If This is What Troy is Offering - I'm Taking...

With each passing day I am reminded how lucky I am to now be living in downtown Troy. Historic? You got it. Diverse? Check. Art scene? Absolutely. And food? ha.. are you kidding me?

Take today for example... I start the day off with a walk to Spillin the Beans coffee shop on Third Street. Their Stormy Midnight bold roast coffee and a vanilla almond biscotti is the perfect way to start my day.

By 11am I am off to the Troy Farmers Market in the Atrium. This gets tricky - I need to pace myself.. The first thing I see are the amazing breads and pastries from Our Daily Bread in Chatham. Take it from me, anything you buy here will be good - espcecially the not at all sweet walnut raisin rolls - unreal. Next I am bombarded with fresh vegetables from a host of local farms, dairy products, artisanal cheeses, chocolates, pastries, wine, honey, maple syrup, beeswax candles, soaps, jewelry, art work and more...  To top it all off there are samples being handed out everywhere you look - heck - you could eat lunch here on samples alone..

But I am a seasoned Farmers Market shopper - this is at least my 5th time there (!) - so I know the deal - pace yourself.. I limit my purchases to what I can actually eat in a week, while still being able to fit into my jeans.
This trip? Two "rustic rolls" and a mudslide cookie from my favorite local bakery, The Placcid Baker, carrots and beets from the Berry Patch farm, and a wedge of "Mercy" cheese and some crescent rolls from the Argyle Cheese Farmer. A very successful trip.

After my shopping adventure I was hungry.. go figure. So I stop ito Marmora on River Street for a light lunch. At the suggestion of my extremely helpful waiter, I ordered the Marmora falafel platter. This was a work of art. It came on a long red rectangular platter that featured pita bread triangles, and several dips including traditional hummus, baba ganoujsh, a feta and parsely dip, and a red pepper hummus. There were  also marinated, roasted eggplant and potatoes, tabouleh and the most delicious falafel covered in sesame seeds. It was as delicious as it was beautiful.  This was my first trip, but it won't be my last.

Now I am back home, full, satisfied and about to try and work some of this morning's treats off on the treadmill.. But it was so worth it..
I can't wait until next Saturday.