Two weekends ago, I had the pleasure of attending the Made South holiday market up in Franklin, Tennessee! I love holiday markets, so I had high hopes that this market would be a ton of fun. Over 80 local and regional makers and artisans brought their products, foods, crafts and more to share with shoppers from around Tennessee. Vendors ranged from farms with fresh treats, craftsmen with beautiful leather pieces, organic tea growers, clothing designers, artists, coffee makers and so much more.
Needless to say, there definitely was not a shortage of new things to explore.
One thing I love about markets is that I get to sample lots of awesome food and drinks. I had tons of opportunities for that at the Made South Market. After stopping by the Made South table for an obligatory koozie (because seriously, you can never have enough koozies), I checked out a farm from Thomasville, Ga., and sampled their amazing cheeses, fruit spreads, chocolate-covered nuts and syrups. I was a HUGE fan of their Camembert style cheese with blackberry jam on top. They even handed out recipe cards for appetizers and desserts featuring their jams and syrups.
Next I visited a lady from Woo Pie, a Nashville bakery that specializes in desserts in jars. They had s’mores woopies and banana chocolate peanut butter woopies. I opted for a s’mores woopie and it was delicious.
And it’s packaged super cute, to boot!
I had to wash down my Woo Pie treat with something, so I hopped over to Piper and Leaf‘s table and sampled three of their tea blends. Their Front Porch Special, Southern-style sweet tea hit the spot.
Aside from the main shopping area, there was a side room with even more vendors to check out. Acme Feed & Seed had a table set up with samples of 6 of their barbecue sauces, ranging from a sweeter blackberry sauce to a fiery ghost pepper sauce. I’m not brave enough for the ghost pepper, but my boyfriend tried it. He said the heat had a delayed reaction. Good thing the Blushing Berry chocolates were right across the room. We each picked a bourbon chocolate truffle, and I had a milk chocolate truffle and he had salted caramel.
I probably made three or four laps around the entire market. I didn’t want to miss anything! But there was more than shopping at the Made South Market: we were treated to some New Orleans jazz, and even got an appearance from Mr. Forest Gump himself!
Admittedly I didn’t get any Christmas shopping done; I was too busy watching everything around me and checking out all of the amazing crafters and makers in attendance. There are some crazy talented and successful small businesses right here in the Southeast.
If you missed the Made South Holiday Market this year, I definitely recommend checking it out next year. I’ll gladly make the trip up to Franklin again. I’m already excited for next year’s market.
For more information on Made South products, events and more, check out their website.
