Weekend Cooking...Return to Reading

The Reading Terminal Market that is!

Yes, if you follow my Wordless Wednesday pics, you will know that I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show again this year and no trip to the Flower Shop is complete, for me, without a trip...or two...to the market. Which is easy because it is right across the street from the Convention Center, where the Flower Show is, and on the same block as the hotel I stayed at for the night. Yes, I live just an hour away from Philadelphia but the experience is so BIG, I need recovery time.
I also needed a bit of recovery time from my sampling at the free wine and spirit tasting they had at the Flower Show again this year. Dozens of companies, each offering several free offering.
You do the math.
But that is another story and another group of pictures, several of which are, oddly, out of focus. Hmmm.

Awww...but back to the Market, a paradise for foodies of every sort and a place I could just spend hours wandering in. The Market has two aspects. There is one, frequented mostly by locals, that is made up of butchers and fishmongers, poultry vendors and lovely produce sellers. And did I mention the bakeries, whether The Metropolitan Bakery with their wonderful looking breads or Termini's, with those lovely cakes and all manner of Italian pastries. I usually travel with my folding cooler in the back of the car, just in case.

I found one of the produce stores very interesting this year, maybe because I found some things I had never seen before, chickpeas still in their pod..or whatever it is called, and Sharon fruit, which is a persimmon. What does one do with Sharon fruit?

Then on the other hand we have a large number of stores that cater to tourists and local workers who might be looking for some sustenance, a tiny bit to eat. I will admit these is maybe my favorite reason to visit the Market. And one of my favorite choice is Dinic's, which sells sandwiches, the most popular being my personal favorite, the roast pork.
Freshly roasted, thinly sliced with sharp provolone cheese and sauteed spinach or broccoli rabe. I personally am a fan of a little horseradish on there as well, and happily Dinic's has nice little containers all along the counter along with napkins, lot and lots of napkins. Believe me, you will need them because that is one juicy sandwich.

But there are lots of other choices from Chinese to Thai, Cajun to turkey to the Downhome Diner. Then if you need a little something sweet, how about some ice cream from Bassett, which says it is America's oldest ice cream company, one of the huge..and very good...cookies from The 4th Street Cookie company, or maybe a crepe!
I can personally recommend the nutella and strawberry crepe...yum.

 

But by now you are full and what else can we do?
Well, another of my favorite stop is the Cook Book Stall. Cookbooks, all cookbooks, lots and lots of cookbooks. Now, if they just had a chair so I could sit awhile.

But not too long. We have the pickle store, the wine store, the honey and beeswax store, the candy stores yet to visit. Maybe we should get a bouquet of flowers to take home..or a couple of pounds of scrapple! Yes, let's go with the scrapple!! And maybe some cheese...yes, cheese..... and maybe some bread.

This is my contribution this to this week's Weekend Cooking.
"Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend."
Be sure to check out the other entries this week. As always, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

---