Infamously apathetic when it comes to shopping for anything less than frivolous luxury, the boy and I set aside a whole morning for this onerous task.
Absolutely no excuses.
But when I found out our exhilarating plans clashed with the arrival of the monthly farmers' market in Moseley, Birmingham, it was a case of puppy dog eyes and promises of 'just half an hour'.
The boy rolled his eyes, but secretly I knew he was pleased for an excuse to delay a visit to Tiles R Us.
As usual the market was hearteningly bustling with shoppers and there seemed to me more traders than ever.
The smell draws you in; wild boar sausages sizzling on griddles, molten chocolate flowing through a fountain, Creole chicken bubbling temptingly in a enormous frying pan.
Weaving through the stalls, we eagerly dipped into samples, especially enjoying a taste of the self-styled 'life-changing' chicken, leek and tarragon tart from The Local Tart Company.
A regular at Moseley Farmers' Market, the Staffordshire-based company offer a wide variety of delicious homely tarts to eat on the spot, or take home and enjoy.
It was also a delight to see goodies on offer from the Cotswold Organic Dairy, and we indulged in a wheel of the fabulously unctuous brie.
Bread was next on the shopping list, splurging on an onion crunch loaf, as well as a rye one studded with walnuts. The name of the Stratford-upon-Avon bakery fails me, but the produce was very good.
I was also tempted by the delicious, chocolatey oil-free balsamic dressing from Gilly's Foods.
However, the £6.50-ish price tag made me think twice. "It's got a shelf life of eight months once it's opened," said the enthusiastic saleswoman aware of my caution.
Clearly, she had no idea how long balsamic - no matter how thick and syrupy - lasted in our household.
In an effort to keep the boy's mind off tiles (it wasn't hard) I indulged him in a Jerk chicken-stuffed flatbread from a stall specialising in Caribbean flavours. The salt fish patties also looked tempting.
But time was ticking on and we had an important lunch date to attend. Rather disappointingly we didn't make it to Tiles U Like....
We'd spend all our bread on bread, anyway!
For more details on farmers' market in Birmingham visit www.birmingham.gov.uk/famers.bcc
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12 comments:
This sounds like a great way to spend the afternoon! I'll definitely recommend this to my relatives when they visit Birmingham in June, along with your previous restaurant recommendations! :)
Great. Most Saturdays there is a farmer's market somewhere. Moseley and Kings Heath are the best though!
the onion crunch and the walnut bread sound wonderful. i love all things carb :)
And me. They were superb! Thanks for reading.
What a wonderful post Emily!! I'm not far from Moseley really once we're on the motorway so I will try and take a trip there next month!! Sounds like you bought some delicious goodies! The tils can always wait ;o) xx
Thanks for reading! Highly recommend this market. It's on the third Saturday of the month!
This sounds wonderful; what a great way to spend the afternoon. As for the tiles, we chose plain white ones for our kitchen - it left more time for food shopping, food cooking, food eating...
Absolutely. Who wants to spend bread on tiles when there is gorgeous cheese and fruit and cakes and tarts and meats and....
I'd certainly agree with it being a lovely market, I find getting parking to be a pain.
Though it's worth it for the Boar sausages, they are lovely, and the bread lady, and the meats.
I've got the dates in my diary well into 2010!
Sorry to contradict, Emily but Moseley Farmers is on the 4th Saturday. It would be a shame if someone made a big effort to get there only to be disappointed! It is a great market, I agree parking can be a problem, it's often a long walk with heavy bags because of all the good things on offer.Harborne and King's Norton both have markets on the 2nd Saturday.
SaraLou, you are right. I am sorry, it is on the forth Saturday of the month, I miscounted! Many apolgies!
Neil, I agree, we parked in tha car park opposite The Cross but it was a matter of waiting for someone to leave the car park before we could find a space. Worth it though!
Sounds like a great day, I wish we had events like that here in Colorado...maybe we do??
Hen do - I thought it was a typo until I googled it! Not this weekend, my party is going to be May 29th when all my bridesmaids are in town. :)
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