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Monday, June 24, 2013

The Grounds of Alexandria Markets, Alexandria

live honeycomb by maya sunny honey at the grounds of alexandria markets
Live honeycomb by Maya Sunny Honey

Hello! I'm back after three weeks of eating donuts, fried chicken and barbecue around the USA. It was a crazy non-stop eat-fest but I wouldn't have had it any other way. If you haven't been following me on Twitter or Instagram, you can catch up on all the incriminating evidence here.

Never fear. There will be USA blog posts to come - as soon as I sort through the 2,000 photos taken of food, food and more food.  In the interim, I'm reminiscing about the warm Sydney weather I left and sharing the photos I took at the recent Grounds of Alexandria Markets I visited before my trip.

There still seems to be no end to the queues at the Grounds of Alexandria cafe but the monthly markets -- held on the first Saturday and Sunday of every month -- are a fun way to explore some of their offerings without having to wait hours in line for a table. I rode my bike there (the Bourke Road separated cycleway is awesome!) and was impressed that the Grounds had bike racks right out the front.

market shoppers at the grounds of alexandria markets
Morning market-goers

I visited the Mothers Day markets which were a 'special event' market featuring more stalls than usual. There's a great sense of community and lively hustle and bustle to the market, but it's the high end styling that makes this market particularly picturesque, combining bucolic rustic charm with Vogue chic in ready-to-Instagram glory.

sicilian green olives by salt meats cheese at the grounds of alexandria markets
Sicilian green olives by Salt Meats Cheese

The markets feature regular stalls by nearby neighbours, including Salt Meats Cheese who reside next door. There are free tastings, product displays and plenty of friendly staff on-hand to provide information and advice.

salt meats cheese at the grounds of alexandria markets
Salt Meats Cheese

italian coloured pastas by salt meats cheese at the grounds of alexandria markets
Italian coloured pastas by Salt Meats Cheese

preserved red jalapenos at the grounds of alexandria markets
Preserved red jalapenos by Salt Meats Cheese

charcoal chicken lamb and chorizo at the grounds of alexandria markets
Charcoal chicken, lamb and chorizo

The charcoal barbecue only adds to the liveliness, with skewers of chicken, lamb and chorizo licked at by greedy flames.

charcoal chicken lamb and chorizo skewers at the grounds of alexandria markets
Skewers of chicken, lamb and chorizo over coals

charcoal chicken and chorizo rolls at the grounds of alexandria markets
Serving up chorizo and chicken rolls $9 each

cheeseburger station at the grounds of alexandria markets
Cheeseburger station

There's also the Grounds cheeseburger station, with patties flipped fresh on the grill and served on a bun with fries on the side for an easy al fresco lunch.

flower beds at the grounds of alexandria markets
Flower beds

kale flowers at the grounds of alexandria markets
Kale flowers 

market florist at the grounds of alexandria markets
Market florist

fresh lemonade at the grounds of alexandria markets
Fresh lemonade

strawberry punnets at the grounds of alexandria markets
Punnets of strawberries

baby animal petting zoo at the grounds of alexandria markets
Baby farm animal petting enclosure

The free baby animal farm provides hours of fun for kids young and old.

kids feeding baby lambs at the grounds of alexandria markets
Feeding baby lambs

kevin bacon resident piglet at the grounds of alexandria markets
Resident piglet Kevin Bacon

kevin bacons house at the grounds of alexandria markets
Kevin Bacon's house

maya sunny honey live bee hive at the grounds of alexandria markets
Maya Sunny Honey

I was immediately drawn to the Maya Sunny Honey stall, featuring raw honey from their apiary in Mudgee.

live bee hive with honeycomb by maya sunny honey at the grounds of alexandria markets
Live bee hive with jars attached at the top to create ready packaged honeycomb

Hidden behind a painted "log" is a working beehive with empty jars ingeniously attached to the top.

raw honeycomb by maya sunny honey at the grounds of alexandria markets
Live honeycomb jars

The open jars (there's a small opening in the lid of each jar) enable the bees to create honeycomb directly within each jar. It takes approximately 400 bees about one month to create each honeycomb jar.  

raw honeycomb jar by maya sunny honey at the grounds of alexandria markets
Live honeycomb jars for sale $15 and up

When the jar has been filled with honeycomb, the bees leave the jar and continue elsewhere. The jars are then removed for sale. It's an incredible sight to see the bees working furiously.

ciabatta bread at the grounds of alexandria markets
Fresh ciabatta loaves

chocolate chip cookies at the grounds of alexandria markets
Chocolate chip cookies

sweets desserts pastries at the grounds of alexandria markets bakery
Sweets and baked goods at The Grounds bakery

And there are plenty of sweet treats for everyone.

organic sourdough bread at the grounds of alexandria markets
Organic sourdough

strawberry tart and fruit tarts at the grounds of alexandria markets bakery
Strawberry and fruit tarts

handmade chocolates by kakawa at the grounds of alexandria markets
Handmade chocolates by Kakawa

makmak macarons at the grounds of alexandria markets
Macarons by MakMak

smoked vanilla and pecan praline makmak macaron at the grounds of alexandria markets
Smoked vanilla and pecan praline macaron by MakMak

chocolate and strawberry meringue layer cake at the grounds of alexandria markets


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The next Grounds of Alexandria Market will be on the weekend of July 6-7, 2013.

Please note that the market visited above was a special Mothers Day event market with extra vendors on-site.

Grounds of Alexandria Market
First Saturday and Sunday of every month
8am-3pm
Building 7A, 2 Huntley St, Alexandria, Sydney

Related Grab Your Fork posts
Alexandria - Grounds of Alexandria

17 comments:

  1. I love how The Grounds isn't just a place to have brunch, but is much more than that. The markets make use of the space that they have, and it's a great place to hang out too. And welcome back from the USA. Can't wait for your posts.... I've still got a backlog from mine from my holiday 9 months ago! haha

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  2. I always love a trip to the Grounds. I'll make sure I time it for when the markets are on next time. Beautiful photos, and looking forward to your US posts :)

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  3. That barbecue looks so caveman-tastic! And the honeycomb in a jar is ingenious. Looking forward to your US posts!

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  4. Welcome back! Those live honeycomb jars are amazing, I can't believe I still haven't made it to the Grounds yet. Can't wait for your US posts, your instagram photos were incredible!

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  5. Holy moly - that BBQ! Looking forward to the US posts :)

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  6. wish i made it to these markets~ they look so cool! loving the honey comb and the cheeseburger station!

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  7. Love the look of these markets, especially the charcoal barbecue. The live honeycomb jars look fascinating. I've never seen them for sale before.

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  8. Welcome back! Oh wow.. Actually i haven't been there yet! it looks well worth the visit! Looking forward to the US posts!

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  9. Hmmm let me see what response comes to mind... "yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum YUUUM!"

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  10. Hello Kevin Bacon! :)

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  11. wow the markets look great!! still haven't been here yet because of the queues, hopefully they've died down by now

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  12. God, its all so picturesque!
    Kevin Bacon looks too skinny for my liking though...

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  13. haven't been to The Grounds for their markets yet but it looked like a very awesome experience. can't wait to read about the US restaurants!

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  14. Still haven't been to their market yet but wow it looks fun^^

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  15. Bees are pretty amazing! Whenever I see the name Kevin, I always think of Kevin Bacon now :)

    The Grounds market look so amazing!

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  16. Awesome markets, I really do need to get to them. I have my eye on one of those honey comb jars! How awesome are they!!

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