Local banana?
On Saturday, my wife and I went to the Farmers Market to check out the goods. We were having some friends over for dinner and wanted to prepare something from the pre-spring bounty. It was also a celebration of the fact my wife now has weekends off due to her new job. It was pretty busy when we got there, so we were pumped that there would be a lot of great stuff. We did a quick run through to get the lay of the land in order to really begin our search.
On that first flyby, what struck me as really freakin' odd were a couple of booths offering pineapples and bananas. Huh? It's March! Not only that, but we're in Tennessee! Not a lot of local, tropical fruit 'round these parts. As strange as it was, those bananas still looked better than the green variety at the grocery. I didn't speak with these vendors, but figure they're buying their stuff from a purveyor much like the grocery store would. No harm, no foul, just not interested.
As we started to focus a bit, the first thing that caught my eye was a local goat cheese guy. I've had his cheese before, but this was Kelly's first taste. We snapped up a tub right away. Really great stuff! As I was more on the hunt for meat (preferably chicken), he pointed me in the direction of a local beef guy who he said might have some chicken because the regular chicken guy was not there. This beef guy was great! While he did have chickens, he was reluctant to sell any because the thought they were "too scrawny", unlike the "Barbies", the genetically enhanced, big breasted birds found at the grocery. He said his tasted great but were not quite up to snuff. We shot the bull for awhile (no pun intended), mostly about Food Inc., farming, Iowa, and what not. Since Kelly and beef don't exactly have the kindest of relationships, lucky for us he had some ridiculously beautiful porkchops he was willing to sell. With meat checked off the list, it was off to find veggies.
Right off the bat, I noticed a ton of greens. Now in the South many different plants can be referred to as greens. There's collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, kale, spinach, all sorts of greens to choose from. The turnip variety were of the most abundance. Now, I really don't cook that many greens. We have a small place and the smell of the "potlikka", the juice from the cooked down greens, likes to linger in the air for a couple of days. I love them, but I usually only eat them at a meat & threes or other downhome kind of places that I know do them right. Since it's just barely spring, the seasonal veggie choices turned out to be kinda slim. Reluctantly, I passed on the greens because I remembered the broccoli I had already at the house. I'll go with that.
The next booth was run by what I believe to be an Amish couple, but I'm not quite sure. They sell this rockin' butter that turns clear when you heat it instead of brown like most butter. They also had a ton of homemade bread for sale. Kelly asked the woman which flavor she liked best, and the woman seemed so caught off guard, she blushed. She was so excited that we were actually curious about her bread. It was a really sweet exchange.
With pork, cheese, bread, and butter in hand, we cruised back to the house. It kinda felt odd leaving a Farmer's Market with no veggies, but that's what can happen. These days, you can find much more than just vegetables. However, I think I'm gonna go back for those greens afterall, along with a big ole ham hock from the now beef/pork guy. Gotta get them greens!
Ciao down,
Penn
On that first flyby, what struck me as really freakin' odd were a couple of booths offering pineapples and bananas. Huh? It's March! Not only that, but we're in Tennessee! Not a lot of local, tropical fruit 'round these parts. As strange as it was, those bananas still looked better than the green variety at the grocery. I didn't speak with these vendors, but figure they're buying their stuff from a purveyor much like the grocery store would. No harm, no foul, just not interested.
As we started to focus a bit, the first thing that caught my eye was a local goat cheese guy. I've had his cheese before, but this was Kelly's first taste. We snapped up a tub right away. Really great stuff! As I was more on the hunt for meat (preferably chicken), he pointed me in the direction of a local beef guy who he said might have some chicken because the regular chicken guy was not there. This beef guy was great! While he did have chickens, he was reluctant to sell any because the thought they were "too scrawny", unlike the "Barbies", the genetically enhanced, big breasted birds found at the grocery. He said his tasted great but were not quite up to snuff. We shot the bull for awhile (no pun intended), mostly about Food Inc., farming, Iowa, and what not. Since Kelly and beef don't exactly have the kindest of relationships, lucky for us he had some ridiculously beautiful porkchops he was willing to sell. With meat checked off the list, it was off to find veggies.
Right off the bat, I noticed a ton of greens. Now in the South many different plants can be referred to as greens. There's collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, kale, spinach, all sorts of greens to choose from. The turnip variety were of the most abundance. Now, I really don't cook that many greens. We have a small place and the smell of the "potlikka", the juice from the cooked down greens, likes to linger in the air for a couple of days. I love them, but I usually only eat them at a meat & threes or other downhome kind of places that I know do them right. Since it's just barely spring, the seasonal veggie choices turned out to be kinda slim. Reluctantly, I passed on the greens because I remembered the broccoli I had already at the house. I'll go with that.
The next booth was run by what I believe to be an Amish couple, but I'm not quite sure. They sell this rockin' butter that turns clear when you heat it instead of brown like most butter. They also had a ton of homemade bread for sale. Kelly asked the woman which flavor she liked best, and the woman seemed so caught off guard, she blushed. She was so excited that we were actually curious about her bread. It was a really sweet exchange.
With pork, cheese, bread, and butter in hand, we cruised back to the house. It kinda felt odd leaving a Farmer's Market with no veggies, but that's what can happen. These days, you can find much more than just vegetables. However, I think I'm gonna go back for those greens afterall, along with a big ole ham hock from the now beef/pork guy. Gotta get them greens!
Ciao down,
Penn
Did someone say goat cheese? Yum! I need to get down to a Nashville farmer's market with you two! What a fun afternoon of sensory overload!
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