Pittsburgh Public Market

Well my friends..... after an incredibly long and draining week at work, I think my husband knew I needed a pick-me-up because he suggested that we take a trip to quite possibly my most favorite place on earth....

The Pittsburgh Public Market!!! 

If you're any type of foodie, if you love homemade, natural, organic, fresh, DELICIOUS, creative, inspiring, unique and just plain amazing food, if you would love to have personalized service with some of the friendliest people you'll ever meet, if you'd like to purchase everything you'd need in one spot....

Alright you get it, just go there. It's amazing.. It really, really is. If I could shop there all the time, I absolutely would- if only it were closer to my house! 

Since the turn into 2014, I've been headstrong and adamant about switching our food over to more sustainable, wholesome, and natural options. Thus, when going to the public market, I was on a mission. 

While there, we purchased: 

• 1 lb of 80/20 ground beef, ~2 lbs chuck delmonico steaks, and ~2 lbs flat iron steaks from Clarion Farms 
• A 5-6# roasting chicken from Clarion River Organics 
• I also got a half gallon of unhomogenized, pasteurized whole milk from Clarion River Organics, it was from Pasture Maid Creamery
• 2 bundles of lemon pepper fettuccine, 2 bundles of chipotle linguine, and some shredded parmesean-esque cheese from Ohio City Pasta  
• 2 growlers of a-mah-zing beer from East End Brewing Company 

The man who was selling the beef at Clarion Farms was so incredibly helpful and nice! He helped me pick out some nice cuts of delmonico and flat iron steaks. 

I have big plaaaaans for this clucker! Roasted chicken and saving the bones for homemade broth mmmmm...

The top is the lemon pepper, bottom is chipotle. Lord this pasta is good, good, good...

Two growlers of delicious, locally brewed beer. To the left is a brew called Monkey Boy, and the right is Snow Melt which is one of their seasonal winter ales. And of course, beside the brews is the bottle of my delicious whole milk.

After we got back from the public market, we were pretty famished, so I decided to make some of the fresh pasta that we'd gotten that day. I also had some broccoli and mushrooms that I needed to use up so that's exactly what I did. That's what I love about pasta, you can throw just about anything with it and it will still taste fantastic- have a high quality pasta and it's even better..

So I steamed the broccoli.. 

Sauteed the mushrooms in olive oil with some onions and garlic... 

And I boiled up the two bundles of lemon pepper pasta..

Added some lemon juice and tossed it all together, topped with some of that shredded cheese I got. 

And I have to say, it was quite delicious if I do say so myself.... 

Foodie's Dream Saturday Part 2

After the expo, we headed over to the Strip District and walked outside and viewed all the outdoor markets/vendors. I bought some dates and prunes from an italian grocer- love me some fiber!

We spent maybe 30-45 minutes doing that before the men headed down to the area and we headed to an outdoor beerfest in the strip (I totally forget the name of it, oh well).  They had East End Brewing Co beer there so I was all set! That is, until they ran out- boo!!

I also had some egg rolls and a veggie dog from the Franktuary truck- saurkraut & mustard = perfection. I snarfed it down too fast and forgot to take a pic- oopsie!

After a beer or two, or three, or four.. Mike wanted to head out to see some Improv shows.  We had an hour or two to kill before the shows started so we stopped at my ABSOLUTE MOST FAVORITE PLACE ON EARTH!!!! 

Can you guess? Sure you can!

Kaya 

I started the meal of right with one of their delicious Caribbean inspired beverages, this one's called the Lava Lover. It has Malibu rum, coconut milk, pineapple juice & grenadine in it and was super divine. 

Yucatan Bean Dip = heavenly 

Kaya chips!! 

Aren't they super pretty? Yum yum!

I totally forgot the dinner menu gives you three gigantic jerk tofu tacos and I immediately regretted getting an appetizer. But they were soo delicious I made my way through (for the most part). 

So yummy!! 

Mike got the Kaya burger and wow does this bad boy look amazing... A burger with pickles, bacon, tomatoes, avocado, chihuahua cheese, a sunny side up egg, and Kaya's secret sauce.  He really dug it. 

I was being super indulgent today clearly, and ordered another beverage for dessert, the Caipirinha, a mixture of muddled lime, sugar, and Cachaça. Apparently it's the national drink of Brazil? Who knows but it was fantastic! 

After a wonderful, hilarious show by The Lupones at the Steel City Improv Theater, I was super tired and wanted nothing more than my nice, cool bed with a fan blowing on me. I at least had the forethought to chug not one, but three glasses of water. Woohoo for avoiding hangovers!!!  

I was so stuffed and felt so piggish I'm hoping to show some restraint and modesty in my food for the next week. Oye vey! 

............Another commercial for Magic Mike came on and I think I went brain dead there for a minute or so.