Just a little OCD on a Saturday afternoon

I am becoming increasingly obsessed with the St Lawrence market, to the point that when the owner of the hot-sauce shack (That rents out space to the "Mad Mexican" whose salsas et al are outstanding and who is actually trying to open up a tortilleria here in Toronto and is looking for financing--go talk to him. Seriously.) starts trying to convince me to buy a condo in the neighbourhood, I start thinking that it might actually be a good idea.

What's even crazier is that I don't even like it that much. I mean, I love it. It's fabulous. But really. Am I going to pay $6.99 for veal shank? Even if it is the prettiest darned veal shank I've seen in the city? (And believe me, since that whole osso bucco fiasco last week, my eyes have been peeled. I venture into 'hoods I have no reason to visit just on the off chance that there might be a butcher that might have some veal shanks in the window that I can ogle. Not buy, mind you, just ogle.)

And somehow I managed to spend $40.00 on cheese. And not that much cheese. But I did stumble, completely fortuitously, across some aged cheddar with caramelized onions that I have been looking for since last summer, to no avail. Of course I got three times as much as any reasonable girl needs.

In general, the market is a little too rich for my blood and staffed by people half of whom don't know their stuff. I didn't even dare ask if the ready-made (and 'famous') crab cakes are lump. (Forget about it. I'll just order from Faidley's.)

But still. It's intoxicating. And to be fair, some of them do know their stuff. They just tend ot be at the small and crazy expensive, homemade specialty items stalls. But they're good.

Anyway, who cares why I love it/hate it. Basically, what's not to love about anyplace that is predicated entirely upon food...

That said, now that I've discovered the charms of Chinatown East ("Fake Chinatown" to some), that may become my mainstay. No fish over $3.99/lb? Most in the $0.99-$1.99 range? Conch shells? Red peppers $0.59/lb? I may be completely unhinged, but I find that I prefer to split my food-buying dollars halfway down the middle. Local organic Brussles sprouts? Grass-fed, free-range, hormone-free beef? Yeah, and I'll top that off with two bags of "old" chicken bones and two loads of unidentified and unidentifiable "legumes en vrac."

Sounds about right to me.