We spent July 4th with friends and enjoyed ourselves greatly. We made the pilgrimage to Carmel Country Club's greens to watch their fireworks display, right on the edge of our neighborhood. It was nice, but I only stayed for a few minutes, because Ashoka was freaking out. It was pretty bad, so I took him away from the event. I suppose this is all a bit much for him and huge booms and a flashing sky - well, it tipped him over the edge.
Below are some pictures of our visit to the Farmer's Market here in Charlotte. There are a few others like it, but this is the largest and this one is affiliated with the state. We really enjoyed two aspects of it - first, more people seem to be focused on organic foods than ever before, as well as "eating locally". Additionally, there are more ethnic vendors than ever before, so we can get curry leaf, lemongrass and a variety of other fresh items that we want.
Very nice.
Check out the pictures:
^ There is a solid Thai population that sells flowers around Charlotte, including here. They also sell uptown, perhaps I'll feature in a future blog entry during this "100 Days Back" section.
^ Produce of ever sort and type.
^ I have been purchasing chow chow from Ms. Virginia Hoyle for the last 15 years. She is a nice woman from the countryside.
For the uninitiated, chow chow is an indigenous relish made only in the south, and it is tasty. And often very hot. Ms. Virginia also makes a variety of other condiments that one almost never hears of anymore (and I had never heard of before we moved south). As an example, she also makes Dixie Radish and pickled okra. She places the products in glass Ball jars, also a dying art of a bygone era.
She had a bout with cancer a few years back and we were unsure if she would be at the market after our two year hiatus. We were glad to see her.
It is a fair assumption Ms. Virginia Hoyle's products have never been featured on the web before.
^ One of our favorites is "Fat Boys Produce", as seen here. The vendors do seem a bit overweight, but perhaps no less so than their customers. It is a constant source of amazement to us, the girth of the American public. Really quite shocking.
You can see Tara closing the deal with a vendor, in the background.
So, there you have it. We were excited to go back to the farmer's market.
Good keeping company with friends throughout the 4th, as well. And nice to see Gerry and Sharron!
