weekend warrior

This was a great weekend. Yesterday I met some new friends at Reading Terminal Market. It’s a downtown Market that has been open since 1893. It was renovated in the ten years or so I think. It’s a bustling market filled with every kind of food you can imagine. The most interesting are the Amish vendors selling pies, bread, desserts as well as ribs, deli salads and more. There is coffee, food, sweets, savory, candles, quilt, and everything else you can think of. Here’s a tidbit from the Reading Terminal web site. I love the last line… a veritable babble of farmers and food purveyors.

Soon the so-called ‘Jersey Market’ (because most of the hucksters were from the neighboring state) began to expand westward in the middle of the thoroughfare that had been appropriately renamed Market Street. With the growth of Philadelphia came the expansion of public markets. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the string of market sheds had become six blocks long, making the easternmost mile of the city’s main street a veritable babble of farmers and food purveyors on most days.

After the market I hopped the 23 bus and headed over the Wilma Theater to meet my friend Patch who came up from DC to see a show, Satchmo at the Waldorf. It was wonderful. If you get the opportunity to see it somewhere, you should go. It was one actor, John Douglas Thompson, and he was amazing. It was a nice afternoon and my first time at the Wilma.

Following the show, I walked through the streets of Philadelphia heading roughly toward my mom’s. I decided to make another attempt at Federal Donuts. I went last week but they were out of their “fancies” and all of their chicken. Yet again on this trip they were out of the fancies but at least they had chicken. I got a small order with “cowboy coffee” glaze. I wandered the rest of the way to my mom’s stopping here and there, with the most amazing fried chicken smell wafting out of my backpack. It was worth the wait – and the hype. It was delicious.

Today I went out in search of a Turducken. For those not in the know, that’s a chicken, inside a duck, inside a turkey. I tried one day table. I had called a number of places and got a recommendation of a butcher in the Italian Market. So that was my adventure for this week.

Welcome to Philadelphia’s Italian market, the oldest and largest working outdoor market in the United States. Still predominantly Italian it has the best of many cultures and cuisines to offer the shoppers. Gourmet cooks and tourist alike can explore and discover the depth and breadth of the multitude of products available here.

There are farmer, butchers, poultry, bakeries, cheese shops, spice shops and I’m sure much more all packed into very crowded city streets. I visited Esposito’s butcher shop and got my Turducken. I decided to get my veggies while I was there too. I had my “bubbe” cart and was ready to shop. I wandered along, finding the best looking vegetables and got everything I needed. What’s funny is that one side of the narrow sidewalk, you have fruit and veggie vendors and on the store side, some of the stores are just junk. Little markets, a wig store, a “variety” store, dollar store types (but mom and pop, not big box). I bet you could find anything down there, but only if you had the wildest clue where to look for it.

I cut down a little street and headed back to the car. I heard someone yelling, “hey, lady, Hey, lady,” but wasn’t paying attention. Finally, for some reason, I turned around and realized that a woman was calling after me. I was leaving a trail of oranges down the street. My bad had toppled over in my cart, and the oranges were falling right out through the lattice work of the cart.

Hilarious.

Needless to say, it was the highlight of the trip!

Dinner with the family, and a call with my Miami bestie. Who could ask for more?

Happy Thanksgiving to all.