Despite finally having a healthy snowfall here in Western PA, we decided to head out Saturday morning to the Strip District. Mark had seen an antique four post bed in one of the shops there and wanted to have another look before committing to buying it.
After miraculously finding a parking place (with a broken meter, of course) near St. Patrick's Church, we walked about 5 scenic blocks through a trash laden alleyway to get to a warehouse known as Zerrer's Antiques. Apparently, Zerrer's likes to maintain an ambiance reminiscent of the era of the wares that they sell, because there is no heat whatsoever in the building. Lauren immediately became antsy, so in an effort to stay warm and keep her occupied, she and I did laps around the warehouse while Mark purchased the bed. Luckily, Lauren's not too grabby when we shop, so I don't have to worry too much about her smashing a Murrano glass vase to bits.
On the way back to the car, we walked up Penn Avenue. The Strip never ceases to amaze me. How can such a dingy, dirty looking neighborhood emanate the most fantastic smells? I was determined to pick up some cannoli. Mark wanted a loaf a Mancini's bread. As not to disappoint, the ladies of Pennsylvania Macaroni Company were bravely selling every type of cookie imaginable outside of the store. I immediately honed in on the cannoli, but as I reached for them, I noticed these:
It was one of those moments when a long dormant memory suddenly jumps to the forefront of your mind. Loveknots! My grandma used to make those! So the cannoli got some company.
Next we stopped at the Mancini's Bread shop, where the nice lady behind the counter gave Lauren a bread stick that was as long as she is tall. The great thing about having a kid is that you get free stuff like this all the time.
On the way home, we picked up lunch at LuLu's Noodles. Because I was under pressure, I mistakenly ordered the Korean Rice Bowl w/chicken instead of my usual Hong Kong Rice Bowl w/chicken. Instead of shiitake mushrooms, bean sprouts, asian greens and a side of tasty soy sauce, the Hong Kong version came with soybean sprouts, bamboo shoots, a fried egg, kim chee and a side of ketchup based sauce. Lamenting the absence of shiitake mushrooms, I picked off the fried egg because I had already had eggs for breakfast. The kim chee was okay, kind of spicy and sour at the same time. I probably would have liked it better if I was more into cabbage. Happily, the ketchup based sauce was excellent, and almost made me forget about the missing shiitake mushrooms.
Oh, Mark had Pad Thai, but that's pretty much a given. And Lauren had peanut butter on Mancini's bread, which is also a given.
