What's Local Marion Street Cheese Market

Local Coincidence

The meals in the Bungalow, local as they may be, are a constant jigsaw or maybe Rubik's cube. One move, one meal, one dish, leads to another dish, another ingredient. We build from our inventory but embellish constantly. If we make this, it needs that. Take Friday. Pie was planned. Originally, my wife thought maple--I asked her "maple what", and she sez, "just maple"; just maple, think pecan pie without the pecans. She had made maple the week before and was interested in trying it again as last week's was a bit too sweet (who woulda thought). Then, going through some recipes, she finds a maple-apple. Sounds great, we've been carrying these pie apples for months. But here's the thing. Just maple gets garnished with whipped cream (with a hint of maple in the cream). We have cream. Maple-apple needs ice cream. And not just any ice cream. After our visit to Cassie's Green Grocer, we are spoiled to any other ice cream. It must be Trader's Point Creamery Vanilla. It has the further advantage that, when slightly melted from the warm pie, it will make a custard sauce like we dining at Hogwarts.

Friday morning, my wife calls Trader's Point Creamery in Indiana. "Where do you sell your ice cream." I mean nothing against Cassie, but her store's just a bit too far this day. Trader's Point cannot answer. They promise to e-mail.

Friday afternoon, I make the challah run. One bakery in Oak Park bakes challahs for Friday's, Prairie Bread Kitchen. PBK is not the worst bread in Oak Park, but that's one of these tall midget contest kinda things. What I like best about PBK, much more than the challah, is the Marion Street Cheese Market next door. When I make the challah run, I invariably stop at Marion, sometimes just for a taste, but usually something, some pricey cheese for the week.

No e-mail had arrived from Trader's Point by Friday afternoon (in fact as of now, no e-mail yet). I would have to get a non-local, not quite as good ice cream, probably Hagen-Daz. I noticed that Marion Street Cheese had newly displayed (to me), Trader's Point Creamery cottage cheese and fromage blanc (highly worthwhile products). How 'bout ice cream? I asked. It turned out they did. In back. In a freezer. Mostly stocked away for the staff.

The pie came out very fine. As expected, the ice cream complemented even finer.