Back at the farmer's market...

Hello everyone! 

Having awesome weather here and Wednesday was a perfect day to go do some shopping at the local farmer's market. It's "the thing" to do on Wednesdays here...

 I didn't count, but there must be over 30 different types of olives sold here at this one stall.

The stall right next to it had over 30 different variations of someTurkish cheese and butter...

Bought some prunes and cranberries from this seller below who literally "made" us try a little of everything he was selling...

And below we have a delicacy my son particularly loves...I really don't know what the name for this is in English, but in Turkish it kind of translates to "fresh almond". Yep, those little green morsels are almonds with the outer shell on, only fresh and green. It has a very sour taste, and many addicts choose to eat them by dipping the almonds in salt, which is supposed to lessen the sour taste. Very unusual, no? Trust me though, they are delicious!

Tomatoes on the vine look soooo delicious...

Artichoke is very big in this area of the world...I've heard from my mother-in-law that the best come form France, where she lived some 15 years. Here by this Aegean city in Turkey it's cooked in every household, eaten warm or cold, with vegetables or mixed in rice. Below you see fresh artichoke, and if you prefer, the farmer also cleans them and keeps them in lemon-water ready to take home and cook. How can you not love all this goodness?!

After some shopping my husband and I got hungry and decided to eat some "gozleme", which is a beautiful thin-bread stuffed with spinach and cheese ( or potatoes, eggplant, ground beef, the possibilities are endless!)...Below is the cute couple we bought our gozleme's from:

And then we tried some of this cheese cooked in a sweet syrup:

I decided the cheese in syrup was an aquired taste. 

Here's a glimpse, and believe me it is a "glimpse" of the clothing and textile area at the farmer's market:

We left the colorful, vibrant, and very crowded market and came home to relax...

We had really earned it!

Hope you are enjoying your Friday!

BTW, interested in artichokes but don't know how to cook them?

 Leave me a comment and I will be glad to send a couple of easy recipes!

all images by me, 2014
and...

a big thank you to everyone who gave me permission to picture them and their stalls...