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Today my sister R and I went to the Broadway Market. It's the traditional place here for people of Polish ancestry to get their Easter food. It's been around since the 1800's and is struggling to stay open now. We try to go several times a year; at Easter & Christmas they're usually packed.
We went last Sat., too and decided to come back today as Holy Saturday is usually once of the busiest, craziest days at the Market. Picture a big old hall with concrete walls & floors, with meat counters, produce stands, bakeries, an old-fashioned lunch counter (still using a lot of circa-1950's appliances!); for the Easter season there were a lot of temporary vendors selling everything from candles to coffee, to wine and hand-made noodles, to dog biscuits and amber jewelry from Poland.
Our favorite meat counter was out of ham by the time we got there
...Oh, well. I get a kick out of watching them work at that stand. There were at least 12 employees behind the counter, and even though the crowd was three deep, nobody has to wait more than a minute or so for service. The workers constantly call out "Is everybody taken care of? Anybody need help?" It's like a dance back there, no wasted motion...people going back & forth with sausages, cold cuts, prime ribs, chicken...I saw a guy carrying a whole pig's tail 
Then there are the flowers: Lilies, hyacinths, tulips, hydrangeas, daffodils, mums, pussy willows, and more. And the bakeries! Donuts, cheesecakes, cookies, coconut-covered lamb-shaped cakes, and the best pie in the world...strawberry custard.
We went upstairs to the parking ramp where they had wine vendors offering tastes of their wares, people selling popcorn, cookies and more. We bought a couple of chocolate bars to support a foundation that buys musical instruments for poor kids...founded by Robbie Takac of the Goo Goo Dolls (local boys!) And there was Robbie, hanging out and talking with people. A really nice guy.
We came home with an embarrasingly large amount of chocolate and pastries, and a bottle of white wine called Girl's Best Friend from a new local winery.
Happy Easter, everybody!
We went last Sat., too and decided to come back today as Holy Saturday is usually once of the busiest, craziest days at the Market. Picture a big old hall with concrete walls & floors, with meat counters, produce stands, bakeries, an old-fashioned lunch counter (still using a lot of circa-1950's appliances!); for the Easter season there were a lot of temporary vendors selling everything from candles to coffee, to wine and hand-made noodles, to dog biscuits and amber jewelry from Poland.
Our favorite meat counter was out of ham by the time we got there
...Oh, well. I get a kick out of watching them work at that stand. There were at least 12 employees behind the counter, and even though the crowd was three deep, nobody has to wait more than a minute or so for service. The workers constantly call out "Is everybody taken care of? Anybody need help?" It's like a dance back there, no wasted motion...people going back & forth with sausages, cold cuts, prime ribs, chicken...I saw a guy carrying a whole pig's tail Then there are the flowers: Lilies, hyacinths, tulips, hydrangeas, daffodils, mums, pussy willows, and more. And the bakeries! Donuts, cheesecakes, cookies, coconut-covered lamb-shaped cakes, and the best pie in the world...strawberry custard.
We went upstairs to the parking ramp where they had wine vendors offering tastes of their wares, people selling popcorn, cookies and more. We bought a couple of chocolate bars to support a foundation that buys musical instruments for poor kids...founded by Robbie Takac of the Goo Goo Dolls (local boys!) And there was Robbie, hanging out and talking with people. A really nice guy.
We came home with an embarrasingly large amount of chocolate and pastries, and a bottle of white wine called Girl's Best Friend from a new local winery.
Happy Easter, everybody!
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