as we near the end of market season

The end of market season is upon us and that makes me just a little bit sad.  Though indoor and outdoor markets run year round in the city, the biggest presence and variety of markets exists from late Spring to early Fall - Market Season.  There exists this great little book that I've considered buying about a dozen times because it details nearly all of these markets from the hidden foodie gems to the giant seasonal produce stops.  Well, whadaya know, not only does Aunt Carolyn have a copy of Markets of New York City, but they also launched a website to guide you through all of the special events occurring on any given weekend!  So I perused my late season options for lower Manhattan and came across two that I had never been to, probably because I rarely leave Brooklyn when the weekend rolls around.  

First stop was the Fulton Stall Market, a small but sweet length of gourmet stands boasting barbeque, sweet treats, teas and coffees, handmade jewelry and my personal favorite, lobster rolls.  I don't normally indulge in lobster rolls because I'm usually really poor but damnit, I have a broken leg and I deserved one this weekend!  Well, at least half of one.  So that's exactly what I got at Lots o' Lobstah!  For those of us on the cheap, they sell buttery toasted rolls jam packed with generous lumps of lightly seasoned lobster in halves and boy are they delicious.  It was the perfect little bite of lunch for a cool Autumn day near the waterfront in downtown Manhattan.  Plus, the ladies dishing it out were super nice and the line wasn't excruciatingly long like so many other lobster roll stands (delicious Luke's Lobster at the market across the street, I'm talking to you!)

After that indulgence, I made the arduously long trek across the street to the New Amsterdam Market.  Significantly larger than FSM, the New Amsterdam Market boasts similar stalls of gourmet foodie goodness alongside fresh produce stands, packaged goodies and yesterday, a hard cider tasting festival. I love a good hard cider, especially enjoyed outside on a perfect Fall day, so I was pretty bummed that it was too crowded for me to feel comfortable on my crutches to enjoy... there's always next year.  But not all was lost because just a few stalls down from the apple-holics was a taste of home.  Yay, it was the Bent Spoon all the way from Princeton, NJ!  Their natural, artisan ice creams and sorbets were one of the best and worst things that ever happened to me during my days in the jerz.  Understandably, I hobbled over to the stall, tried all three flavors and decided on two scoops of cran-crab apple and ginger sorbet, a brilliant palette cleanser that was both sweet and tart.  One of things I love most about the Bent Spoon is their use of local Jersey ingredients so I could be sure that everything I was indulging in was from the Garden State, splurging and supporting both of my homelands!

I'd say it was a pretty wonderful day to conclude a pretty wonderful weekend.  We'll see how many more markets I'll be able to cram in before October ends in a couple of weekends.  Unfortunately, not will conclude with a relaxing reading break and single bottle of hard cider with this panorama to relax with -

happy sunday