Welcome to the VFW Market Message Page
Our markets are every Tuesday & Wednesday at 6 PM. The market typically lasts less than 40 minutes in order to serve everyone, so please arrive by 5:40 PM at the latest to pull a line lottery number. If you have any questions, please email us at ServingGoodAlpine@gmail.com.
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March 20, 2025 “What is THAT?”…That is the question we heard the most at this week’s market when people pointed at this tag attached to some produce. The answer is obvious by the tag. But what is it? Kohlrabi is a member of the cabbage family that has a slightly sweet and even peppery flavor. Some times it's called a "cabbage turnip". To prepare kohlrabi, stat by trimming the ends and trim off the thick green skin sliced. Dice them and toss them in a bowl with olive oil, garlic, and salt to prepare for roasting. Set the oven to 450F. Spread the kohlrabi evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and put into oven to roast for 30 - 35 minutes. Stir the kohlrabi every 5 minutes or so after about 20 minutes to roast them evening. Sprinkle with a good basalmic vinegar when serving. For a creamer sauce, add heavy cream or sour cream to the basalmic vinegar and mix before pouring over the kohlrabi. The second option is to make a kohlrabi and Swiss cheese soup. Start by steaming the kohlrabi. Then purée while hot and place in a pot. Add Swiss cheese, garlic, and puréed onion and simmer until the cheese has melted and the consistency is creamy.

March 17, 2025 Hello and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!! We are excited to see you this week. There is no rain in the forecast. That means…it’s time for another raffle. Mother Nature didn’t exactly cooperate with us last week to raffle off items, so we will do it this week. We have three pieces of corned beef - donated by Grocery Outlet on 2nd Street in El Cajon - to raffle off on Tuesday! And we may have some non-food items to raffle off on Wednesday. Thank you to those who let us know what is happening in line when we are setting up. We sincerely appreciate you letting us know when something happens. We always want to be a good guest and we want to know if anyone makes someone feel uncomfortable. We had an issue last week because you told us and we dealt with it immediately. If you see or experience something, please let Jennifer know at (619) 669-8558.

Remember to arrive by 5:40 PM to draw a line lottery number.

Let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you.
— Nina, Jennifer, and Michael.

March 9, 2025: Welcome back and thank you for checking the messages page. We are excited to see you at another market! Please know we are expecting rain again on Tuesday. Hopefully, it will be done before the market. If not, please wait in the enclosed portion of the deck at the VFW. Please be aware that there is also Bingo going on that night, so please be respectful of the game and the participants. When parking for the market, be sure not to block other cars. Let’s remember to be good guests. If you have an issue or see something, please text Jennifer at (619) 669-8558 and let her know. Depending on the weather on Tuesday and Wednesday , we will also be doing at least one raffle drawing from Grocery Outlet in El Cajon.

Remember to arrive by 5:40 PM to draw a line lottery number.

Let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you.
— Nina, Jennifer, and Michael.

March 4, 2025:  Thank you for checking the messages page. Welcome back! We will have a really good market on Tuesday and Wednesday. We have A LOT of food, including lots of salads, prepared food, and fresh produce that includes over 300 pounds of avocados. Tuesday will be beautiful with fair temperatures.

March 5, 2025: It looks like there will be rain on Wednesday and as always we will have our regular market come rain or shine. We will meet on the enclosed patio, which is just beyond the stairs to the lower patio. Go up the ramp past the stairs and feel free to find a seat. We will draw line lottery numbers there and you can stay there out of the rain. We will have a market staff member lead people down in groups to avoid getting wet. Remember to arrive by 5:40 PM to draw a line lottery number. .

Let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you.
— Nina, Jennifer, and Michael.

February 18, 2025: Thank you for checking the messages page. Welcome back! Last week we had some rough weather and we still had a good turnout. Trader Joe’s gave us over 300 pounds of fresh avocados and we managed to find a more for all of them with you. Thank you to everyone that helped us give them a home. 😊 😊 This week we are back to sunshine and no rain!  We will have our regular markets on Tuesday and Wednesday. A few additional items to mention.

Grocery Outlet Supports Our Market
Grocery Outlet in El Cajon has been a supporter of our market, providing meat, produce, dairy, shelf stable food, and necessities. The store is now stepping up to offer our market shoppers a bag of necessities, as well as the opportunity to win free groceries. Grocery Outlet has a new app that offers specials and the opportunity to win groceries. When you download the app and sign-up with Grocery Outlet El Cajon as your default store, you get a reusable bag with household necessities and you will receive special offers. A representative from Grocery Outlet in El Cajon will be at our market next week with bags and to help you sign-up for these benefits. Check back for more details later this week.

Wheelchairs & Walkers
We have a couple wheelchairs and a couple walkers that the VFW is giving to recipients that need them. If you know someone that could use one of these, please email us at servinggoodalpine@gmail.com. Tell us briefly about the person that could use one of these or how you could use it. These all need a good home.

Remember to arrive by 5:40 PM to draw a line lottery number.

Let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you.
— Nina, Jennifer, and Michael.

February 11, 2025: Thank you for checking the messages page. We have lots to update for the week.
Tuesday Night Raffle: We have more large pieces of meat for our raffle. We will raffle at least 5 items. To be part of the raffle, simple come to the Market and draw a line lottery number.
Wednesday Night Market: Rain is forecasted for Wednesday. The upstairs enclosed patio will be available to stay out of the rain. Come to the enclosed patio using the ramp that is just beyond the stairs to go down to the market. We will draw line lottery numbers there at 5:45 PM. Please don’t wait in the rain. We will have one of our team sending people down to the market based on line lottery numbers.

Stay dry and we look forward to seeing you at the Market.
— Nina, Jennifer, and Michael.

February 4, 2025: We hope you all had a good week. We are back again with…another raffle. 😊 It was so much fun the first time, we decided to try to again. Different items. Some food related. Some not. Come join us Tuesday and Wednesday for some fun, shopping, and camaraderie. We were able to pick up some additional food items - so lots of variety and plenty of meat. Do not be discouraged if you pick a higher number…your number just may be a winning raffle number. Arrive by 5:40 PM. Our market lottery is at 5:45 PM and the raffle follows immediately after.

We look forward to seeing you.
— Nina, Jennifer, and Michael.

January 30, 2025: Thank you for coming and 'shopping' at the market this week. We enjoyed seeing each of you. We'd like to encourage you to check this page frequently. We are being offered new opportunities for food rescue and need to ensure we can give it all away, which may mean a pop-up market on a day when we do not usually have a market scheduled. We also want to offer more opportunities to raffle off items. This week, we were able to give away large pieces of meat and hams. We will have other fun raffles in the future as well. One is coming up next week, so keep checking here for updates.

We love hearing from you! Please email us at servinggoodalpine@gmail.com and share your thoughts, comments, or questions.

We will see you at the next market!
— Nina, Jennifer, and Michael.

January 28, 2025: Thank you for checking the Messages page. We’re glad you’re here. We are starting to get large pieces of meat that are often bigger than some people can take. We want to make these available to market visitors. We have a large ham (around 7 lbs.) and some beef ribs that are similar in size. We will be raffling them off at our Tuesday night market. If you are interested, please email your name and “ham”, “ribs” or “ham and ribs” in the subject line of the email and send it to servinggoodalpine@gmail.com to be considered for the raffle. You will draw a separate number for the meat raffle and we will give these to the winners at the beginning of the market.
— Nina, Jennifer, and Michael.

January 14, 2025: We have A LOT of CHOCOLATE. One of our partners gave us 50 lbs of bulk dark, semi-sweet chocolate chips, typically used for melting and baking. They can be used for brownies, cookies, melting into molds, or just eating. We will have 2 dozen small ziplock bags filled and available. If you would like more, please email us at servinggoodalpine@gmail.com. You can bring your own container or bags to the market and we can give you more. Just ask for Nina. First come first serve.
— Nina, Jennifer, and Michael.

January 7, 2025: We are off to a good start this year. We will have a good market on Tuesday and a special surprise. We picked up additional food and over 200 bouquets flowers that were never even put out in the stores. Come shop and grab a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
— Nina, Jennifer, and Michael.

January 7, 2025: We will resume our regularly scheduled markets every Tuesday and Wednesday at 6 PM. Please arrive by 5:40 PM or before. If you have any questions, email us at servinggoodalpine@gmail.com. We are always happy to help. — Nina, Jennifer, and Michael.

December 31, 2024 - New Year’s Eve Market: We are pleased to share that we will have a New Year’s Eve market in the afternoon at 12:30 PM. Please arrive at 12:10 PM at the latest. No sign-up is necessary. We look forward to seeing you there.
— Nina, Jennifer, and Michael.