Tradition! Tradition!

Yes, my family has seen the 1971 version of Fiddler on the Roof staring Topol a gazillion times, we’ve been to countless live performances, and yes- at my Dad’s 50th birthday party one of his dearest friends and his wife acting out “If I were a rich man” for all to enjoy. Needless to say, we all have many of the songs and lines memorized and they often make their way into our everyday conversation.

 

A Tradition that I have to to treasure, since getting married, occurs every year around spring time. When the weather starts to warm up and the tulip poplars begin to blossom, my Grandmother and I begin to watch the forecast to ensure that the threat if another frost is far behind us. After securing a Friday on each of our calendars, we are off to spend the morning together at the International Farmer’s Market(IFM)on Winchester. This place is massive and we usually spend about two hours roaming up and down every aisle.

 

Why, do you ask, do we need to wait until the weather is warmer? The main reason we trek out to the IFM is to get herbs for our gardens. The IFM has the most incredible prices on herbs and they are larger than any other ones we’ve seen in the city. When you first walk in, before the produce section, is a large area filled with herbs, greenery, and flowers.

 

Most of them are $2.99, a price that cannot be beat!

 

They have all sorts of herbs including: Sage, Parsley, Cilantro, Rosemary, Thyme, Mint, Oregano, etc! We bought at least one of each!

 

This was about half of what we got, we really loaded up our carts!

 

 

Here are some of the beautiful flowers they had.

 

 

Tulips, some of my favorite blooms!

 

 

After selecting our herbs, we made our way to the ginormous produce section. I was first captivated by the beautiful aray of Scotch bonnet peppers.

 

Hot-Hot-Heat--- Habanero!

 

 

Then amazed to see fresh garbanzo beans! I have never seen them still in the pod. They look nothing like their canned counterpart!

 

I can't believe these little green chickpeas may have a hummus destiny or maybe a chana masala?

 

 

I rounded to corner to another surprise of the largest squash I have ever seen in a grocery store, maybe in my life?

 

These would be perfect for decor in the fall and scrumptious anytime roasted!

 

 

Just because I stopped photographing produce does not mean that I was not further impressed by the offerings in to IFM. The beautiful eggplant featured in yesterday’s WILW post was purchased here and how beautiful was the veggie?!

 

 

They had the most extensive fish counter I have seen in Memphis.

 

In search of something? They probably have it!

 

 

Shark

 

 

Octopus

 

 

They had exotic things like the above delicacies, while also offering more ‘normal’ fish like salmon and red snapper.

They also boasted a diverse butcher shop.

 

 

Tongue

 

 

Tripe, some of her favorite!

 

 

Heart

 

 

My Grandmother said that these were some of the best short ribs she had ever seen. They were much more modestly priced than the ones I purchased for the TO DIE FOR Korean Short Rib Tacos earlier this year.

 

 

Want to make the best crock-pot meal EVER! You'll need these!

 

 

*Warning* This picture is probably the least appetizing photo I will ever post on my website!

 

 

I had a photo that was closer up, but I am kind and spared you of viewing a more detailed skull 🙂

 

 

Moving on to their dairy section– a massive Muenster log- yummmm!