On the freezing Saturday morning of Feb. 13, Corinna Sac tidies up her kitchen and adds the finishing touches to her fresh bakery items. She just completed a long 12-hour shift of baking nonstop in her kitchen in Elgin. She packs her delicious bakery items into her car and makes her way to the friendly and welcoming Huntley’s Farmers Market where she is one of thirteen vendors. 

Sac has cooked and baked for many celebrities including Barack Obama, Michael Jordan, and leading national golf competitors. Her passion for baking has brought her the flourishing dessert business, Desserts by Corinna. 

“We do a variety of bakery items that are traditional, gluten-free, vegan, and most recently ketogenic goods, which are all a huge need in the community,” Sac said.

She sells anything from coffee cakes, pastries, cookies to bread and pies. 

Due to this week being Mardi Gras and Valentine’s Day, they are offering special treats for the holidays. For Mardi Gras, they are supplying King Cakes which is a cinnamon-flavored brioche dough as a base which is then covered in purple, green, and gold sugar. For Valentine’s Day, they offer heart-shaped tiramisu and strawberry cheesecakes. 

Notably, is the love note pastries that look like an envelope with a heart cut out. These can be delivered with specialized notes for people’s loved ones, as most people cannot see their families due to COVID-19. 

Desserts by Corinna is not the only vendor leaving a positive impact on the community as Linda’s Fruit, Jams, & More has a welcoming stand. Linda sells many jams, pickles, pies, and honey, which are all made with fresh ingredients from the community. Linda pairs with beekeepers who supply her jars of honey that she sells in various sizes. She grows her own strawberries for her jams and pies, but purchases from local farmers the other fruits needed for the jams. 

“This is only a fraction of the vendors, in the summertime, there’s produce, meat, and more craft vendors. All the vendors here make their own things and it is overall just a really friendly environment,” Linda said. 

The Huntley’s Farmer Market takes place in the town square during the summertime. The cold winter weather pushes them into the Legion Hall, which is directly across the street from the town square. This allows limited space and many products are not in the season anyway, but regardless, every vendor promotes fresh and homemade products all made with love. 

Dan and Lynne Palka both work hard in their commercial kitchen in Sycamore to make their nut brittle for their business, Big Little Brittle. They offer a variety of nut brittles (that sell for $5.99), with their signature four, Holiday, Northwoods, Diablo, and Buzz. They also offer seasonal brittles, the winter season brings us the Zen and Maya flavors. These brittles can be sweet like chocolate but can also have a kick with the lime flavoring. 

COVID-19 has obviously brought many challenges to the community, but this does not phase the vendors. Big Little Brittle adapted to the pandemic by packaging their samples in tiny sealable bags. But many of the vendor’s products are already bagged and ready for you to take home. Masks and social distancing are mandated in the building, which makes it COVID friendly. 

The next date for the Farmers Market is April 10 and May 8 from 9 a.m- 1 p.m, all in the Legion Hall. So make sure to stop in and support the local businesses.

Thankfully, all of the vendors have conquered the adversities that COVID has brought us and keep supplying the community with fresh goods that are served with a smile.