Let them eat CHEESE

After much hype I decided to take people up on their insistence to go to Borough Market on a Saturday when the stalls were full in bloom and the crowd bursting with excitement. Although it took effort to drag my morning after pub-going self out of bed, I was not disappointed. Although I missed Apple Day (yea still not sure what that must have entailed - how many things can you do to apples) at the market the week before it was still quite the experience. Tucked away in the shadows of London Bridge, every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday these stalls appear with locals selling all sorts of things.

Popular items included:

·      Oils, in fact I tasted an amazing truffle oil that I had to buy right then and there. And I don’t even like truffles.

·      Jams and Jellies everywhere you turned. They were making jams out of things I'm not sure they should make jam out of... 

·      Hummus spreads, strangest one I tasted – apple spice hummus…must have been leftover from Apple Day.

·      Chocolate covered everything. There was this one stall with every fruit, nut, and veggie under the sun dipped in all sorts of chocolates. I put on my best, "kid in a candy store face" and sampled a nice array of white chocolate covered cranberries, dark chocolate banana chips, and milk chocolate pistachios. 

·      Fishes, meats, and cheeses. As well as beers from around the world and hot mulled red wines. Us Americans even brought in our very own pumpkin ale from the great wild yonder – Saranac Valley!

The Main Event:

I can't say I wasn't sniffing it out, because we all know I have this ingrained tendency to gravitate toward anything cheese-related, BUT the most amazing stumble upon was when I followed this line that snaked all the way through the market ending at THE pot of gold, or rather, cheese, that put all other pots of cheese to shame! This picture does not do it justice but the amazing grilled cheese creations that came from this place looked like a delicious clogged artery in a dish. They have these special cheese harnesses to melt the whole cheese wheel, and then they slice off melted gooeyness from the top, lumping it ooze after ooze on your fresh-made baguette. PLUS toppings!! If I hadn’t filled up on all the other free sampling I would have tried this heart attack sandwich with cheese on top. A true fat kid at heart, I now find myself singing the jump rope playground tune that will swiffer the United Kingdom;

"Heart Attack Sandwich, Cheese on Top. 

Tell me The Name of my Sweetheart. Is it A? Brie?....you get the point. 

Oh well, reason enough for me to go back.

All in all successful trip to the Borough. (Cronin that word takes on new meaning now doesn't it?)

English word of the day: Candy Floss = cotton candy!! This one came about when a coworker kept insisting the office smelled like candy floss. Cringing in my chair for what that could possibly mean, I knew it didn’t sound pleasant, she decided it was coming from her coffee, and she happily gulped down some more. After looking it up online, I was able to rest assured, it was nothing more than good old flavored sugar. Mind out of the gutter.