On our long visit to our family in Fairfax, Virginia, we have enjoyed cooking and having family meals. It's a wonderful thing to stop being isolated! Going to a variety of small and large food shops in the area has been a great pleasure too -- before being vaccinated, we had all food delivered to us, so we were unable to enjoy the process of shopping and making choices. Fairfax County is much larger than the urban area where we live (Ann Arbor, MI), and has a diverse population, so it offers many more types of shops. Whether they are part of a large chain (like H-Mart) or a single small-scale business (like the Russian Gourmet), we were happy to have these much-missed experiences.
Crumbl Cookies
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| Orders can be entered online or (if small) at the counter. |
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| Baking is done behind a display window. |
Pasties from the prize-winning Pure Pasty Co.
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The Pure Pasty Co writes: "We travel home to Cornwall every year for the World Pasty Championships. We’ve won the Open Savoury category twice (2018+19)." |
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Several flavors made up our lunch Saturday: all delicious. What I liked: Moroccan Lamb
and Provençal Vegetable. They are sold frozen, to be baked just before eating.
I've tried the pasties in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. These are much more varied. |
The Swiss Bakery
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The Swiss Bakery (near the Beltway) has been a favorite with our family for years.
Several types of rolls, sandwiches, and pastries made there are just wonderful. Swiss Bakery Website. |
The Russian Gourmet
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| A small shop crammed with fascinating imports. |
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Many types of vegetables in jars, as was typical in
20th century Russia. |
We were particularly interested in trying the Borodinsky rye bread which is made at The Russian Gourmet in Fairfax -- WEBSITE. We enjoyed it, and also tried several other items imported from Latvia, Armenia, and elsewhere in the former SSRs.
Woody’s Ice Cream
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| A popular ice cream place in downtown Fairfax. |
A Visit to H-Mart
H-Mart is a well-known chain of huge Asian supermarkets with outlets in around 10 states. We had never shopped in one before this, however, as the nearest H-Mart to us is an hour from our house. Our purchases included a number of Asian vegetables and sauces for our various cooking projects -- and some to take back to Ann Arbor.
Blog post and all photos © 2021 mae sander.
Love all of the shops, but some are just too dangerous for me :). Cookies, ice creams, pasties - 3 of my weaknesses. However, I would like to have a German shop nearby. We used to have one but they closed after 35 years in business. Oh how I miss it.
ReplyDeleteWhat amazing shopping experiences. Enjoy all your cooking!
ReplyDeleteThe pastries from Pure Pastry look so GOOD! I don't see H-mart here..looks really nice.
ReplyDeleteOh-oh, BIG WOW!
ReplyDeleteYou have one admiring and very hungry person here!
Wow this is fabulous. Happy Easter.
ReplyDelete