New Lane Sundries

Each year on Thanksgiving weekend, Martha's Vineyard has an Artisan Fair. Every craft you can imagine, from hand-tooled leather to seascapes to gorgeous woodworking and more is in the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury.

I especially enjoyed these funky fish! There's also an artist who works with mosaic glass --her work is stunning. But my most favorite stop of all is New Lane Sundries!

On my first trip there with ABF, I sampled and then swiftly bought a jar (ahem, two) of the banana butter, which was more than outstanding. Think of the ripest bananas, a touch of sugar, lemon juice, and spices, and then multiply that by a thousand. It is amazing.

I actually bought two jars, intending to give one as a gift but....yeah...it never made it out of my clutches. I slathered that on toast (with a sprinkle of cinnamon and fresh banana slices eee!), mixed it into cottage cheese (fuggedaboudit), and Greek yogurt, and blantantly, unrepentantly, sneaked surreptitious spoonfuls when the cats weren't looking.

When ABF & I visited the fair last Thanksgiving, we were too late--the banana butter had sold out completely, and I left emptyhanded. This year we made a beeline, and I swiped up the last 2 jars of the banana butter. We also tried almost every sample out there: horseradish mustard, red pepper jelly (!), raspberry jam, oranges & Grand Marnier (I loved this--no orange peel pieces in it!), Ginger-peach, and on and on and oh the deliciousness!

I managed to control the urge to take one (okay, 3) of every jar, and narrowed it down to a small raspberry jam (I heart it so!), an Orange & Grand Marnier, an Elderberry Jam, and of course, 2 banana butters. This year I swear to give away one of them...probably.