Outdoor markets and brunch

Don’t you just love Sundays? The only part that I don’t like is the evenings, when I have to start getting lunches and running clothes and other things ready for the week. I try to spend as much time possible preparing on Sunday night so that the rest of the week goes smoothly.

Last night was SO much fun. Our friends Jules and Dunc made the most delicious meal, an Ethiopian curry chicken with couscous that had tons of fresh parsley chopped in it. On the side, we had farm fresh green beans, a salad with kalamata olives, and to finish off, some baklava. Holy dessert, Jules’ homemade baklava was to die for. I am definitely going to give this entire meal a try in the near future!

Today we went to the South End Open Markets, a huge outdoor market in the South End that has all sorts of things for sale including jewelry, clothes, homemade soap, plants and flowers, baked goods, produce, and antiques. Today there were some great musicians playing, and despite the sweltering heat, we had a great time wandering around all of the market tables.

We bought two giant bunches of basil for tonight’s homemade pesto, fresh cheese with tomato and basil, and  a rosemary focaccia from Clear Flour Bakery, an amazing little bakery which was right around the corner from my first Boston apartment. Its so cheap, and everything is baked to perfection. The smells from this bakery alone were enough to make you go in to buy their pain au chocolat, focaccia, or brioche. The cheese came from Lawton Family Farm, a family farm in Foxboro, MA that also sells raw milk. I got to see pictures of their cows which are Ayrshires, and they are so cute! The cheese is awesome. They also had a honey lemon cheese which I think I will go back for next week. Yum!

At the markets, there is a giant old gutted building that houses thousands of antiques. The structure itself is impressive, and it is nice and cool inside.

After browsing the markets, we were starving and decided to have brunch at Gaslight, a charming brasserie close by. Gaslight has really cool subway tiled floors and a beautiful French menu. For brunch I ordered the truffled scrambled egg tartine with asparagus with several rounds of sparkling water.

Sorry for the blurry tartine photo!

This dish was awesome. The eggs were fluffy and creamy and dotted with black truffles, giving them a super earthy and deep flavor. The thin slices of baguette beneath the eggs soaked up some of the truffle flavor, and were chewy with crispy edges. The asparagus was the only bad part; it was overcooked and just really weak looking asparagus. I like those huge stalks that you can really bite into!

It was a great way to start the day, which we spent taking 4 of our nieces to the playground. I did lots of sprints across the soccer field, and it felt good to be running fast on a sports field! I think I may need to get myself to a track very soon for some speed work.

After playing for a few hours we did some Trader Joe’s shopping. I am hoping to have a relaxing evening to get ready for another week of work mayhem.

Don’t forget to enter my Good Health Natural Products giveaway which closes on Thursday.  Have a good Sunday night everyone!