Annie Boyington is the owner and sole chocolatier of her business Trevani Truffles, which had a booth in the Renton Farmers Market on Tuesday. Boyington works out of her own home and has been for 17 years.
Though she has always been in the restaurant and food business, truffles became Boyington’s focus in 2007.
“My mom had a stroke and came under my care,” Boyington said. “I took a long leave of absence to care for her, and had time to play. So I played with chocolate.”
From the start, Boyington’s mother was the business’s biggest fan, always the first to taste new recipes, and overjoyed to be in the farmers market environment, Boyington said.
In previous years, she worked in booths at seven different farmers markets across Washington state. “I fell in love with the farmer’s market community,” Boyington said. “I never wanted to go inside again.”
Currently, she works at three, having downsized because of how tedious and time-consuming truffle-making is.
After making the ganache (the creamy filling inside truffles), multiple chilling steps follow.
“It’s a touchy process,” Boyington said. “50% or less humidity and 65°F or less is my ideal controlled climate.” But a controlled climate is never a guarantee for Boyington, especially working from her own home.
When she was first starting out, the other farmers selling in the market were a positive presence and kept her spirits up, Boyington said: “They’re so tolerant of the weather, they have a great sense of humor, they’re just great people.”
Having run a booth in the Renton Farmers Market for 17 years now, Boyington has seen it all, watching it grow in size and popularity and seeing hundreds of new vendors and customers come through.
Boyington sells by appointment and in the Renton, Magnolia, and U-District farmers markets, the last of which is year-round on Saturdays.
Mead
Amanda Walters and her husband, Brandon Walters, started Contrivance Wine & Mead in 2021, based out of North Auburn. The business is family-made and run with creativity and community at its core.
3-D printed art including turtles, dragons, dice rollers and more are also for sale at the booth, colorfully grabbing market-goers’ attention.
“We love being creative,” Amanda Walters said.
The Walters, who have two young boys, are always making things like 3-D printed art or crocheted gnome hats.
As for the main business, mead is the top seller, making up 80-90% of sales, Walters said: “Your imagination is your limit. Just put the flavor with honey.”
Mead is sold in 6-10 rotating flavors, often changing seasonally; a pumpkin spice mead is in the works for this fall.
“It’s nice to be able to educate people about mead,” Walters said. “It gets people who don’t know about mead coming to our shop and finding something new.”
That’s the fun of the farmers market for Walters.
“I can feel the honey more than I can taste it,” one customer said as he tried a sample.
Contrivance Wine & Mead has a permanent tasting room location for at 3402 C St NE #109, Auburn, and sells in farmers markets all over Washington state, including in Enumclaw, Maple Valley and Seattle. The business can be found online at www.drinkcontrivance.com.
Amanda Walters in the Contrivance booth at the Renton Farmers Market. Photo courtesy of Annika Hauer
