Holiday Village is Capitol Market’s annual European-style holiday market — think twinkling lights, festive décor, artisanal vendors, and seasonal food & drink that give a cozy Christmas-market vibe similar to those in Vienna or Prague. It’s family-friendly and great for holiday shopping, enjoying delicious food, and browsing handcrafted gifts and specialty treats from local makers. 🇵🇭 The Filipino-American Association of West Virginia offered a sampler plate for $30. It included pancit, adobo, rice and lumpia. Additionally, I tried arroz caldo, which is like a Filipino congee, and kutsinta, which is a steamed rice cake with coconut. 🥣 Gritt's Farm offered Tinola Soup (Filipino Ginger-Garlic Chicken Soup), and I also tried a Toasted Marshmallow Hot Chocolate. 🍴 Sam's Ube Bread offered hopia, Spanish rolls, ensaymada, ube pandesal, pan de coco, chicken siopao (one of my favorite bites of the day) and longanisa. 🍲 Jocelyn's Authentic Food offered pancit, adobo, eggrolls & sesame seed balls (another favorite - filled with jelly). Others include Shake Your Boba, Connies & Zenaida.

Papa Joe's Famous Meats is a small deli in Monongah known for their sausage recipe. Papa Joe’s Famous Meats, originally run by Papa Joe Manchin, debuted as a market back in 1969.



Though it looks as though they are not currently open, I was able to stop by to check it out. As an added bonus, they were a stop on the Pepperoni Roll Trail.



While I didn't get to try any of their hot prepared foods, I indulged in their pasta salad.



The classic Italian-style pasta salad featured various deli meats like salami and pepperoni, plus cheese and veggies (tomatoes, broccoli) in a simple but addictive dressing.



Grade: A

Sometimes, gas stations have some really good pepperoni rolls. The Point Convenience - Valley Point is one of those gas stations. Located in Albright, the gas station is maybe better known for its pepperoni rolls than its fuel. Why? It's a thick roll, which is moist and flavorful. There's nothing worse than getting a pepperoni roll that is all dry bread. Layers of pepperoni and hot pepper cheese. *chef's kiss* they're doing it right. Grade: A

Ellen's Homemade Ice Cream offered advent calendars for sale this year, which feature 24 different flavors of ice cream. Here's what we got: 1. Pumpkin 2. Spiced Apple 3. Oreo 4. Black Raspberry 5. Chocolate Chip 6. Pink Panther (raspberry, orange zest & black currant) 7. Orange Cream 8. Dutch Chocolate 9. Mint Chocolate Chip 10. Banana Chocolate Chip 11. Maple Oatmeal Raisin 12. Lemon ZestivALL 13. Cotton Candy 14. Raspberry Chocolate Chip 15. Vanilla 16. Blueberry 17. Brownie de Leche 18. Bubble Gum 19. Raspberry Sherbet 20. Coconut 21. Butterscotch Cream Pie 22. Sugar Cookie Crumble 23. Eggnog 24. Peppermint