Valentines Day Craziness

Even though it was Valentine's Day, our Saturday routine didn't deviate much. Farmer's market first, then Mazzaro's Italian market, and finally the Great American Natural Products for some dried spices. Even though the routine didn't change, the company and clientele did. My wife's aunt was in town so her and my mother-in-law met us out at the farmer's market. What was astounding was that my mother-in-law knew very little about the largest farmer's market in the south east, even though she lived in the vicinity. We live all the way in Tampa, so it's a 20 mile hike to get there (worth it for the selection). The other thing that astounded me was that she treated it more like a carnival than a place to get vegetables. Nothing wrong with that, but now my sister-in-law wants to make it out as well, and I'm assuming she's going to treat it the same way. It's just astonishing that people can have a great place to get produce right in their backyard, and they opt to be taken in by arts and crafts and not even pick up a couple of carrots or onions or something. Just seems like the whole point was lost.

Next came Mazzaro's Italian market. I love this place, but every week I find myself growing less and less in love with it based on the crowd. The crowd is beyond insane on Saturday's (and apparently Friday's as well). Valentine's day was a bit more over the top considering everybody that doesn't celebrate love all year round had decided to make a meal with "fancy" ingredients. Speaking of the Hallmark holiday, I did get my wife flowers delivered a day early on Friday the 13th. A conversation with a co-worker about the matter really put the holiday into perspective for me. He said, "I don't do the whole getting flowers thing, because it's so cliché. We're going to celebrate the holiday the way it's supposed to be treated by making a nice meal together and enjoying each other's company." Just peachy if you ask me, except there's a slip in that story. So you're only cooking the meal together because it's Valentine's day? The Hallmark holiday will continue to have relevance while people still have the desire to do something that they usually wouldn't do on that day. Albeit getting flowers, or spending time with a loved one, or what not. I do that year round for the most part, maybe not the flowers part, but we cook meals together and spend time with each other and as a family. So back around, the Italian market was a bit too hectic and started me thinking that we should try out the Tampa Bay Steak Company or one of the Italian / Spanish / Organic food store's in Tampa instead of Mazzaro's in St. Pete. The other alternative would be to have my wife hit Mazzaro's during the week, but that's an extra trip over the bridge I'd rather us not be making. Come summer time the Saturday Morning Market will be closed, so setting up an alternative now would be smart, and save some gas!