Second Sunday: One More Time in E.C.?

We're going back to the Second Sunday for the caramel marshmallows -- if they'll have us back in November.

The talk at October's food and shopping market in downtown Ellicott City was that the monthly event had extended to November and maybe later. I don't know all the details, but the folks who run the French Market and Tersiguels have been spearheading a monthly market that offers unusual produce, special sweets and more. They paired up with several neighboring boutiques that offer non-food shopping, if you're into that kind of thing.

The market sits on the edges of the parking lot off Main Street in Ellicott City. For the October event, we pulled into the lot near Tersiguel's and walked to a series of umbrellas shading some excellent food. There were two tables of unusual produce -- baby artichokes, purple carrots, fresh figs. There was a table of homemade jellies and sweets by Rare Opportunities Farm. And you

can walk a few steps inside the French Market for coffee and its normal offering of sandwiches, pastries and items from Tersiguel's.

We arrived late, which meant we got a great 2 for 1 deal on some baby artichokes. We also got to talk to one of the chefs from Tersiguel's, who was really friendly explaining what to do with the unusual produce. Her description about how the French restaurant uses seasonal produce made me want to go check it out. Unfortunately, we arrived too late for many of Rare Opportunities' sweets -- including the caramel marshmallows. They make the marshmallows from scratch. We tasted a few samples, and Mrs. HowChow announced that we would be back next month.

The Terisguel's chef said that she had been told to expect a Second Sunday event in November. That would be November 8. She wasn't sure about December. Its definitely worth a visit, especially as it has expanded across the parking lot into stands for chocolates from Sweet Cascades and meats from a farm whose business card I lost.

The Ellicott City Web site's list of events doesn't include a November date for the Second Sunday market, although part of the site says the market runs 10 am to 3 pm when it happens. To see if Second Sunday is coming back, call Randy Neely at Good Life Market Home (410-480-4324) or Debbie Kehe at Mon Amie Boutique (410-465-3673).