Pepper Place Market, Cooking Demo

I originally told you all about Pepper Place market a few months ago, when I visited there with my friend, Judy, who came over to visit from Atlanta. It's a really neat farmer's market here in Birmingham & they are open in the summer months, through October. This time of the year is perfect to visit, as it's cooled down considerably from the 100+ degree weather we were having in August. This Saturday a.m. was bright, crisp & fallish feeling in the air. Heavenly! My hubby & I got there in time to find a seat & watch chef & owner of Ocean restaurant, George Reis, put together a really yummy bruschetta. This is one of the premier restaurants in Birmingham & they have only been open a little over a year. I've never been, but heard great things about it.
First, he chopped up heirloom tomatoes, which I didn't know what those were exactly. He explained that those were original tomatoe plants that hadn't been genetically altered to produce all sorts of hybrid tomatoes. These were large & beautiful tomatoes. He also chopped up some shallots, as well as basil. I always add minced garlic to mine too.
I've made bruschetta before & it is absolutely WONDERFUL! The first time I had it was in Italy back in the early 90's and then I started seeing it here in Italian restaurants. It is so easy to make, with fresh ingredients, purely delicious. He did a little different spin with it & added goat cheese to the crusty sliced bread, then topped it with the tomato basil mixture.
He had lots already prepared & his helpers plated it up to hand out to all the hungry folks standing around watching.
Here he's drizzling on a little more olive oil.

So, basically, it's grilled fresh crusty bread (you can use any of the different fresh breads that you find out there). Chopped fresh tomatoes, chopped basil, shallots, olive oil, salt & pepper. You can add the goat cheese, which really was a tasty addition, serve it up on the bread & you have yourself a very delicious appetizer. I've made this at home many times during the summer with fresh basil & tomatoes...never added the goat cheese, but it was really good too. There is just nothing better to me that the combo of those 2, tomato & basil...they go together like salt & pepper. If you've never had bruschetta, try it! I promise, it's amazing...simple, pure fresh food.
This little beagle was enjoying his day out with some people watching under the chair.
We picked up some stone ground grits from a local farmer in the area. I've already cooked up some of these & they are fabulous...no more regular grits for me. The place that makes these grits is out near my friend Debbie, so I'll definitely be buying more. There is a WORLD of difference in stone-ground grits & I had no idea. We love our grits down here in the South!
Here's an idea for ya'll to try with your dried flowers. This merchant was selling old windows with dried flowers attached. Would look great in a shabby chic house.
Another variation. My batteries died before I could take pics of some of the pretty fall veggies that were displayed.

Hope you enjoyed our Saturday outing to Pepper Place Market. Enjoy this fall weather!

Pepper Place Market in B'ham

One of my dear friends from Atlanta, Judy, decided she needed a little girl-time getaway this weekend and came over for a vist. I told her Friday night that we had a couple of yardsales to hit first thing Saturday a.m., so she was game (of course she wasn't surprised, she knows me well). We went to 4 that were nearby and Judy found a cute little garden plaque and I found only a couple of things...totally opposite end of the spectrum things, but I'm thrilled with them both.

This cute Harold's skirt was $5.00 & I couldn't pass it up (I get SO excited when I find bargains like this...let someone else pay retail & I get it for a pittance at their yardsale...she even let me try it on & it fits perfect!). And, on the garden tool side, I found a Black & Decker lawn edger for $6.00 right in my neighborhood at a sale. This was one little item that was on our list of must-buys one of these days, so I was tickled to find a used one so cheap. It appears to work too! I was just as excited about the lawn edger as I was the skirt. My hubby will put that edger to good use!
Next on the agenda, we headed down to the Pepper Place market, which is in an older part of town and used to be a Dr. Pepper plant. The old buildings now house some really nice antiques stores, with wonderful architectural items & we enjoyed browsing through the above store with all it's salvaged doors & fragments. Pricey, but much fun to look at!

This whimsical mosiac statue was outside the antiques stores in a courtyard area. I thought she was a pretty neat gal!
An old weathered bench planted all around beckoned for sitting...well, if you could get around the plants, that is.
Judy and me enjoying the sunshine. Oh, we got rain, glorious rain on Friday and we all did the Happy Dance! We need lots more, but will take what we can get. Judy lived in Texas for awhile and still has a big heart for that state.
Fresh hydrangea blooms were for sale. Those big mopheads are so pretty.
The main attraction on Saturday a.m.'s during the summer months is the Pepper Place farmer's market. The local farmers bring in their fresh produce and sell right from the back of their trucks. Get a load of these fresh veggies! Doesn't get any fresher than this!

Each Saturday, a local restaurant does a cooking demo for the crowd to watch and sample. It's fun to watch them cook. We missed the demo this a.m., but got there in time to sample the catfish "popsicles"...catfish on a stick. Only in the South! Those guys are the chefs in the background.
Alabama is known for growing peaches in Chilton County and these are fresh-picked straight from the trees to market.
Check out all these multi-colored plums...I love plums and bought a few plums and peaches.
This little guy enjoyed being strolled around by his mom and was eating a fresh peach. Isn't he a cutie?
Fresh sunflowers available for buying.

We had a fun girlie day and after the farmer's market, enjoyed a nice lunch at Miss Rosemarie's Tea Room & then caught a chick flick, Waitress. We weren't sure what to think of Waitress...sort of campy Southern comedy/drama. It was cute, but we were glad we didn't take our hubbies, they would have hated it. If you see it, let me know what you think too.

I sure thank the Lord for my friends. What would we do without girlfriends??

Hope you all had a nice weekend too & soaked up a bit of sunshine!