Farmer’s Market

I love Farmers Markets. I am fascinated by them.  When I am traveling to a big city like New York, Chicago, LA, etc, I always take advantage of the awesome farmers markets.

Hattiesburg, the closest big city to me, has a farmers market every Thursday. For some reason I have never been in Hattiesburg at the right day and right time to make it to the market. Today I finally got to see what it was all about. Thankfully I didn’t wait any longer because it is only open for another Thursday this year.

I am immediately drawn to the produce. I saw sweet potatoes, purple potatoes, butternut squash, spaghetti squash,

and what one of the farmer’s called Pelican squash. I had never seen or heard of it. He explained that it is related to the summer squash. It has a neutral, slightly sweet flavor. I can’t wait to taste it. I love working with new ingredients.

Next I stopped by G&M Goat Farm stand. I sampled some of their products at the Ocean Spring farmers market one time. I was so excited to hear that there was a goat/lamb farm not far from where I live. G&M Farm is based out of Wiggins, MS. Today, I tried their creamy goat cheese. It was really smooth and slightly tangy. I picked up some of their lamb shanks and chops. I am looking forward to creating some scrumptious lamb recipes.

My mom and I were drawn to the huge pots filled with a variety of tamales. Chicken, pork, and beef were offered. I love pork in a Mexican dish so I decided to go with the pork tamale. It was good! My mom had the first bite and warned me about the hot sauce. She was the one who decided against the mild sauce and go straight to the hot sauce. The flavorful shreds of pork encased in the creamy masa was really good. Usually I don’t care much for tamales but the pork version was yummy.

I dropped by the herb stand which offered herb plants and fresh picked herbs by the bunches. I picked up a basil and lemongrass plant. I then bought a bunch of apple mint to use with a lamb dish and a bunch of garlic chives. I love garlic and I bet I would love the garlic chives.

As you can tell, I did not walk away empty handed. I am so glad I got to visit Hattiesburg’s farmer’s market before it closes for the fall/winter.