Hi! You all know how I love open air markets....and what better way to spend an autumn day in NYC than touring the farmers markets and flea markets that the city is so famous for?
Now it may seem a little odd that a displaced person who is far from her own kitchen can find a farmers market so inspiring, but this market is a joy to experience. It is a feast for one's eyes, one's imagination, one's soul.
The beauty of the harvest...and the enthusiasm of both the buyers and sellers---the festive air of the crowd, despite the suddenly grey and foggy day---well, it made me happy.
A very good thing.
The market has temporarily relocated from Union Square [a Con Ed repair truck parking lot right now, as Con Ed is actually repairing the city's power sources...] uptown about eleven blocks to Madison Square. I expecyed the market to be IN the park but instead it fills the street and sidewalks surrounding the park.
Mostly I'll let the photos share my experience...
Color coordinated vegetables! Like a culinary rainbow.....
Oddities like quince,
I have not seen quince since I was a little girl in Ohio....It smells delightful. Oh and jam! Yum.
Baskets of brussel sprouts as tiny as cranberries, or as big as tennis balls. Cranberries, breads, apples, cider, wines....A hundred types of potatoes, or so it seemed...
Stunning flowers and berries and pods...
dried bouquets and wreaths
Buckets of cedar chips----for winter sachet hea\rts, right? Cool, all natural and authentic. I liked the cedar tree trunk disks too.
NYC is a very small world in many ways. I ran into people I know, including a flea market vendor later in the day, next post. And the woman with the sheep...and her gorgeous handspun yarns. I used to buy mitten yarn from her when my kids were very tiny and we lived in our loft in Brooklyn Heights.
[sorry for the really bad photo. I loved how the yarn was in tin buckets in her booth.]
Of course some lovely wool yarn came ''home'' with me again this time!
If you lived here, every weekend you could come here, be inspired, try an exotic new recipe a new wine or cheese....luxuriate in our farmlands' bounty.
Somehow I neither bought cheese or photographed it and oooh, my, the cheeses are to die for. The market returns Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays so perhaps I will have another chance?
love
lizzy
gone to the beach
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The wool yarn looks like thin noodles. Pumpkin soup, corn on the cob, and mashed potatoes. I'd love to know what quince tastes like. It looks very similar to guava.
ReplyDeleteVery cool. My daughter who lives now in Brooklyn and has lived in Manhattan took me here once. I could go frequently...but really I'm a country mouse and prefer to go to the country markets! Be well my friend and enjoy all that NYC has to offer. By the way...daughter Kate stayed with a friend in Manhattan the night of the storm and went out during a "lull" (gotta love that) and took pics of FDR under water...and talked to one of the guys who rescued that cab driver...you've seen the pic of that submerged taxi I'm sure! Whew! hope all is returned to normal soon.....Take care! L
ReplyDeleteIt looks like it was a fantastic time and a little vacation from the realities of life as you currently know it.
ReplyDeleteYou have my admiration for coming through it all with such grace.