September 25, 2022

A Morning At Eastern Market


I don't know why it popped into my head a few days ago, but I realized I hadn't been to Eastern Market in Detroit in a very long time. I think the last time I went was during my girls' weekend with Caitlin, Andrea, and Bonnie in 2016. Eastern Market is a huge farmers' market with vendors that have everything from plants and flowers to homemade baked goods, fresh cheese to an abundance of jams and tea and all sorts of good stuff.

I absolutely love Detroit, and it'd been a while since I was there (for any reason). The murals on buildings are my favorite!


 I know my mom loves Eastern Market as well, so I asked her if she wanted to go with me on Saturday (yesterday) morning. The market opens at 6:00 AM, so we headed out super early. It was a little bit drizzly, but the market is mostly in "sheds"--enormous tents.

This stand just looked so pretty! I had never seen purple cauliflower before.



I went to the market with one real mission--to find foods that I'd never tried before so that I could taste them. Our Kroger, where I grocery shop, has limited produce and there isn't much variety. So I wanted to try some new things.

My bags were getting heavier after pretty much each stand we went to, haha

I was very excited to see this (stalk?) of Brussels sprouts. I LOVE Brussels sprouts and so do my kids! Eli is a picky eater, but he really does love them when I sauté them in coconut oil or roast them.


I've always been such a shy, quiet person, and over the last year or so, I've been making a point to step out of my comfort zone and talk to people. Every time I go to the grocery store or anywhere in public, really, I've started talking to people. Sometimes I just say a word or two, and sometimes I have full conversations. Well, the market is the perfect place to have conversations with people.

I really enjoyed chatting with a man who was selling a ton of different flavors of jam. All of them are vegan and don't even contain any pectin. My favorite part was the creative names, though! Check these out:





One that caught my eye was called Sweet Jesus and it was a sweet jalapeño jam. I asked him what people do with it, because I couldn't picture using it (but I love jalapeños!). As soon as he mentioned putting it on a grilled cheese, I was sold.


I've been using a vegan cheese recipe that I really like (it doesn't get firm enough to slice or shred, but stays in a very thick cheese-sauce consistency--it's what I use on my homemade pizzas). The thought of thick sourdough bread with the vegan cheese and Sweet Jesus jalapeño jam just sounded heavenly. So I bought a jar of that.

He was also selling gift tins of a variety of smaller jars, and my mom bought one for me!


My absolute favorite stand, however, was where a man was selling vegan cheese spreads. (The honey and cinnamon is not vegan because of the honey, but the others are.) He offered me a sample and I couldn't decide, so I asked what his favorite was. He said the herb is his favorite, so I chose that.


He spread a little on a slice of baguette, and it was SO delicious! When I saw the ingredients, I thought I could definitely make it at home--but I wanted to buy some so that I could try to replicate it the best I can.



It's kind of interesting--since becoming vegan, I've started seeing foods differently in that I can make so many items myself--instead of buying hummus, for example, it's so easy to make it instead. I almost bought a dried bean mixture, but when looking through the types of beans/peas/lentils in it, I discovered that I had all of those things at home and could just put it together myself.

By the time I came home, this was my haul:


A few new to me foods:

I forget what these pears are called, but the vendor said that people either love them or hate them, haha.


I couldn't help but try the purple cauliflower! I cut it into florets and plan to roast them tonight.



I don't remember what this squash was called--at least I think it's a squash!--but I thought that would be fun to try as well.


I also bought purple potatoes (!), cranberry beans (never tried those), collard greens for Jerry's Beans & Greens recipe, and some staples: Yukon gold potatoes, jalapeños, green beans, Brussels sprouts, and corn on the cob. I made a corn chowder with the fresh ears of corn last night and it was delicious! I don't use fresh corn very often.

Oh! And one more thing I was very excited about:


Fresh garlic. I know it sounds silly, because you can buy it anywhere, but I can't remember the last time I bought garlic that was actually FRESH from the grocery store. Every time I try it, it's old and bitter inside. So, I always just buy minced garlic in a jar. I've missed roasted garlic, though, and I can't wait to roast these and put them on pizza.

Finally, this picture is kind of random, but there is a story behind it. Jerry and I love the movie Meet the Parents with Ben Stiller, who plays a man who is trying to impress his girlfriend's dad. He stops inside a convenience store and asks the bored looking employee at the counter what their most expensive bottle of champagne is. The guy said they have Mums on sale for $13.95, and Stiller's character asks, "You don't have anything nicer, like an $80 or $100 bottle?" and the guy replies, "You could buy a whole bunch of Mums."

Jerry and I always laugh at that part and it's one of those movie phrases we say randomly sometimes. (We quote movie lines all the time!). When I saw all of these mums, I just had to get a picture of me with "a whole bunch of mums", haha.


Anyway, it was a great morning at the Market and I definitely want to go more often. We were home by 10:30 AM and I had a huge pile of produce to eat this week!

16 comments:

  1. I love jalapeño jam on hotdogs and bratwurst. Not sure if you eat vegan versions of those. Or if your boys would eat on non vegan ones.

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    1. Ooooh, that sounds good! I haven't tried vegan hot dogs yet, but I've loved the other faux meats I've tried and I actually have a package of vegan hot dogs in my freezer right now. Maybe it's time to bust them out and give them a try :)

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  2. Are those pears off of a cactus?

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    1. I don't *think* so, but I'm not sure--I wish I could remember what they were called! He said they were a pear of some sort. I'm going to cut one open today. I've been trying to eat all my produce before it goes bad!

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    2. They are prickly pears from a cactus.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGj7sFwdK6s

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  3. I love jalapeno jelly over cream cheese and served with crackers as the easiest appetizer to set out when people are coming over.

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    1. this is my favorite way to eat jalapeno jelly too. is there a vegan cream cheese?

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    2. That sounds AMAZING--I'm definitely going to try it! I haven't tried vegan cream cheese yet, but I know they carry it at my grocery store (and there are lots of recipes online for making it). Good idea!

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  4. That purple cauliflower is beautiful!

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    1. Isn't it?! I roasted it a couple of days ago and it was delicious--the purple color intensified, too. I'm definitely going to buy more the next time I go. I love cauliflower!

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  5. So glad you had fun! Well-deserved. Can't wait to see what you do with those items. And as Joyce said, that looks like a "prickly pear" which would be off a cactus, but how that wound up in Michigan, hmmmm.

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    1. I can't remember what the vendor called it--but I don't *think* it was a prickly pear (I've heard of those before, but the name he gave me was unfamiliar). I guess I'll see when I cut it open today!

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  6. That looks like an amazing haul Katie! Buen provecho (Eat with pleasure!)

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    1. A "haul" is certainly correct! I may have gotten too ambitious, but I've been eating lots of produce for the last few days and it's been delicious :)

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  7. That squash is a butternut. Cut it in half and scoop the seeds out. I usually peel it first and then cut into cubes and add olive oil, salt & pepper and roast. It's delicious.

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  8. When I was in Peru, we called those fruits prickly pear, but I'm sure they probably have multiple names. I think the squash is a Honeynut. Looks like a butternut, but darker color.

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