Eastern Market Christmas

This Saturday my childhood friend Katie and her husband Jake came to visit. (I have actually known Jake just as long as Katie, we all went to elementary, middle, and high school together, so we have great memories). It was so wonderful to see them and spend time with them. Katie is in her second trimester, and is such a cute pregnant woman. They brought along their ultrasound pictures, and we had a great time trying to find the face, back, arms and legs of their precious little baby.

After feasting on yummy sandwiches made on crusty french bread from Bagels and Baguettes (located at 3rd and Massachusetts), we headed over to Eastern Market (located on 7th Street, SE). There we walked through the vendors, sorting through maps, tiles, and photographs. Jake found a map of Genoa, Italy where his cousins live and Katie and Jake got to visit last year. It was really neat! Then we went into the market and sampled all sorts of soups (the thai shrimp was my favorite) and gouda parmesan cheese.





The Pasta vendor sold DeCecco pasta, and I found out that Jake's cousins work at competing pasta factories in Genoa, Italy. In that one town there are two pasta factories, DeCecco and another one (the name slips my mind). When asked which pasta is better, his cousins replied that DeCecco is best for dried pasta, and the other one is best for fresh. I thought that was a great response and I am sure I will be picking up a couple boxes of DeCecco at the store.



We ended up leaving with olives and the cheese for starters, and then artichoke and spinach raviolis with a pink vodka sauce for dinner. Katie's eyes lit up when she saw the hamentoshens at the bakery, and she just couldn't resist. Katie and I used to walk over to Scandia Bakery in Havertown, PA every Saturday morning to get blueberry (my favorite) and cherry (Katie's favorite) hamentoshens. The Eastern Market bakery sells them for $1.50 each. Of course in Pennsylvania we used to get four for a dollar.




As we were leaving, the sky turned a tremendous shade of blue and pink. It looked incredible against the bare trees. I tried to capture it here, but don't think I have done it much justice.



Capitol Hill was definitely in the Christmas spirit yesterday. Wreaths, christmas trees atop cars, and carolers and a nativity scene were set up in Lincoln Park. What a wonderful time of year!