Pop Quiz! You're in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Where do you get delicious Hungarian Pastries?
Answer: The back of a Volvo. Naturally. Or should I say, természetesen.
Joking aside though, it's not junk in the trunk of Grand Rapids-based pastrymaker Julianna Mechtler's car: it's a bounty of delicious pastries like walnut, poppy seed and apricot-walnut pastry rolls, cheesy Danish, and various pies and breads. And for 20 years, she's been unloading this deliciousness from the back of her car to a table at the Fulton Street Farmers Market.
Clearly she's been doing something right for all these years: Cake Gumshoes Matthew and Wendy, who first directed me to this Hungarian phenomenon in Grand rapids, state that they "have dreams about" the sour cherry danish, pictured top.
Foodie cartoons? Delicious pastries? It's all enough to make you feel pretty Hungary.
To buy Julianna Mechtler's pastries, visit the Fulton Street Farmers Market, 1145 E. Fulton St., Grand Rapids, MI 49503, 616) 454-4118 (Hours of Operation: 8:00am - 4:00pm Tuesdays, Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays May through) Christmas; for more information, visit fultonstreetmarket.org.