Breakfast Fare at the Market

My foodie partner Keri and I have an ongoing disagreement.  While she is a huge fan of breakfast, she is a downer on brunch, because it falls in that dead zone between breakfast and lunch (and she's a stickler for etiquette.) 

For me, brunch is a languid breakfast -- one of those ultimate indulgences that you only get to do, very occasionally, at the weekend or when you're on holiday and can have a lie in...

What we both agree on, however, is the importance of a hearty breakfast to set you up for the day. 

You'd think that this would be an indisputable truth, but according to the medical website, WebMD, the majority of people still grab a coffee on the go and call that breakfast.  WebMD asserts that "making breakfast a daily habit can help you lose weight -- and keep it off."

In a post entitled Lose Weight: Eat Breakfast, WebMD cites several studies to back up their claim including a study using data supplied by The National Weight Control Registry.  As WebMD maintains: "Eating breakfast is a daily habit for the "successful losers" who belong to The National Weight Control Registry. These people have maintained a 30-pound (or more) weight loss for at least a year, and some as long as six years."

Now that we know how important it is to eat breakfast, here's a selection of some of the breakfasts that we've enjoyed at Reading Terminal Market.



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



2.The Famous Smucker's Breakfast Sandwiches - their sausage, egg and cheese is a current fave.

3.  Beck's Cajun Cafe--We mourn the fact that Beck's Beignets are only available on Wednesdays and Sundays. For those other days of the week, try Beck's Bourbon St. Breakfast: Red beans and rice topped with a fried egg.

Beck's Beignets

4.  Le Bus.  When you only have time for a grab-and-go breakfast, then the Market's bakeries are the answer...

LeBus Muffins and Rolls

Metropolitan Croissants

5.  Metropolitan Bakery.  See #4.  Their millet muffin is delicious and provides plenty of whole grain roughage

6.  Profi's Creperie.  We like both their sweet and savory options.  The egg/cheese/ham filled crepe fills the gap nicely.






8.  Dutch Eating Place--This is fast food and fast service, but it's good food too.

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



A protein-packed cheesy omlet.

Which of these breakfasts stoke your fire in the mornings?

Happy Halloween Treats from Reading Terminal Market

Happy Snow-loween!

Yesterday's winter storm in October threw everybody for a loop, but if you fell behind on your Halloween plans, fear not!  We spotted plenty of seasonal treats on offer at the Reading Terminal Market and there's no snow in today's forecast, so....

Start at the Pennsylvania General Store...
These trick or treat bags will hold all the goodies you can carry....

Have fun filling them with these goodies....

Flying Monkey Patisserie's pumpkin whoopie pies are certainly worthy of their name...don't miss their other autumn treats.

Photo by Albert Yee

Chocolate by Mueller offers an eerie array of creepy chocolate organs--hearts and brains to name but two.

Chocolate organs not your cauldron of witches brew? Don't miss their candy apples:

 All that shopping may make you hungry....we recommend Molly Malloy's pumpkin pancakes. 

Isn't carb loading recommended for long distance runners?  Trick or treating can be something of a marathon.
And if your'e not  'pumpkined out' by Tuesday, Metropolitan Bakery starts featuring pumpkin cranberry as their bread of the month for November.   Count on us to be first in line!

Happy Halloween!

Favorite Bakeries in Philadelphia

Philadelphia boasts a wealth of wonderful bakeries, and that is good news for those of us with a sweet tooth.

We've been talking cakes of late, but we recognize that this heat can be a significant deterrent to baking.  Unless you opt to do your baking early in the morning or late at night when the temperatures are slightly cooler, you may feel that you yourself are cooking along with your dessert.  Even when you avoid the heat of the day, the weather of late has been rather steamy, so turning on the oven is simply not tempting.

Fortunately for us,  there are plenty of local places to procure a delicious cake without the swelter of your kitchen...

In Reading Terminal Market alone, there is an enormous selection of baked goods....

Termini's--we liked this chocolate glaze cake: a chocolate cake topped with a vanilla glaze and chocolate drizzle.   This is only one of dozens of tasty treats created by Termin's.

Flying Monkey offers a veritable bouquet of cupcakes and other treats; if you think they look good wait til you taste them.

Flying Monkey Cupcake Assortment [photo used with their permission]

Metropolitan Bakery, known predominantly for their artisan breads, is no slouch in the dessert department--as demonstrated by their chocolate torte and fruit tart.

Bieler's Bakery offers a staggering array of choices...

While we are rabidly devoted to Reading Terminal Market, we do stray from there occasionally.  In such cases, Brown Betty Bakery fills our need for sweets.   We brought a dozen of their justly famous cupcakes to a friend's house for dinner last weekend, thus assuring that we will be invited back soon.

And if you are looking for fancy, nobody maneuvers fondant like Allison's Cups and Cakes.  There is no sculpture, no shape, no theme too ambitious for Allison; she has of course, created beautiful, traditional multi-tiered wedding cakes adorned with flowers.  But that is the tip of the iceberg.  She once made a cake shaped like stacked Tiffany boxes (in the signature blue, of course) with 'jewels' spilling out of them.  With equal skill and attention to detail, she has sculpted a transformers, Elmo, Hello Kitty, a Louis Vuitton bag and dozens of other awe-inspiring cakes that are (almost) too beautiful to eat.

One of Allison's simpler creations, a spider cake for Halloween.

So, if cake is your wish but turning your oven on is your dread, Philly's got you covered.

What's your favorite bakery?

Easter Desserts at the Market

Flying Monkey's cupcakes--love those sprinkles!

Talk about eye candy...Easter just wouldn't be Easter without this homage to the delicious array of sweet breads, pastries and cakes now on sale at the Market.  These caught our eye - so what's your favorite treat this Holiday?

Easter cookies from Termini's, too lovely to eat.....almost.

Easter Bread from Termini's--perfect for brunch, and pretty enough to use as a centerpiece, at least until it's eaten!

Metropolitan Bakery's Flourless Chocolate Torte and Linzer Fruit Tart

 

 And if you fancy something lighter, we recommend our friend Marcy's  Citrus Fruit Salad.

For this simple recipe, you will need a selection of citrus fruits currently in season.  We like grapefruit, ruby grapefruit, orange, pineapple, blood oranges - for their pretty color.  Chop into bite sized chunks.  Take 2 cups of unsweetened orange juice and a teaspoon of honey.  Bring both ingredients gently to the boil.  Set aside until cool.  Combine all ingredients and refrigerate.  We find that it's best to chill the salad overnight, as this reduces the acidity of the fruits.  We would then suggest serving this light and healthy dessert with one of the slightly naughty Easter cookies or chocolates now in at the Market.

Happy Holidays!

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...?