Nothing But Love :: golf blogger

CLEVELAND ROCKS!

we like to get down to the west side market about once a month. the present building (built in 1912) sits on the same site of an open air market that's operated for about 200 years. it’s a really cool place. the produce is fresh and cheap. there are numerous butcher stands, ethnic food stands (mexican, asian, middle eastern, etc.). there’s fresh pasta, pierogis, bakery (ohmygod – the bakery stands!), cheese, spices, coffee. it is one of my favorite places in cleveland.

we’re usually looking for some fresh fruit and vegetables, some meat (jackson always asks us to pick him up some beef jerky, bill’s always looking for some andouille or a small tazo ham – he got a tiny ham this weekend), some home-made pasta, pierogis, and empanadas or enchiladas for my lunches. we like to leave with a great latte from the coffee stand and a breakfast sandwich from one of the middle-eastern stands (egg and cheese on a toasted pita).

but the best thing about the market is the people. the vendors are chinese, italian, hungarian, lebanese, polish, mexican. and more. the stands are family owned and operated, most having been in their families for generations. the customers are also of many ethnic backgrounds, all kinds of people, lots of yuppies included (don’t you friggin’ DARE call us yuppies!). it’s loud, crowded, and pungent. obviously. the fishmonger’s stall is particularly pungent. if you get to the market early saturday morning, many of the customers are obviously restaurant owners and chefs. they’ve ordered a lot of stuff from their favorite vendors during the week for saturday pickup. but they’re also there looking for ideas. checking out the produce, rewriting their “specials” for the weekend.

this saturday i think i had the most fun i’ve ever had at the market. we didn’t get yelled at by one vendor (not uncommon. don’t dawdle here – there are too many people to service), found everything – and way more – than we were planning to purchase. and at my pasta counter where i purchased my usual fresh fettucini, i ordered a pound of gnocchi to try. i’ve made gnocchi from scratch before (this is a story for another post. suffice it to say that i will never try this at home again). if we want gnocchi, we go to stino’s (stino da napoli is our favorite restaurant). i asked for my pound of plain potato gnocchi. to my left was a young man (i’d say late 20’s) all in leather, face piercings, and tattoos EVERYWHERE. on his ears. everywhere i could see. except for his face. he and his girlfriend were waiting their turn. he said to me “i’m gonna have to break up with this girl here – she won’t eat gnocchi.” we (the three of us) had quite the conversation about gnocchi, stino’s, cheesecake. i loved it. i hope we run into them at stino’s sometime – it’s their favorite restaurant, too.

this kind of stuff cracks me up, really tickles me. you guys who know me from this site KNOW me. what i look like is quite different. i’m a short, gimpy, blond, heavy, very mom-looking ALMOST 50-year old lady. people have described me as cute, lady-like (actually i think the word used was “regal.” snort.) i think i’m probably scrubbed, rosy apple cheeked, with a touch of interesting. i hope so. people are always freaked out when they hear me drop the f-bomb the first time. cracks me up.

but kids look like they want to take a bite out of my thigh sometimes. cuz i’m soooooooo mom-looking. don’t you dare say grandma-like. don’t you DARE. i will fucking cut you. i will.

wow. that really got off the track, huh? sorry. i ramble sometimes. anyway – it was a goooood day. go there if you get to cleveland. go there if you live in cleveland and haven’t been yet. i don’t know why you haven’t been, but do it now. maybe we’ll run into each other. you know what i look like now, right?

Posted by Stacey at February 23, 2004 12:46 PM