Portland Markets

Today is the final installment of my 3-blog series on Portland, Oregon. We spent most of Saturday experiencing some of the best of the local markets. First up: Saturday Farmer's Market at Portland State University campus. The grounds themselves were green, gorgeous and park-like.

Behold, the food carts and booths! Here's a fellow who roasts and sells chili peppers. I saw avid fans nearby ripping open plastic bags filled with steaming, charred peppers and tearing into them on the spot.

Did you know that artichokes could flower? Apparently they can, quite beautifully!
Brussels sprouts still on the stalk - you can't get much fresher or more regal looking than that.
Burdock root, a rare market find. Unusual even for Portland, as you can tell by the description posted about how to cook and use it.
There were all sorts of interesting musicians, from slightly tone deaf guitarist/singers to a genuine circus act touring from the east coast to this lone didgeridoo player.
This kid was cool, just chilling at his parent's booth and giving out samples of tomato juice. This stuff was really tasty, fresh and sweet.
Here are some unique bouquets made of chilies! Edible bouquets, I like that idea!
Other fantastic finds that I didn't photograph: handmade salami and other charcuterie; lavender infused jams (the blueberry was undeniably good); and tons of fantastic artisan cheeses, many made with sheep and goats milk. We couldn't pack any cheese, sadly; but the jam and the salami were packed in our luggage and toted home.
The famous and always popular Pine State Biscuit had their typical long line going. We watched the assembly process for a bit, but after examining our already substantial selves, we decided that a dish involving biscuits, fried chicken, cheese, and bacon might not be the most prudent lunch after the heavy eating we had already done that weekend. My husband went with an Italian sausage sandwich with tender pepper and onion topping (I know, not much better, but he can get away with it somehow)...

And later, I opted for Salvador Molly's Chicken Tamale topped with fresh salsa.

From the Farmer's Market, we also visited the Craft Market by the Waterfront. My husband's favorite store was one that featured a lot of gag head ware such as the one he demonstrates below:
I bought a few Portland-like t-shirts with trees and such on them. We wandered along the Waterfront and enjoyed the beautiful fall weather....

Watched some locals play...

And had one last treat before we left town, from Portland's Original Elephant Ear cart. Native Northwesterners know that an elephant ear is a piece of dough that is fried and rolled in cinnamon sugar, or filled with things like chocolate or fruit filling. We went traditional with cinnamon sugar and enjoyed our treat as we said goodbye to the city of Portland!

Thanks for joining us on our journey through Portland! If you get a chance, I hope you go and love it as much as we did!