I also went to a football game, which was fantastic -- apparently we won, but, let's face it. After you see the marching band at half time, there's really no point in staying much longer. I'm only joking, of course, but I'd almost forgotten how much I absolutely adore marching bands.
It's a lot.
Anyway, after the game, I met Beth to have lunch at Reading Terminal Market. If you've never been there, it's enormous and beautiful. It was like those markets that Andrew Zimmern always goes to whenever he's in a city. It was absolutely amazing. Indian, Chinese, Italian... Produce, cookies, cheese, bread, whatever it was you could possibly want you could get there (including the largest shrimp(s?) I've seen, ever). We wandered around for a really long time just looking at absolutely everything. In the end, we shared a fried macaroni and cheese ball, we both had smoothie/juice things, and I had goat cheese and good bread.
Fried mac and cheese: In case you don't know, fried mac and cheese is one of the best unhealthy substances ever. As Beth said (having given me the most judging look when I ordered some), "I don't know why I doubted it. Deep-frying makes everything better, and mac and cheese is already pretty dang good." The fried mac and cheese that we bought at a cajun food stand today were enormous, so there was a very nice ratio of crispy, fried bits to melty-cheesy bits. The cheese was also spiced, in what I assume was a cajun-esque manner, so that added a whole 'nother delicious dimension.
Goat cheese: I bought my goat cheese at a cheese stand (duh) which mostly sold imported cheeses. It was called, "Enrobé," and it was a small lump of soft goat cheese covered in cranberry bits. I had a choice between apricot-encrusted cheese and cranberry-encrusted cheese, and as the rather flirtatious salesman said, "You're going for the cranberry because it's close to Thanksgiving, aren't you?" The cheese was light tasting and beautifully textured. The sweetness of the cranberries was a bit strong, but with a savory bread, it was absolutely perfect.
Bread: I bought two 65 cent dinner rolls from a stand which I can't remember the name of, but which was near a Chinese food place, and also very close to a "Southern Cooking" place which appeared to specialize in fried meats. The sourdough bread, I thought, could have had more flavour in it (I enjoy a very sour sourdough), but the olive roll had lots of little chunks of olive all throughout it, and a nice savory taste throughout. The olive roll was by far superior to anything from a supermarket, and certainly much better than anything I could get at the school dining hall. Both breads were textured nicely -- they weren't dense, but neither were they tough with large holes, the way many supermarket breads. I absolutely adored the flavour combination of the olive bread and the cranberry goat cheese.
Smoothie/Juice: The juice/smoothie came from a middle-eastern stand that also serves falafel and baba ganoush, but having already had my fill of delicious bread and cheese, all I wanted was a bit of sweetness and liquid. The stuff was not heavy, but also not sugary-tasting. It was like a smoothie, but also like juice. I had pineapple-coconut-banana, and it was superb.
At the market, for those who've never been, there are plenty of stalls that have ingredients instead of food, and even places that sell things like hats or shawls. Many stores sold teas, and I saw little jars of marmite for over eight dollars each. I also passed a shop that had dark chocolate hearts in the window -- anatomically correct hearts, that is. There was also a crepe place that I wanted to try, but was really too full for by the time I'd eaten my other food.
After Reading Terminal Market, we did wander down to Chinatown and peek inside a couple of shops. I bought a pack of White Rabbit Candies, which are basically cream-flavored tootsie rolls, and oh-so-delicious. I think I've had probably three "servings" of them already, since there's six servings per bag. Whenever I go to Chinatown, I'm always tempted to buy one of their eye-catching rings, but I'm always afraid that it will break. Many of them are surprisingly pretty, but they all look so flimsy. Besides, why would you want to spend three dollars or so on a ring, when, for just fifty cents or so more, you could go to Reading Terminal Market and have a smoothie? Yum :)
