Local Farmers' Markets Offer Bounty of Homemade and Homegrown Goods

The West View Farmer's Market is open on Tuesdays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the parking lot behind . The West View Chamber of Commerce is sponsor. Current offerings include: 

* Fresh-baked pies, breads and cookiesby Mary Smith of McCandless.

With the help of friends, Smith bakes all her goods for the market every Tuesday morning. Pies are her specialty; they're made from all natural juices and a secret crust recipe. "The crust is very, very good," said one customer, who declined to give her name. "It reminds me of my grandmother's and no one makes pies like my grandmother did."

Smith, who is retired and only bakes for the market, bakes according to what is in season. Recent offerings included blackberry and meadow-berry pie, each going for $6. Breads included banana, red raspberry, and cranberry-orange at $2.50 each for a small loaf. An assortment of cookies, including coconut macaroons, lady locks and chocolate chip cookies, were also on display, and were priced at $2.50 a box. Smith said she is also open to taking requests.   

* Farm-fresh eggs, vegetables, greens and organically grown perennials by Jeff Leindecker of Liberty Farm. 

When not working at his day job with the Allegheny County Conservation District, Leindecker runs a farm in Ohio Township that hasbeen in his family since 1817. He offers basket vegetables for $5 each, perennials for $5 each, and fresh eggs at $3.50 a dozen. Leindecker can be found at both the West View and Bellevue Farmers' Markets. 

* Hot Greek foods by Vasilis Kontoulis, owner of  in Sewickley. 

Lines form for Kontoulis' food even before he finishes setting up his tent in the West View Savings Bank parking lot. "My husband's dinner every Tuesday," said one customer. "The rice pudding is to kill for," says another. He offers traditional pastitsio (Greek lasagna), hot from the oven, at $6 a square,  haluski (noodles) at $3.50 a serving, and gyros, baklava, spinach pies and salads, and for dessert, cinnamon rolls filled with vanilla custard, lady locks and coconut macaroons. 

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The Bellevue Farmer's Market is open every Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. along Hawley Avenue in the municipal parking lot in downtown Bellevue. Northwest Savings Bank sponsors the market. Current offerings include: 

* Raw and comb honey, greens, and vegetablesby Al Fine of the Fine Family Apiary in Monongahela. 

Al Fine's family keeps about 110 colonies of bees in southern Allegheny County that produce the raw honey he sells at the Bellevue Farmer's Market. He's been harvesting honey from bees since he ordered his first kit of packaged bees from Montgomery Ward. The 100 percent pure raw honey can be purchased from $4.50 to $20, depending on the size of the jar. 

* Annuals and perennialsby Ross resident Jerry Mazur, whose family owns  in Zelienople. 

Mazur offers hanging baskets from $11 to $18, perennials for $12 for a four-inch flat and flats of annuals for $11. 

* Popcorn by Wild River Kettle Korn. Small bags go for $2.50, medium $4 and large bags for $6. 

* BBQ brisket, ribs and sandwiches by personal chef Steven Hill of Cuisine Consultants. Briskets sell for $4, ribs three for $5, and sandwiches run about $3. 

* Cookies and pepperoni rolls by Talia Piazza and Ryan and Christina Robertson of La Piazza. 

Cookies are baked by sisters Talia and Christina -- their speciality is the Italian Snickerdoodle, an old family recipe that includes almond flavoring. Ryan, Christina's husband, makes the pepperoni rolls. 

* Cookies, shortbread and granola bars by Good L'Oven Bakery.