Mother's Day Gifts at the Reading Terminal Market

Looking for some interesting gift ideas to supplement your (standard) bunch of Mother's Day flowers?

We've got you covered...

Mooching around the Market this week we were struck by the range of potential Mother's Day gifts and thought we just had to tell you!

The Reading Terminal Market is more than just food; it's more than a lunch destination.  It's more like a department store with both fresh produce and items related to the consumption and enjoyment of food.

So here it is.  Our top five Mother's Day gift ideas...

 1.  First stop has got to be the Pennsylvania General Store.  Every holiday, including Mother's Day, owner Michael and his team pull together an impressive selection of chocolates, candies, cookies and other generally sweet produce for our delectation.  No need to gift wrap.  The store is happy to do this for you.  If you'd prefer to lean on their mail order service see,  the Pennsylvania General Store website.

2.  The linens at Contessa's are heavenly.  Bright, lively prints and colors, fit to grace any table, on any occasion...





See Contessa French Linens for further styles and info






3. Ever tried the handmade soaps and bath salts at Terralyn? 

Owner Lynette Manteau makes up to 70lbs of soap a week! 

This soap is all natural and is like nothing else.  Its a combo of oils including olive, coconut, palm and soy butter.  Once you've tried it you'll be hooked!

4. Is your mother into cooking?  If so, she'll enjoy meeting with Anna Florio, chef and owner of La Cucina in the Market.  Anna runs regular cooking classes, including Ladies-only "Girls' Night Out" classes, which are always packed to the gills (excuse the pun).

We checked out the last Girls Night Out. 

The pictures speak louder than my words can :)

To view the upcoming calendar for La Cucina, visit Anna's website.

5. Last but not least, anyone who is a baker will love the preserved fruits, spreads, jams on sale at the Pennsylvania Dutch stands. 

I have a particular fondness for preserved pears and preserved peaches - these are especially useful in the Fall when you're in the mood to make warming crumbles and pies.  These are beautifully packaged at the Market, many are available in gift sets.




Happy Baking, Eating and Celebrating this Mother's Day!

Bet You'll Find a Great Gift at Reading Terminal Market

They did it their way. 

But do you know what came first?  Laverne & Shirley or Happy Days?

Both shows were set in Wisconsin..but one was a spin off from the other.  And get extra kudos if you can figure out what inspired Happy Days - and it wasn't another TV show... 

My husband lost a bet with a colleague while he was working in Wisconsin.  The wager was this very same question.  At stake was a basket of the finest cheeses from Wisconsin, versus a gift basket of fare from one of the traditional Pennsylvania Dutch vendors in Reading Terminal Market.

The husband backed the wrong horse; he claimed Happy Days came after Laverne & Shirley.  Wrong!

So with the help of Kauffmans at the Market we've assembled a gift basket to be shipped off FedEx this weekend.

If you're looking for gift baskets, there's a cornucopia of choices from the merchants at the Market.  Here's some we spotted this week...

Bee Natural's Honey infused gifts--perfect for your Honey!

Coffee collection from Old City Coffee

Pretty candy n cookies gift bags @ Termini's

If you'd prefer to customize your own gift basket, don't forget you can do this with a little help from the Pennsylvania General Store.  They have an extensive catalog of gift products, but are equally happy to help you put together a custom basket from merchants at the Market and will still ship them nationwide on your behalf.  Full details at http://www.pageneralstore.com/

By the way...the answer is American Graffiti.   You're a popular culture buff if you got that one correct.

Want to be tormented some more...?

Who directed American Graffiti then?  We're not telling :)

Pumpkins...or Should We Say Squash?



Termini's fabulous coffee cake, starring Pumpkin!

 The Reading Terminal Market looks remarkable at this time of year.


Fall fruit and vegetables, particularly squash, is in evidence everywhere.  Make sure that you swing by the grocers, such as Iovine Bros. and Fair Food Farmstand, and revel in the abundance of color and textures.

Many of the merchants have seized this opportunity to work with squash in its various guises - acorn, butternut and turban squash to name but a few varieties...

Much ink has been spilled debating the relative merits of squash versus pumpkin. 

We've read numerous articles attempting to define what constitutes a squash and what is a pumpkin.

Our favorite sweeping definition to date:

• You carve a pumpkin
• You cook a squash (it's invariably sweeter and not as hard)
• You look at a gourd i.e. it's ornamental and not good for eating.  

Few people however observe these niceties; people mostly refer to pumpkins as anything that's orange and is a member of the squash family.  We'll go with the flow.  Here's a wonderful pumpkin, corn and poblano fritter recipe from our friend Jon at 12th Street Cantina. 



Can you sort out the gourds from the squash - tricky eh?

The knobbly multicolored ones are mostly gourds, the rest are edible squash.  The green ones at the back are our favorites - sweet little acorn squash. 

Other Pumpkin-related produce at the Market includes:

Pumpkin and other delicious Fruit Butters from the Pennsylvania Dutch

Pumpkin Whoopee Pies from Flying Monkey

We'll share other Pumpkin recipes in the week to follow.  Watch out for the Pumpkin Soup coming this way soon...

Oktoberfest in Philly!

Our Philly Neighbors enjoyed the vibe in Munich - then headed to Philly for Oktoberfest on a smaller scale!

Oktoberfest party menu?  Coming right up....

Oktoberfest is one of the biggest Fairs in the world.  The Fair attracts around 5-6 million visitors who swarm to Munich in Germany to consume vat-loads of local beers and platefuls of traditional German food. 

The celebration dates back to the wedding nuptials for Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria who held an enormous wedding party for the townsfolk which went on, and on, and on -- for days. 

Likewise today's Oktoberfest runs for 10-12 days of intense drinking and eating and lively singing, of course.

Unlike our celebrations in the U.S., Oktoberfest in Germany ends the first weekend in October...it actually starts late September.  Who cares?  We sourced authentic wurst (sausages) from a friend in Germany and when the box of goodies arrived, we knew we needed to source a crowd to consume the 10-12 different types of sausages therein...

Our Philadelphian version of Oktoberfest featured:

1.  two types of Bratwurst - both of which needed to be boiled and then kept simmering in a crockpot (so said the instructions).
2. Humongous quantities of different kinds of pre-cooked German salami (I thought salami was Italian?) including the aptly named Kilometer...

• Beer sausage, also pre-cooked, was designed to be sliced and served as an appetizer. 

• A neighbor, Dana Hall, cooked up a delicious fondue and we dipped baby gherkins, onions, bread and an array of cold sausages and luncheon meats in the gorgeous fondue, which coincidentally (or not) was pepped up by the addition of a bottle of real German beer from Bavaria.  Dana put it best: "I think that was the best fondue I ever had...it's definitely a meal in itself, not an appetizer though!"

For this fondue recipe, see this hearty and super filling recipe on the Food Network

•  We also grilled Cheese Knuckers - the name alone cracked us up - and a variety of Wurst, which we served with traditional Bavarian potato salad and red cabbage.  We'll serve up these recipes in our next post.

If you do fancy trying this at home then you can source Bavarian beer surprisingly enough in some liquor stores in Philly.  But it's expensive.  To get designated as an Oktoberfest beer, the beer actually has to be brewed within the city of Munich, Germany, so it's a genuine import.

Fresh sausages are readily available at the Market, try Smucklers or Halteman's for a good assortment of authentic German links.

It's worth visiting the Market to catch sights such as this...

"Prost" as they say in Germany. "Cheers" as they say in England.  Want to learn how to say "cheers" in every known language under the sun?  Then visit this website.  You'll never be caught short again.

Bountiful Breakfasts at the Market

"Breakfast like a King; Lunch like a Prince and Dine like a Pauper," runs the oft quoted wisdom about how to stay fit 'n' healthy, with the idea being that you front-load your day and eat progressively smaller meals then onwards.  We're all in favor of that -- especially if it means we can enjoy breakfast at that food mecca, the Reading Terminal Market.  The Market is a destination both for locals and for anyone visiting Philly because so many cuisines and cultures are represented under its hallowed roof.  And breakfast is no exception. With so many breakfast options, it can sometimes be difficult to choose.  We recently came across another blog featuring top ten places to breakfast in Philly, and were shocked to see that our favorite place to have breakfast was conspicuously absent. 

Truthfully, the Market isn't really one place.  In terms of breakfast, well, I guess the Market warrants its own top ten list.  Here are our ten fave spots to "Breakfast like a King"...

Down Home Diner's Spinach Omelet, turkey bacon, pigs in blankets, and grilled tomatoes. 

1.  Down Home Diner--Jack McDavid has a gift for getting his patrons' day off to a great start. This feast--spinach and cheddar omelet, grilled tomato, sauteed greens, ham, bacon and--wait for it--DHD's own version of pigs in blankets (turkey sausage wrapped in buckwheat pancakes) makes me happy all day.
2. Barb and Suzy's Kitchen--the Famous Smucker's Breakfast Sandwiches will keep you going all morning.

Smucker's Breakfast of Champions

3.  Beck's Cajun Cafe--If you can't make it to Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter, try the beignets at Beck's.  If you close your eyes while taking your first bite, you really will feel like you've been transported to N'Awlins.  Seriously.  If you're seeking something heartier, Beck's Bourbon St. Breakfast will fill you up:  Red beans and rice topped with a fried egg.

Beck's Beignets

4.  Le Bus.  When a grab-and-go muffin or scone is the order of the day,

Le Bus will provide.

LeBus Muffins and Rolls

Metropolitan Croissants

5.  Metropolitan Bakery.  See #4.  Different selection, equally delicious.

6.  Profi's Creperie.  I have thus far sampled the Nutella/ strawberry/blackberry/banana filled crepe, and the egg/cheese/ham filled crepe.  Not at one sitting.   Both were divine. Looking forward to trying their vast assortment of other combos.  

Merci, Profi!




8.  Dutch Eating Place--From open 'til close there is a line here--starting with the epic breakfasts, and finishing with the famous apple dumplings--which, on particularly bad days may serve as breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner.  Don't forget the cream!

9 & 10.  Once you're done, stop by Tootsie's for a healthy lunch-to-go, Old City Coffee for a quick coffee, or one of the fresh produce merchants to grab some fresh fruit for a mid-morning snack!

Pancakes bursting with blueberries, or

...is it too early to sample an Apple Dumpling...?