nolnacs

I'm glad you're enjoying it. I've never attributed "crazy dreams" to a particular foodstuff before. Work, movies & books - sure, but never food. Strange. I think you should go ahead and make the pork anyway. Your dad can always have a spinach and provolone sandwich.

Thanks for the compliment, I'm enjoying the blogging process so far. I plan out the week's meals ahead of time, but I do make allowances for what looks good. If a particular ingredient looks crummy (cauliflower I find to often be hit or miss) then I will make substitutions. Sometimes I also have a generic "veggie" on my list if I don't have anything particular in mind for a side dish. That being said, the very specific list that I had in the foodblog is pretty typical. Much as you suggest, the main reason I do this is because I do 99% of my shopping during the weekend. The places I want to shop are closed on weeknights and also I just don't have the time or inclination to shop after work.

The last regular stop for me at Headhouse is Hillacres Pride which is my source for raw milk and eggs. They have some tasty cheeses as well I like to end my market shopping with a little something sweet so we stopped by Market Day for some caneles. I picked up a pack of two large caneles for my wife and I to split. So, so, so good. The contrast between the soft, eggy interior and the caramelized, almost crispy exterior is incredible. They are rather pricey at 2/$5 but well worth it in my mind. They also have the packs of mini caneles which are also good, but I like the ratio of crust to interior on the large ones better. A warty pumpkin! Fall is coming

Right next to Three Springs is Queens Farm which offers, among other produce, Asian greens that are not commonly seen in stores. Long beans look neat, but I don't find them particularly tasty Oyster and shiitake mushrooms Gigantic oyster mushroom clusters The proprietor of this stand. My wife likes to chat with him in Mandarin. I'm never quite sure what they are talking about.

Not joking, but it would be quite the time commitment to stuff all those little eggplants.

Time for lunch. Unfortunately, weekday lunches for me are not that exciting as they almost always consist of leftovers. When I woke up this morning, I decided to go with some quinoa salad as I was not hungry from over-consumption of pork the night before. That being said, I kind of wish I had a pork sandwich now. I usually also bring two pieces of fruit with me. One to eat with my lunch and one for an afternoon snack. Some of my coworkers were telling me this morning that there is a outstanding sandwich shop nearby called Ioannoni's that has better roast pork than in Philadelphia. I think I might have to examine this bold claim later this week. Have any of you ever heard of this place?

Our next stop is my favorite vendor at Headhouse, Three Springs. Next week is last week for peaches. Sad. Gala apples and Cresthaven yellow peaches My wife loves the apple cider Some of their vegetable selection It's somewhat hard to tell from this shot, but unlike the other vendors, Three Springs forms a little alcove away from the rest of the market. This makes browsing their selection much easier. Katie and I were discussing what to do with tiny little eggplants. Our conclusion was that a cater could make really cute tiny stuffed eggplants with them. Farmer Ben - I always enjoy his witty weekly market updates Three Springs is where I picked up my crate of peaches on Sunday morning. I actually buy quite a bit from them in bulk. So far this year I have purchased strawberries, sour cherries, peaches (multiple times) and tomatoes leaving my freezer well stocked with fruity goodness. I also picked up some white peaches for my wife as she prefers them to the yellow and some apple cider. Katie picked up some white peaches as well.

On Sunday afternoon, my wife and I met up with Katie Loeb at the Headhouse Farmers Market. Our mission was to get tacos al pastor from Los Taquitos de Puebla but they were not there. I think that they were frightened away by the forecast of rain. Our failure to procure tacos weighed heavily on us, but we continued through the market in search of other tasty things. A view of the market from the north Some of the delicious things available As you can see from the above image, Headhouse is a covered market with brick pillars. Most of the vendors have their tables in front of the pillars which means that the aisle is narrow and often crowded. You have to very careful as you walk through the market lest you become overly distracted by a beautiful tomato and fail to notice the small child or dog (of which there are many) scrambling around underfoot. Our first stop of the day was at Beechwood Orchards as Katie was interested in picking up some of their asian pears. I purchased some of the red table grapes. Very tasty but lots of seeds.

Are those fresh figs up there by the cheese???? I've never ever seen a fresh fig. Before I die, I swear I am going to find, hold and eat a fresh fig. I have a strange bucket list. They are indeed. You might be able to grow figs depending on your location. I think some varieties are cold hardy down to about 10 degrees so as long as you have some shelter for it, it should be able to be okay. The easiest way to do it would be to keep the (small) tree in a large pot and put it inside the garage/barn for winter. I had one when I was in Chicago and I even got a few figs that first summer.

I can't tell you how many times I've done that. Sadly, this is not the first time I have done it either. You would think that I would have learned by now.

Oh, actually, yes there is some lemon juice in there. Adding it to peaches is so automatic for me that I didn't even think about it. I have a chest freezer so it is actually easier for me to freeze things than to take up my very limited shelf space with canned goods. Yeah, the peaches are a great deal and that is the normal price for seconds from them. You can order off their website and pick up at that market.

Finally, time to eat. It was pretty good but not quite up to the standards of John's or DiNics. For one I think I needed to slice the meat thinner and get more of the sauce into the sandwich. For dessert we had some brown sugar peach ice cream. I kind of eyeballed this one and left it a bit short on sugar. It was still well worth eating. That's it's for me tonight. Hopefully my hand feels better tomorrow.

Meat is done! Braising liquid Blending braising liquid into smooth sauce Pork ready to slice Sliced And back in the pot

As I mentioned earlier, dinner tonight was roast pork sandwiches. I've already shown making the bread so here is the pork. Smashing fennel seeds Rosemary and thyme harvested from my potted plants Butterflied pork shoulder spread with garlic, fennel, rosemary, thyme, parsley and red pepper flakes All rolled up. I only lost a bit of the filling out of the end More herbs all over the outside Pork coming out of the oven slightly browned. Added onions, stock, wine & pureed tomatoes as we move into the braising phase. This is when I burned my hand.

It's not too bad, just some small blisters. Rather painful though and I am reduced to typing lefthanded. The compote is just peaches with a little bit of water to start it off. Hmm... is that still considered a compote?

Not this week, but then my wishes have not come true before.... I wonder if the Food Trust is the origin of that legend.

My wife actually took most of the pictures while I was shopping which certainly helped with capturing a lot of the different stalls.

One of the purchases I made yesterday at John Yi was a bag of salmon bits for Terry. I spread the bits out onto a sheet pan to freeze before putting them into a bag. That way I can easily get out one piece of Salmon for him.

So I have a lot of peaches, more than I expected even, what to do with them? Compote! This pot is not quite big enough. Stockpot works much better. Simmering into deliciousness My wife informed me that this compote will be used on pancakes. Good to know. I'll be freezing most of it to use during the cold, peachless winter.

Okay, last post on the Terminal Market, Filbert promises. You can always believe the promise of a pig I can't believe that I haven't mentioned Kauffmann's and their addictive peanut butter. I like the honey roasted but you can't go wrong with any of them. I can't stress enough that if you are in Philadelphia for any length of time, you need to go to the Reading Terminal Market. It is that awesome.

I hope you guys aren't sick of pictures from the Terminal Market yet, because here is a selection of some of the tastiest things to eat there. Nutella crepe, need I say more? I didn't really like bread pudding until I had Beck's Apple dumpling - get the heavy cream, it's worth it Not my favorite roast pork purveyor but awfully close

Also among the embarrassment of riches at the Reading Terminal Market is an entire stall devoted to honey and other bee products. It is remarkable how honeys made from different flowers can taste so different. One of my personal favorites is orange blossom.

I don't typically shop at the Fair Food Farmstand during the summer since I go to the local farmers market, but it is a regular stop for me during the winter for raw milk and fruit. This stall at the Terminal Market sources all their products from local farmers. I don't have an image of it, but they also have a case of frozen meats.

On the subject of tasty things, one of my favorite market snacks is a pretzel dog from Millers Mmmmm pretzel dog I think she is making some pretzel sticks here

To help assuage the pain in my hand I bring you pictures of tasty pastries from the Terminal Market. I mostly bake my own breads and sweets but sometimes I get them from Metropolitan bakery. I particularly like their french berry rolls and their gateau basque.