To Market, To Market!

This has been such a week!  Between Hurricane Sandy and Halloween and filling ornament orders, not much writing has gotten done.  I wrote today's post a few weeks ago and thought today would be a perfect day to show it to you.  Have a wonderful day everyone and don't forget to reset your clocks!

A perfect fall morning and my son had a baseball practice in northwest Washington DC.  Across the street from the field on an industrial block, I saw a sign for Union Market.  Since I had two hours to kill, I decided to venture over there.  What a great place to stop in! 

According to their website, http://unionmarketdc.com/, Union Market began life as Center Market back in 1871, but when the Center Market was torn down so the National Archives could be built, the vendors sought another property and after a few moves over the years, it settled at 1309 5th St. NE.  Some of the vendors have been there for decades and I love the industrial feel of the building and the busy-ness of a farmers market that is only open three days a week.
 

There were several "just olives" vendors, an amish vendor selling dairy products, an "all things smoked" vendor (I think I drooled a little bit looking over some of the smoked fish) and a flower vendor that would have made Eliza Doolittle swoon, her flowers were so loverly! 

I was rather incredulous when I saw the Honest Tea vendor - who wasn't there (below)!  Just a rack of drinks and a box for your dollar.  I have never seen the honor system used like that and it's a testament to the folks who frequent the market that it actually works, even though I was a little nervous for the owners.

See the arrow on the sign that says "Pay Here"!  Wow!

I was introduced to Patty Pan squash by a gentleman running one of several vegetable stands.  Patty Pan squash looks like a regular yellow squash that's been, well, squashed - it's short and squat and delicious!  He told me to prepare them by stuffing them with crab dip and goats cheese, and that sounded great, but I'm kind of a recipe girl so I looked up a recipe on Allrecipes.com, Stuffed Patty Pan Squash (with bacon!), that was a huge hit at my house - pretty much anything that includes bacon as an ingredient is going to get rave reviews !  I'm including the recipe at the end of this post for you to try.


Patty Pan Squash





Best Banana Bread evah!

After shopping, I sat at one of the cafe tables outside in the sun with a latte and my nook.  I actually felt mildly hip sitting there with my reusable tote bag overflowing with fresh veggies, locally creamed honey and some home made double dark chocolate banana bread!  The people passing in and out of the building looked like they'd been coming and going through those doors for years and many greeted each other as old friends. 

I am hoping my son has many more practices at that field and the next time, I will bring him over to the market with me to pick out his own vegetables and fruits to try.  I'll have to remember to pack more totes!

Stuffed Patty Pan Squash recipe:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/stuffed-pattypan-squash/

Ingredients

• 6 pattypan squash, stem and blossom removed
• 6 slices bacon
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Bring one inch of water to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add squash, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, or until a fork can pierce the stem with little resistance. Drain, and slice off the top stem of the squash. Use a melon baller to carefully scoop out the centers of the squash. Reserve all of the bits of squash.
3. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Remove bacon to paper towels, and set aside. Saute onion in bacon drippings. Chop the reserved squash pieces, and saute them with the onion for one minute.
4. Remove the skillet from heat, and stir in the breadcrumbs. Crumble the bacon, and stir into the stuffing along with the Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stuff each squash to overflowing with the mixture, and place them in a baking dish. Cover the dish loosely with aluminum foil.
5. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until squash are heated through.