Glashoff Farms is quickly becoming one of the most innovative spots at the downtown Sacramento farmers' market. This summer, they delighted us with spicy homemade pickles nearly the size of a pint glass. Now, they’re selling liquid gold: walnut oil.

Glashoff Farms walnut oil at the Sacramento farmers' market.

Imagine the scent of freshly baked cookies brimming with chunks of bold walnuts. Opening the jar of Glashoff’s walnut oil releases a similar sweet aroma that’s reminiscent of chocolate and golden brown sugar. The best of this richly flavored nut is released through the oil. It’s absolutely decadent. You’ll be tempted to pour yourself a shot—it smells that good!

I bought my first jar of walnut oil in early winter when Glashoff first started selling it. For $14, I got a 16.9 oz. tin, which I quickly depleted. Instead of canola oil, I have been substituting walnut oil in all my baked good recipes—with outstanding results. The aroma soaks delicately through the recipe, adding a balance that brings the finished product to a heightened level.

For example, I have used it repeatedly in my pumpkin waffles, which are already rich with warm spices, a whisper of brown sugar, and served joyfully with grade B maple syrup. Tucked ever so subtly inside, the walnut oil murmurs its flavor into each unsurpassed bite. My waffles made me swoon before. With walnut oil, I need a moment to recover from each incredible bite.

Yet, walnut oil shouldn't be reserved for those with a sweet tooth. In fact, it brings a nutty brightness to caramelized onions, and a rounded umami finish to sautéed broccoli (to which you can also add a handful of lightly toasted whole walnuts and finish with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese). It also makes delicious and unique salad dressing. Or, simply tear slices of your favorite bread and use the oil as a dip.

As if these aren’t enough great reasons to start using walnut oil immediately, don’t even get me started on the mountains of research that point to walnuts and walnut oil as a healthy source of omega-3 fatty acids to fight any number of ailments, including stress, cancer, bone health, and motor skills.

These nuts are impressive! So, too, is Glashoff’s brilliant idea to start selling this honey-colored oil.

Here are a few other stories about Glashoff’s farm:

If you don’t slow down, you can miss a lot at the downtown Sacramento farmers market. It’s a bustling market where many hands often reach for the same ripe peach, and if you’re not careful, overflowing hand carts sometimes wheel over toes. Eager buyers thrust bulging plastic bags of produce at lone farmers, hoping theirs will be the first on the scale to be weighed. Yet, below the hum of hands and traffic, row upon row of glorious produce awaits in strips of orange, clusters of pale green, and bursts of shining purple. It calls.

For those patient shoppers willing to watch and listen, this week’s market offered a wealth of new harvests. Pickles, cactus, and cutting celery were among them.

The pickles cried out the loudest, “Pick me! Pick me!” Glashoff Farms put on quite the country display to showcase these crisp, juicy, dill and garlic spears, complete with hand painted signage and chubby, round single deli-style pickles for only $1.

The cutting celery stood at attention under signs that shouted, “New! New! New!” A keen gardener’s eye could spot these leafy friends from across the aisle. They waved in invitation with the wind. It’s been a while since the last taste of celery died away under the warmth of spring. This cool-season vegetable is a reminder of fall’s approaching arrival. “Welcome back,” I think as I cup the peat pot gently in my hands and bring the baby plant to eye level in admiration. For $2, I take it home with me to plant in the garden. I’ll buy another one in a few weeks (Woodsong Herbs will have them through the end of the month) and stagger my planting.

Tucked quietly in the corner at Satiety Vineyards stand, an older man peels spikes from cactus paddles with his knife. At $1 for two paddles, these crisp, sticky paddles will add tang and nutrition to Mexican salsas. You can find cactus, or nopales, canned in jars at the supermarket during the off season. Yet, like most seasonal produce, nothing can compare to the flavor of a fresh cactus paddle. This fleeting season is one to relish—quite literally.