asian cuisine with French influences. I started out with mac & cheese purses, which are served with a sweet & sour sauce. The crisp, golden exterior gave way to a creamy macaroni and cheese filling that was rich and heavy. So, the sauce helped. I then ordered pad thai, with rice noodles, scrambled eggs, bean sprouts, cashews and shrimp. Lots of toppings -- less focus on the sauce. I really love pad thai, and this was a different spin on it -- but welcome nonetheless in an airport setting. Grade: A

Big Bowl is an Asian restaurant located in the Denver International Airport that offers a build-your-own stir-fry concept with Chinese and Thai-inspired options. I ordered sesame chicken with jasmine white rice and rangoons. Typically, this is a comfort food go-to. But I was disappointed. The sauce was standard, but the quality of the meat was stringy and mushy. I would pass on this. Grade: C

I've been wanting to check out Korean BBQ for a long time, but options are very limited in West Virginia. Fortunately, I had a trip planned to Columbus where I was meeting up with friends, which was the perfect opportunity to try it out. KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot is a Korean barbecue and hot pot chain with a location in Columbus. The concept combines two interactive dining styles in one meal: Korean BBQ, where you grill meats at your table, and hot pot, where you cook meats, vegetables, noodles, and seafood in a simmering broth. You can choose Korean BBQ, hot pot or both. Step 1: Choose from 30 different meats, seafood, and veggies - like pork belly, steak, chicken, fish, shrimp and bulgogi. We weren't sure how many items to order, and they are all included in the total price. So, we may have gone overboard. We ordered: Sliced Ribeye, Sliced Pork Belly, Sliced Prime Brisket, Crab Meat, Spam, Shrimp Dumplings, Tempura, Quail Eggs, Gyoza, Fresh Corn, Black Fungus, Udon, Rice Cake, Ramen Noodle, Vermicelli, Spicy Beef Bulgogi, Steak, Short Ribs, Garlic Chicken, Spicy Calamari, Garlic Shrimp, Pineapple, Zucchini, Garlic, Sweet Potato, Onion, Beech Mushroom, King Oyster Mushroom, Lobster Balls, Shumai, Baby Octopus, Fried Tofu, Broccoli, Bok Choy, Napa Cabbage, Mung Bean Sprout, Sliced Pumpkins, Daikon, Fried Taro, Eggplant, Potato, Baby Bamboo Shoot, King Mushroom, Shiitake Mushroom, Beech Mushroom, Enoki Mushroom & Lotus Root. STEP 2: Make your own sauce. There are millions of possibilities to craft a perfect dipping sauce. STEP 3: Grab your sides. There are some appetizers from the hot bar. STEP 4: Then, it's time to grill. Everything takes different amounts of time to cook, so it can get a bit tricky. For hot pot, it's mostly the same, except you choose a soup base. And, it was a great deal to do both. They offer Thai tom yum, Szechuan spicy, tomato, healthy herbs, Japanese miso, Korean seafood tofu, mushroom and gluten-free. In addition to all of that, they offer bubble tea. So, why NOT have a milk tea? The cup was a nice material, too, that I reused for the day. So, it's more about the interactive experience here. It's fun, it's a bit of work and it's mostly up to you what the flavor ultimately is. But I enjoyed it. Grade: A

Jamba (formerly Jamba Juice) is one of the largest smoothie and juice chains in the United States. It was founded in 1990 by Kirk Perron in San Luis Obispo, originally under the name Juice Club. The company rebranded from “Jamba Juice” to simply “Jamba” in 2019 to reflect a menu that had expanded beyond juice. I ordered a strawberry watermelon lemonade, which was a summer special. It was sweet and fruity, with just a touch of tang from the lemon.

The Woody Creek Bakery & Cafe is known for fresh-baked cookies, breakfast sandwiches, soups, salads, wraps and specialty sandwiches. It has locations both downtown on the 16th Street Mall and in Denver International Airport, which is where I made a quick stop. I ordered a ham & cheese quiche, which included cheddar jack cheese and fruit. Clearly a heat-and-eat situation, but not bad for an airport option. It was a decent pastry with a ham and cheese filling, and the side of fruit -- in this case grapes -- made for a balance in flavor. Grade: C