A Metropolitan Market lunch

By Emily Williamson

Miranda is on a new exercise kick. She is determined to walk 10,000 steps a day. She says she is doing a walk-a-thon, and she is her own cause.

I joined Miranda's cause, but mostly because I like hanging out with her. On a (cold) spring day last week, she led the walk-a-thon from Hiawatha Park to the Junction, and then, since we needed a few thousand more steps to reach our goal, we marched back up to the Metropolitan Market for a lunch. After all that walking we were starving!

This is how Miranda and I have lunch at the Metropolitan Market. We call them our picnics. I highly recommend it.

After admiring the flowers in the lovely courtyard entrance, we pull out a mini cart and head to the olive bar. I'll admit, we sample one or two olives every time we go. Then we scoop a few into a plastic container and plop it in the cart. Next, cheese. There are so many great cheeses I am not going to even bother recommending any, half the fun is buying cheese you've never heard of and trying it. You can ask the staff if you have any questions - and they may also let you sample. Then a piece of fruit, whatever is in season: grapes, persimmon, pinklady apple, peaches. Miranda picks the crackers. She is very particular about the crackers. She reads the boxes or packaging carefully for just the right kind. Buttery and crisp is her preference.

Then we move onto the deli.

On this particular walking day, we hit the deli hard. We started with the fish and chips, and then added a little macaroni and cheese, grown up style, with white cheddar and penne noodles. Then there was the fresh sushi, and a cup of the coconut chicken curry soup.

Then, of course, there is the bakery. Cases of scrumptious delicacies! Yum! I like anything chocolate. We got a dipped macaroon.

It sounds like a lot of food, doesn't it? Well, it is. Here is the trick, we purchase small quantities of everything, then split the left overs.

After we have purchased our feast, we walk up to the caf