Duckweed Urban Market – Tampa, FL

 

I bought a LivingSocial deal for $10 that gave me $20 to spend on meat and seafood at Duckweed Urban Market. 

It’s in the lower level of the Element tower, and it’s the only local grocery store for all the residents of downtown Tampa.  I had never been before, but since I sell lots of furniture to residents of the Element, I’ve heard good things about it. 

The first impression was very good – the outside is decorated with plants in brightly colored pots and has seating for people wanting to grab a quick bite.  It looks like something you’d find in New York City. 

It’s a pretty small store, but they do have many of the essentials along with some really great local venders.  When I told them about my coupon, they said I could actually use it towards anything in the store, not just meat and seafood. 

I was excited to see that they had Whatever Pops – fantastic gourmet popsicles that are normally sold at food truck events and farmer’s markets in Tampa.  I picked up a Strawberry Basil and Earl Grey Lavender Lemonade. 

I also bought some lobster ravioli from Tampasta, granola with vanilla and chocolate clusters, a dark chocolate bar with chilies & cherries by Chocolove, and a jar of pear dark chocolate cinnamon jam from The Urban Canning Company. 

We had the ravioli for dinner last night and it was delicious.  The granola I’ve been eating for breakfast in parfaits, and we’ve been savoring the chocolate bar (I love the sweet & spiciness).  The chocolate had a Shakespeare poem inside, which was a nice touch.  

 

 

I haven’t had the chance to eat the popsicles or jam yet, but I’ve had several other Whatever Pops and they’ve always been incredibly fresh.  We have a few other jellies to use up before I crack this one open, but if it tastes as good as it sounds, I may have to go back for more. 

I will say that the quality of what I bought was fantastic.  But the prices are out of my normal grocery budget – the 6 items I bought came to a total of $33.  I’m all for supporting local businesses and I love the unique products, but I’d have to make a bit more money if I wanted to shop here regularly. 

Duckweed Urban Market is located at 803 North Tampa Street, Tampa, FL 33602 and is open 10am – 10pm Monday – Thursday, 10am – 11pm Friday, 8am – 11pm Saturday, and 8am – 10pm on Sunday.   

Salty Olive Oil Granola

 

This year I made homemade granola for Christmas to give friends & relatives.  I took the recipe from Buzzfeed (I’d actually posted it as a foodie gift idea in my post earlier in December…)

 

I made 3 batches to start off with, which filled 12 pint sized mason jars with some leftover for us to eat.  It is by far the best cereal I’ve had in my life – and it really isn’t difficult to make at all.  We ended up making another 2 batches since we wanted more for ourselves!

It is perfect to snack on by itself, to eat with milk, or serve over yogurt.  Trust me, you’ll want to make multiple batches.  Rather than doubling or tripling the ingredients all in one bowl, I’d recommend doing one batch at a time.  You’ll need a baking sheet with edges so the granola doesn’t fall off the sides. 

 

 

I topped mine with some festive snowflake napkins and added gift tags. 

Salty Olive Oil Granola (adapted from Buzzfeed)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups quick oats
• 1½ cups pecan halves, broken into pieces
• 1 cup coconut flakes (I used sweetened)
• 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas)
• ½ cup pancake syrup (maple syrup would be best, but since it’s pricey, I just used regular syrup and it didn’t make a difference)
• ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 t salt
• ½ t nutmeg
• ½ t cinnamon
• ½ t ground cardamom (if you don’t have this spice, you can just add more nutmeg and cinnamon)
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup dried cherries

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 300°F.

2. Combine the oats, pecans, coconut, and pumpkin seeds in a large bowl.  Add the syrup, sugar, olive oil, salt, and spices and toss until evenly coated.

 

 

 

3. Spread the mixture on a large baking sheet with edges.  Bake for 30 minutes, then stir.  Bake for another 15 minutes or until granola starts to brown.  When it comes out of the oven, it will be slightly soft, but it will harden as it cools.

 

4. Once it is completely cooled, add the raisins and cherries.  Divide into mason jars and decorate as you’d like.  It should keep for months in an airtight container (but it tastes so good, there’s no way it’ll be around for that long!)