Tag: Memphis Farmers Market

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Book Features Books

Bucket List, Memphis Style

Graceland? Been there, done that, you say. Beale Street? Ditto.

But how about Graceland on the cheap? If you’re budget-minded, Samantha Crespo knows how to do it. Beale not by night but by day? Crespo says try it, whether you’re a tourist in town or a Memphian born and bred. Crespo has plenty of other ideas as well, and besides Graceland and Beale Street, check out the 98 additional entries in her bucket list of all things Bluff City: 100 Things To Do in Memphis Before You Die (Reedy Press).

Some of those sights to see — Sun and Stax, the Brooks and the Dixon, Overton Square and Overton Park — are no-brainers, but Crespo gives them a fresh spin. Some, however, may come as a surprise. Crespo recommends the “sonic massage” at the Memphis Drum Shop on South Cooper. Or the book club and speaker series at Elmwood Cemetery. Or an impromptu visit with the ranger at Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park. Or a hands-on tour of the St. Blues Guitar Workshop on Marshall. Or, see what’s in season and there for the picking at Jones Orchard in Millington.

Crespo’s also had some fresh ideas when it comes to promoting her book. Her signing at Burke’s earlier this month may have taken the traditional route, but she’s also had a recent reading at the Center for Southern Folklore and set up shop at the Cooper-Young and Botanic Garden farmers markets. On Saturday, June 21st, at 1 p.m., she’ll be at South Main Book Juggler (548 S. Main) as part of the store’s “After-Market” series of guest authors.

That series is timed to follow the weekly Downtown Farmers Market, and Crespo has timed her book to appear during the summer tourist season, tourism being Crespo’s specialty. She’s a former managing editor for a tourism publishing firm in her home state of Florida. She’s written for the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau. She’s been a blogger for the federal government’s “Discover America” tourist program. And she’s written for Tennessee’s Department of Tourist Development, with a focus on Memphis and West

Tennessee.

Crespo, who moved to Memphis four years ago when her husband took a job at Medtronic, wrote Things To Do in Memphis Before You Die with local readers, in addition to out-of-towners, in mind.

“That’s the true test for this book,” Crespo said by phone. “For Memphians to pick it up and say to themselves, ‘You know, I’ve always wanted to do that.’ So, I want people to understand that I very much wrote the book for locals. Yes, it’s a travel guide and I didn’t want to ignore the obvious, but I wanted to dig a little deeper. People who simply read the book jacket … they may think, I’ve done that. Or, I’ve lived here my entire life. I don’t need to do that. But the book is a celebration of the city and especially its creativity.”

Crespo doesn’t want any excuses. She talked to one Memphian who had never heard of the Four Way restaurant, another who had never been to the National Civil Rights Museum, and another confused by the location of Stax. You too? Doesn’t mean you’re a lesser person, Crespo, whose enthusiasm for the city is downright infectious, said. Just means you’re busy, she understands, and maybe you just need to break out of your routine. You have a bored child on your hands this summer? Take it from Crespo: “I’m going to have my own son open my book, and whatever he turns to, that’s what we’re going to do.”

It could very well be a visit to Overton Park. Crespo said it’s her number-one place in town to pass the time, and it’s not far from her Midtown home:

“When my husband and I moved to Memphis, we had one weekend to find a house. And when we saw Overton Park, we fell in love with it. We chose our house to be near Overton Park. It’s why the park gets five of the 100 things to do in Memphis — so many ways to enjoy it, whatever your budget, your age, or your interests.”

And whatever you do, don’t sell Memphis short on things to do. Crespo doesn’t. She’s got a running list already in mind for a future edition of Things To Do in Memphis Before You Die. Last count, she said, that list was up to 70.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Pie Happy

CREDIT: Hannah Sayle

We love cupcakes and cookies, but is there any dessert as quintessentially American as a slice of pie? Consider, if you will, the American Pie Council, an organization dedicated to preserving America’s pie heritage. Call us when cupcakes get their own advocacy group.

So we’re fulfilling our civic duty and happily hopping on this summer’s pie-loving bandwagon. First stop: Three pie-preneurs, all found at local farmers markets.

Lazy Dog Farms, located in Bethel Springs, Tennessee, and owned by Bruce and Mary Scarberry, sets up shop every Saturday at the Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market, with a range of whole and mini pies to supplement their produce offerings. The couple began the pie part of their business as a buffer until their first wave of crops came in.

Ever since, the Scarberrys have been selling their sweet and savory pies. Try a zesty mojito pie or a savory potato and onion pie, just $13 for a large and $3.50 for a mini. Their best seller? A not-quite Key lime pie, made with real limes but not with the small Key limes that give the famous pie flavor its name. (Lazy Dog Farms, lazydogfarms.com)

At the Memphis Farmers Market downtown, Downtown Pie Company and Grandma’s Desserts keep pie tins stocked and at the ready. Downtown Pie Company is owned and operated by Ann Hearn, who says she’s been baking pies for 40 years. For a while, she baked for a restaurant in Hot Springs, about which a reviewer wrote, “Oh the pie. It alone is worth a trip to Hot Springs.” (Hence their business motto: “Oh the pie!”)

Hearn and her husband can be found at the Memphis Farmers Market every Saturday, selling mini peach, blueberry, blackberry, and coconut cream pies, as well as their famous Lucille’s chocolate pie. You can also order a 10-inch pie and pick it up from their kitchen in Newport, Arkansas, for $14-$20 or a mini pie for $3.25-$5. (Downtown Pie Company, piesrme@gmail.com, 870-495-3894)

Nearby, Grandma’s Desserts has its own line of sweet potato, pecan, apple, peach, and honey walnut pies by the slice or the whole pie. They have samples available before you purchase, and the pies range from $12 to $15. You can order in advance or grab a slice the next time you’re passing through the downtown market. (Grandma’s Desserts, grandmasdesserts.com, 458-2197)

Outside of the farmers-market scene, head to The Pie Folks in Germantown, where owner Audrey Anderson has been perfecting her pie recipes for over a decade. Starting with the Coconut Pie Factory in 1997, she then opened the Pie Folks’ first location in Olive Branch and finally relocated to the Germantown location in 2010.

“Pies are really beginning to come to the forefront,” Anderson says. “We’ve got all these cupcakes and things like that, but pie is a favorite American pastime.”

Walk in Tuesday through Saturday and pick up one of her “Slap Your Mama Chocolate Pies,” a creamy fudge pie that has won multiple awards at the American Pie Council’s National Pie Championship. Or pick up any one of the other 23 flavors, including a coconut cream pie, the Moonshiner’s Bourbon pie, and another award-winner, her Delightful Strawberry Pie. A whole pie will run you between $16 and $18; a half-pie, $9; a slice of pie, $4; and a half-and-half pie combination of your choosing goes for $19. (The Pie Folks, 7781 Farmington Blvd., 752-5454, thepiefolks.com)

And although it’s known for cupcakes with a cult-like following, Muddy’s Bake Shop is also churning out a variety of from-scratch pies every week.

“It’s my favorite thing to make; it’s my favorite thing to eat,” says owner Kat Gordon. “The great thing about pie is it’s totally limitless. It’s food inside of other food! You’ve got a bottom crust, sometimes a top crust, and you can really put just about anything you want in the middle.”

Her pie flavors are as well-executed and adorably named as her cupcakes. Try “Kick in the Pants” pie, a tart lemon butter pie, or “Cocoa Chanel,” a classic chocolate chess pie. In the summer, expect treats like strawberry basil pie or a double-crust blueberry pie. In the winter, try sweet potato, apple with sharp cheddar baked into the crust, or a pie with chocolate chip cookie filling spiked with whisky.

Pies range from $20 to $24 for a whole, $2 for a mini pie, and $3.50-$4 for a slice. Pre-ordering is the best option for whole pies and bulk orders of mini pies, but you can swing in and grab a slice of pie any time the bakery is open. (Muddy’s Bake Shop, 5101 Sanderlin, 683-8844, muddysbakeshop.com)

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Renovate, Celebrate

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

A favorite Germantown breakfast spot has had a facelift and a name change. Owner Ron Bishop is happy to introduce the new and improved City East Bagel and Grille, formerly the Bagel Company.

“While we are very proud of our bagels and want to increase that business, we wanted to get bagels out of the headline because we do so much more,” Bishop says.

Not only has the restaurant added beer to their offerings, they’ve expanded the dinner menu, available Sunday through Thursday. Highlights include the house-smoked salmon plate, served with capers, flavored cream cheese, red onions, and seasoned bagel crostini; braised pork barbecue sliders topped with mustard slaw and served on corn fritters; smoked-salmon salad served, like salade Niçoise, with green beans and potatoes; prime rib; rosemary chicken; and a new casserole every day — with the holiday favorite, green bean casserole, securely in the rotation. Patrons also can bring their own wine.

City East Bagel still has 18 varieties of their signature New York-style bagels, from banana nut to jalapeno cheddar and their delightful house-made bagel chips. They’ve added a heart-healthy section to the breakfast menu, with oatmeal, turkey sausage, turkey bacon, oatmeal pancakes, and eggs salmon Benedict.

If it’s lunch you’re after, City East features the same sandwiches, melts, soups, and salads as before, including matzo ball soup. (It is a lamentable fact that in Memphis, Jewish delis with good matzo ball soup are so hard to find.) The price is right too. The most expensive sandwich is $7.95. There is a standard reduced-price kids’ menu. And at dinnertime, a salad, entrée, and drink is under $20.

City East is open for breakfast and lunch every day from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and for dinner Sunday through Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m.

City East Bagel and Grille, 6698 Poplar (754-2660)

The annual Harvest Celebration fund-raiser for the Memphis Farmers Market takes place on November 7th, and this year, the stakes are even higher.

“It’s our largest annual fund-raiser, and typically the funds jump-start our budget for the following year,” says Maryanne Lessley, market manager. “This year, we’ve also got an expansion project going on.”

The Memphis Farmers Market has received a $100,000 matching grant from the Department of Agriculture to expand their pavilion. So far they have secured the matching funds and received generous funding from the Hyde Foundation, vendors, and market patrons, but they still have to raise $119,000. The Harvest Celebration is a key part of this endeavor, as construction on the pavilion is set to begin in December and finish by the market opening in April.

“The event itself traditionally has about 400 people attend,” Lessley says. “We have live music. Maria Spence is going to be there, and she’s a market favorite. We have about 15 to 17 restaurants: Felicia Suzanne’s, Mesquite Chop House, Amerigo, Sole, Interim, Restaurant Iris, and that’s just a few. Felicia Willet with Felicia Suzanne’s and Mac Edwards are working on the menu to make sure that it’s well balanced. It will be a harvest-type table.”

La Vielle Ferme will provide the wine, and Ghost River will provide the beer. In addition to ticket sales, the market will raise funds from live and silent auctions. What’s up for grabs? Full-season CSA shares, produce from three Jones Orchard peach trees, dinner in McEwen’s wine cellar, breads and spreads from La Cucina and 20/20 Diner every week of the 2011 market season, several food-oriented gift baskets, progressive-dinner certificates, cases of wine, a cookie platter from Big Ono Bake Shop, and a gallon of local honey. (“You know what they say about local honey,” Lessley says. “You’re supposed to take a teaspoon a day. So a gallon should last you.”)

The celebration takes place at Hudson Hall in Central Station on South Main Street from 4 to 7 p.m. Tickets are $45 in advance, $55 at the door, and $35 for Friends of the Market, market volunteers, vendors, and children under 12. For more information or to purchase your tickets, visit memphisfarmersmarket.org.

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News The Fly-By

Chalk It Up

CREDIT: Michael Flanagan

Memphis’ characteristic autumn tease was definitely over by 10 o’clock Saturday morning. The Memphis Farmers Market downtown was full, and 40 people were there as part of the local American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) annual Chalk Art Festival.

Held in conjunction with the Memphis Heritage Foundation, the festival was part of Architecture Month. Teams created their best tribute to Memphis architecture in five-by-five-foot squares taped off on the ground. The Art Center on Union supplied the chalk, and the teams, already hard at work, consisted of families or members of architecture firms.

“We’re here to have fun,” said architect Rebecca Lee of Askew, Nixon, and Ferguson. “It’s nice to spend the day out.”

Throughout September’s Architecture Month, the Memphis AIA and Memphis Heritage have hosted a series of lectures and films to help Memphians see the city as a growing organism that requires thoughtful planning as well as aesthetic creativity.

“When there are tourists looking for Memphis history, they’re usually just shown Graceland and Beale Street,” said June West, executive director of Memphis Heritage. “There’s a lot a person can see in Memphis that we never show them.”

Under the morning sun, the artists drew and colored with their chalk, racing to finish before the noon deadline. The pieces were judged in four categories: teams, families, individuals, and Best in Show.

All over the pavement, the designs grew from simple sketches and outlines, slowly taking form and color. The pieces included one in which buildings played guitar, a vegetable motif by members of the Farmers Market, and a large likeness of Family Guy fussbudget Stewie Griffin warning the world to love architecture or face the consequences.

“We wanted to do something original,” said Mario Walker of Self Tucker Architects, who, along with associate Rodrigo Garcia, created the Family Guy entry. “We knew everyone else was going to do something appropriate.”

Last year’s winner in the team category, Fleming Associates once again took home bragging rights, winning Best in Show. Their design was a view of a Redbirds game from the right-field bleachers at AutoZone Park.

“Nine out of 10 of our favorite things to do in Memphis involve eating and drinking, and this was a scene that combines the two,” said Fleming’s Richard Wiggs, who, along with Debb and Bob Ross, created this year’s grand winner. “Getting dirty is all part of the fun.”

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News

Fresh Produce For Sale at Memphis Botanic Gardens

When you’re craving a juicy summer tomato, Saturday can’t come fast enough. That’s the day when local farmers peddle hot-off-the-garden-plot produce at the Memphis Farmer’s Market downtown.

Now, there’s a mid-week option.

Every Wednesday from 2-7 p.m., many of those same farmers sell their fresh goods at the new Farmer’s Market at the Memphis Botanic Garden. The market runs weekly through November 14th.

For more, go to the Botanic Garden website.

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

A Fresh Attitude

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Stephen Hassinger, chef de cuisine at the Inn at Hunt Phelan, was strolling around the downtown Memphis Farmers Market with his wife Kathleen Hall, when they began to crave something that would make the heat more bearable. Inspired by the fresh produce, they decided to make homemade ice cream to sell at the market. Thus was born De La Creme.

“It all started on the Fourth of July, with a White Mountain Ice Cream Freezer, a bunch of rock salt, ice, and lots of hot coffee because my wife and I were standing in the restaurant’s freezer, making ice cream for our first weekend at the market,” Hassinger remembers. But the couple soon discovered that the old-fashioned ice-cream maker wasn’t up to the task.

“This thing was a wooden bucket with an engine of a half horse power that’s moving the scraper blade,” Hassinger says. “After wearing out three of those, we moved on to a better ice-cream maker, which looks more like a front-loading washing machine.”

With the kinks worked out and with the help of their two kids, who are responsible for taste-testing and quality control, production is now running full-force. Best-sellers include honey vanilla, mint chocolate chip, and pecan praline. A couple of weeks ago, the couple offered its first sorbets: blueberry, blackberry, ginger/peach, and lemongrass/wild blackberry. Most of the ice-cream and sorbet flavors are based on what’s available at the Farmers Market.

“We typically buy what looks good to us that day, eat some of it, and make ice cream from the rest,” Hassinger says.

The ice cream costs $4 to $5 for a 12-ounce container. However, biodegradable packaging is an important concern. Hassinger and his wife will soon be using a smaller, eco-friendly container. When available, they try to use organic ingredients, inclucing whole milk from Rock Springs Dairy in Wildersville, Tennessee, about 100 miles east of Memphis.

“Of course, the ingredients we use have a big impact on how our ice cream tastes,” Hassinger says. “But another reason why homemade ice cream tastes so much better than even the premium ice cream at the store is because it’s made a few days before it’s sold. It doesn’t have to be shipped halfway across the country, and it’s kept at a constant temperature, which affects taste and consistency.”

De La Creme ice cream is available at the Memphis Farmers Market.

Two of Hassinger’s co-workers from Hunt Phelan are also selling their wares at the Farmers Market. Pastry chef Sherri McKelvie and sous chef Russell Casey have recently teamed up to create La Cucina, which sells European-style breads and freshly made mozzarella. McKelvie, who once ran her own wholesale bakery, La Morinda, finally gave in to the market’s plea for artisan bread.

“I don’t think I would ever want to have my own full-blown bakery again, even though I still love baking bread,” McKelvie says. “This is really the best of both worlds. I can bake some bread once a week, and I can meet the people who buy it.”

At the market, McKelvie sells a honey whole-wheat loaf with sunflowers, rosemary olive oil and jalapeno cheddar breads, baguettes, and tomato Parmesan focaccias. The breads cost from $3 to $5 each. Casey’s mozzarella sells for $5 for five to six ounces.

La Cucina products are available at the Memphis Farmers Market.

On August 7th, several downtown restaurants will be participating in the “Moveable Feast,” which will feature produce from area farmers. For this progressive dinner, chefs from Felicia Suzanne’s, Grill 83, McEwen’s on Monroe, and

Stella will prepare dishes using four main ingredients: Bonnie Blue Farm’s goat cheese, Mississippi striped bass, local suckling pig, and Delta pecans. Wines will be provided by Grateful Palate Imports.

Cost for the dinner is $95 per person, all-inclusive. Dinner begins at 7 p.m., with a seating for 40 at each restaurant. Reservations are required.

A Moveable Feast, August 7th, 7 p.m. For reservations, call Felicia Suzanne’s at 523-0877.

The Memphis Farmers Market, located at the Central Station Pavillion at Front Street and G.E. Patterson, will be open every Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. through October 27th.

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We Recommend We Recommend

Veg Out

CREDIT: Memphis Farmers Market

On Saturday, May 5th, the downtown Memphis Farmers Market kicks off its second season. More than 50 vendors, both old and new, have signed up, including the market’s first certified organic-produce vendor, Windermere Farm. This season, vendors were chosen more selectively to keep the quality up or improve it. Potential vendors were juried, and a percentage system was used to create a balance between produce, crafts, and value-added foods such as jellies, baked goods, and nuts.

“Agriculture will make up about 70 percent, value-added goods 20 percent, and crafts 10 percent,” says Ellen Dolich, chair of the market’s vendor committee. To provide as much variety as possible, artisans are on a rotating schedule and will only offer goods designed for use in the kitchen or garden.

On opening day, you’ll find the first crops of the season: lots of strawberries, lettuce, arugula, and micro-greens; spinach, radishes; broccoli and broccoli rabe; goat cheese, beef, chicken, pork, eggs, fruit trees, and shrubs. Jeff Golightly, Ken and Robyn Greene, and the Desert Rose Belly Dancers will perform. Michael Patrick of E.P. Delta Kitchen and Felicia Willett of Felicia Suzanne’s will share their knowledge during the “Farm to Fork” chef demonstration. In addition, the market will have a new feature this year: a café offering breakfast and lunch.

Memphis Farmers Market, Pavilion at Central Station (Front and G.E. Patterson). Every Saturday, May 5th through October 27th, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. (rain or shine). For more information, visit www.memphisfarmersmarket.com.