Two Days in Cleveland

Mom & I had a mini-getaway last week.  We drove down to Cleveland to visit our ancestral homeland.  Why is it always more fun to visit than to live there?

Once we checked into our hotel, we headed for the West Side Market, a Cleveland institution since 1913.  I remember going on a field trip to the market when I was in elementary or junior high school.  My response?  A big fat yawn.  A couple of friends later dragged me there and again, I had no interest whatsoever.

In my thirties, my love of food and cooking appeared out of nowhere.  All of a sudden finding local farmers' markets became a priority.  Once Mom & I decided to go on our trip, I couldn't wait to go to the West Side Market and atone for my sins.

Mom & I packed up two coolers full of ice and spent the afternoon at the market, oohing and aahing.  Some memories came flooding back of my grandpa taking me to the market when I was three or four years old.  His mom lived a few blocks from the market so on weekends he'd take me to the market and we'd go and visit his mom.  My mom told me that he went to the market as much as possible; she loved it when he came home with the bounty, especially her favorite, smoked goose liver.

At the end of our visit, Mom & I were weighted down with bags of green tomatoes, poblano peppers, strawberries, fingerling potatoes, fresh figs, peppered bacon, homemade red pepper pasta, Polish sausage.  And guess what?  Smoked goose liver.