Leftover Posting

When I was on vacation last week, I felt like I was way overposting so I saved a few things for later. The time has come and I'm going to reveal some great finds around Pike Place Market. On our last day, my family and I headed to the market after lunch to pick up ingredients for my stuffed portobellos.

If you have never been to Pike Place, I would say it is kind of like a giant indoor farmers market (although I am not sure if the produce is grown by local farmers). I say it is like a farmers market because it has filled with booths offering fresh fish, produce, crafts, flowers, oils, jams, etc. Surrounding the market, there are a ton of restaurants and stores that are very enticing.

Since we were going to make my stuffed portobellos, we needed a side dish. First we considered a salad but then came to our senses and decided on a fresh piroshkis. Piroshkis are Russian hand held pies stuffed with tasty fillings. Their filings are rich, while their crusts are a perfect balance between flakey and doughy. At Piroshki Piroshki, they have both savory and sweet with many choices from which to choose. We ended up going with the potato and onion filled AND some sweet ones for the ferry ride home :) Now I must warn you, if I have you salivating and convince to go here, you must prepare yourself to stand in a 20 minute line. But if it is any consolation, it was featured on No Reservations. If you have never seen it, it is a show by Anthony Bourdain, who I might possibly be in love with.

Also near the market, there lays a store called World Spice Merchants. I think they might want to reconsider their name because it should probably be called World Spice Mecca. However, regardless of name, this shop seriously is amazing. Filled with jars and jars of fresh spices, World Spice is loaded with every spice imagined. Since I can't list every one here, I will focus on their salt collection. I have never seen so many in my life. All of my spices are from Penzey's and I'm not saying that they don't have a great collection but wow, this shop has a whole lot of spices. Some include: alderwood smoked salt, black lava flake salt, black salt, hawaiian sea salt, himalayan salt rock, italian sea salt, japanese sea salt, and the list goes on and on. Such a great find. Seattleites are lucky to have this store in their backyard! (PS my pictures don't do it justice, there were tons more spices that I didn't take pictures of)

So there it all is. Looking back, I wish I had spent more time up there but I guess that means I will just have to go back soon and visit. Maybe I should go down to the Ferry Building's farmers market and pretend to be a Pikes Place just for the day :)