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Tuesday, February 28, 2006

My Chopin Liszt for Tonight


Chopin Liszt:

  1. gallon of whole milk

  2. yellow mustard

  3. spaghetti sauce without meat in it

  4. 1/2 lb. American cheese

  5. pop. Probably Diet Pepsi

  6. Hot dog buns


Searching for a picture of American cheese, I found this government website that asks you how many servings of food a typical "serving size" looks like, then tells you how bad it is for you. I'm having fun with that.

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Grocery Art


If I weren't a composer, I'd be an artist. If I were an artist, I'd probably make art just like this. It's ketchup and mustard on canvas. The mustard comes in from the right, the ketchup creeps in from the left, and they meet in the middle to make vivid orange. Beautiful.

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Almost Enough Condiments


Another great find from the Google ads on the right: Condiments from Minimus.biz. Wow. If you're ever at a loss for what to get me for my birthday, there are so many Heinz sauces I've never even seen.


These google ads are getting better and better. Click them so I can go see George Clinton next month.

Friday, February 24, 2006

Oyster Sauce


I saw a google ad for Oyster Sauce on the right and I realized that I've never had it, even though I am a condiment afficianado. I didn't even know if it was made from oysters or for oysters. So I looked it up on Wikipedia. And do you know what I learned? A tablespoon of it makes plain Chinese noodles less ordinary.

What happens if you eat oysters with oyster sauce? Is that like eating a tomato with ketchup? Is that like eating your egg/oil soup with a dollop of mayo? Is that like putting ice cream in your milk and mixing it up and having a milk shake?

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Save-A-Lot


The other day, I bought two bags of hushpuppies from Save-A-Lot for $1.29 each. I think there were 29 hushpuppies in each bag. They're better than Long John Silver's. I deepfried them. I also got a box of pierogies (19 pierogies) for $0.99. Braunschweiger is cheaper at Save-A-Lot than at Price Chopper and most other stores, and it has less saturated fat, and still tastes better than Kahn's. It's $1.39. The brand is Hargis House. 28% of your fat, 30% of your saturated fat for the day. Kahn's at PC is $2.99 and has 24% of your fat and 43% of your saturated. PC has a brand that has 23 andd 30, but it's still $2.99. I also got a bottle of yellow mustard for $0.59 at Save-A-Lot and a jar of mayo. I don't remember the price on the mayo, and I don't have the receipt. I charged it, and Jazmin, the cashier, only gave me the total receipt, bogarting the itemized one. I make the best sauce with mayo. I'll get back to that later. I also bought lots of tuna pouches (3 oz. for $0.79). I had > 250% of my protein for the day thanks to that. I ate 6 or 7 pouches in the last 24 hours.

My sauce:

Mayo, ketchup, ranch dressing, soy sauce. I got my soy sauce at Price Chopper. It was on sale for $1.19, down from $1.99. That's why I picked Kikkoman over La Choy. La Choy was still full price. The sauce is GREAT with the hushpuppies. It's also good with pierogies. Really good. I put Red Hot or Chili Dog mustard on my tuna. Sometimes both. Soy sauce once.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

I hope this isn't a Trader Joek

Curbed is reporting that Trader Joe's is opening next month!

The shelves are already stocked. The $2 wine is going to cost $3. That's all I know that they sell--$2 wine and hummus. I hope they have an inspired condiment section.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Braunschweiger Comes to West Bushwick!

I found braunschweiger at the Key Food on Grand St. today! I used to have to buy it at the Union Square Food Emporium or the Associated/Morton Williams on the corner of Bleecker and Greene. What s shock!

Carbon Monoxide Beats Meat Oxidization

Woah! The NY Times has an article about meat packers treating their meats with carbon monoxide to prevent oxidation. The two pictures of meat I just posted on the right are the same age. The red one was treated.
Supermarket chains including A.&P. and Pathmark do not carry the treated meat, but it is showing up with increasing frequency elsewhere. In New York City, it is sold at 30 Gristede's stores, at D'Agostino markets under the labels Laura's Lean Beef and Creekstone's, and at the Morton Williams stores in the Associated chain. A spokeswoman for Safeway did not respond to phone calls and e-mail messages about sale of the treated meat there, but it was available at a Safeway market in Bethesda, Md., earlier this month. SuperTarget stores are also selling it, and Wal-Mart reports carrying it in 150 stores.
I don't know how I feel about that. If the meat is still fresh, I think I'd rather it be treated with something to keep it looking fresh. If it's not fresh, I don't want it to look fresh.

I hope someday science invents something that makes food look like it is.

75% Off at Key Foods!

More Than Donuts has an account of his neighborhood Key Food going out of business and putting everything 75% off. Amazing! It's being replaced by a drug store, which I guess is a step above Key Food in the gentrification chain. I hope Cat Pee goes out of business next.

Monday, February 20, 2006

Why You Should Make Sure Your Prices Ring Up Correctly

Besides it being illegal and wrong, you should make sure your prices ring up correctly because people like me are more likely to not say anything then go home and write about it in their grocery store blogs. Which I am doing. C-Town's chicken hot dogs are supposed to be $0.99 this week but rang up as $1.59.

I did get a whole chicken for about $3. Whole chickens are on sale for $0.79/lb. Tonight Debussy might cook chicken with a lot of cloves of garlic.

A box of Apple Jacks is $2. Apple juice is $1.29. Elio's frozen pizza is 2 for 1. Prego spaghetti sauce is 2 for $3.

There's a reminder taped to the cash register that says "Keep Clean and No Food in the Draw's." A phonetic spelling of the New York pronunciation "drawer" combined with apostrophe abuse results in something that is technically correct. The apostrophe is replacing the missing letters to capture the true New York sound of the word. How fortunate for them. They don't need my wrath twice in one post.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Ten Days Until Lent

And fish cakes are on sale for $0.99 at Key Food. They're usually $2.39.

I need some suggestions for what to eat for lunch on Fridays during Lent. I bring a sandwich every day with a meat and a cheese from the deli department of C-Town or Key Food (usually C-Town. I'm a big fan of their combos). I've thought of tuna salad or shrimp salad (C-Town's shrimp salad used to be $5.99/lb while it was $10 or so at Food Emporium at Union Square), just the cheese part of the sandwich, or peanutbutter and jelly. A spaghetti sandwich might be good. Any other ideas?

Friday, February 17, 2006

Deals at the Gourmet Garage (SoHo)


It's a really windy day today, but it was the deals at the Gourmet Garage that nearly blew me away! Blood oranges were on sale for $1.99/lb (usually $2.99). Party dips (horseradish, blue cheese, mushroom, or jalapeno) were Buy One Get One Free ($2.99 each.) Best of all, now I know where to buy blood oranges.

Krys of Amusing Bouche and I decided we should collaborate on a book of punches, and I assure you we will pull none! She was going to make a punch with blood oranges tonight but couldn't find any. This post is dedicated to her. Happy Strokeversary, Krys!

Google Ads


One of the best things about a grocery blog is some of the ads that show up on the right. This morning I saw an ad for "Slap Ya Mama Cajun Spice."

I want to see some ads for horseradish. Krys wrote about her trip to WD-50 where she was served horseradish foam. Horseradish foam! Imagine that!

I keep writing "horseradish" in hopes that I'll get some horseradish ads. I crave its pungence.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Updates on Previous Posts

I saw ginger in Chinatown for $1.20/lb. That's a new record. I also saw a lot of dried fish for a lot of prices and some had a lot of teeth.

Valentine's Day candy was on sale at Eckerd, but there was an employee in the aisle whose only job was to eye me. So I left without candy. I left without even looking at how good the sales were.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

My Heart is Broken

Why isn't Valentine's Day candy on sale? I have been looking forward to this day for a week. I went to a CVS to buy candy today and the shelves were being emptied and replaced with Easter candy. Then I walked to the other CVS that's 3 blocks away and they had some Valentine's Day candy but it wasn't on sale. Do they still think people will pay full price for it? I left the store disappointed, hungry, and rich with all the money I wanted to spend today but didn't.

When's Easter?

Update: Pachelbel says candy and everything else is on sale at the CVS on 1st Ave near 14th St.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

What's the Point?


In Digital Lifestyle magazine I found this needless gadget that saves you the trouble of making grocery lists. Instead of writing down a list, you talk to it and it listens to what you need. Then it organizes the list into sections so you don't have to criss-cross the store.

Reasons I Hate It:

  1. You have to talk to it. I hate talking to inanimate objects. I would never use the voice-recognition feature of a cell-phone. I would also not have a cell phone without a real phone that would let me walk down the street without holding a phone. I don't want to talk to inanimate things and I don't want to seem like I'm talking to no one.
  2. It's hard to see what you already have on the list. I suppose you could remember or scroll back through it, but that's a hassle. One of the virtues of making a list is you can see what's already on it. Sometimes the best way to organize information is on a piece of paper.
  3. I can sort myself. Anyone who frequents a grocery store can sort a list himself. I choose not to sort because I like running back and forth across the store to prolong the pleasure of Chopin, but I certainly could sort. My father does.
  4. I'd look like a weirdo. I can't even imagine walking around my usual haunts carrying a piece of electronic equipment telling me what to buy. How could I show my face to the Italian grandmas ever again?


This toy is definitely not for the coupon-clipping set.

Old Bay Seasoning is My Valentine


Saturday, I went to a restaurant that is supposed to be known for its french fries and french fry seasoning, which they have a bottle of on the table. I brought my own Old Bay Seasoning that I bought at Price Chopper to put on them. The waitress commented on it, saying it's what her dad puts on crabs. Later, she came by and told me it's all she could smell throughout the whole restaurant. I told her she was lucky, but I don't think she could Handel it.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

More on C-Town and Coke

Page 1 of the C-Town circular for this week clearly advertises Coke products. What gives? Is Coke back?

That circular doesn't look like any I've ever seen before.

In Praise of Key Food

Key Food has a liter of extra virgin olive oil on sale for $5.99. The last time I bought extra virgin olive oil (no wonder Rachael Ray says E.V.O.O.) I paid that much for a pint at C-Town. The liter bottle is too tall for my cabinets, so I poured it into my old pint bottle and put the rest up high.

Key Food also has produce, puts meats and cheeses from the deli department in resealable bags, and carries Diet Coke. That's why Pachelbel shops there now. (She wasn't really shopping at Cat Pee. She just bought Diet Coke there.) C-Town has better sales when the sales are good, but the olive oil goes to show that Key Food can have some good sales too. C-Town also plays better music. Key Food has a big parking lot, which is good if you aren't anything like me.

Ginger Root Prices

Prices per Pound

  • Chinatown NYC - $1.50

  • Key Food - Williamsburg in Brooklyn - $2.99

  • Price Chopper - Troy, NY - $2.99

  • Hannaford Market - Latham, NY - $2.99

  • Giant Eagle - Irwin, PA - $3.99


If you know any other ginger prices, post them here. I doubt anyone will beat Chinatown's price, but we can shame the stores that would charge $4 for a pound of root.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Gourmet Garage


When Pachelbel first moved to the West Village, Debussy and I trekked over to visit. We wandered around looking for food and found Gourmet Garage on 7th Avenue and 10th Street. I remember liking the layout of the store and buying some cookies.

Today I set out to find that place again so I could write about it. It's rather nice inside. At first I didn't like it because I saw 32 oz of clam chowder for $12 in the refrigerated section, but then I found an olive bar with a bunch of samples and no one to eye you if you try them (like at Despana). I tried the biggest one I could find, which was a martini olive, and it was good. It wasn't as good as the olives I get that are Goya brand for $1.99 at C-town, but this olive was free, so I can't complain. Gourmet Garage reminds me of Whole Foods only it's less crowded, less expensive, and less big. In other words, Gourmet Garage is better than Whole Foods.

I also had no idea that there were other Gourmet Garages, including one in SoHo that's much closer to places I ever have a reason to be.

Gourmet Garage -- 117 Seventh Avenue South New York, NY

Why Debussy Eats So Much Garlic


Grocery Chopin doesn't only live with Pachelbel. There's also Debussy. Here's an excerpt from an email about the garlic bundling habits of the grocery store. I'm not sure which one it is though.
it's not just because i love it, though i do. it's because i couldn't buy just one head of garlic. well, i COULD have, but all the single ones had sprouts coming out, and you know how i feel about that (bad). the only non-sprout garlics were in packs of five, and i asked if i could divide the pack, because who can eat five heads of garlic in a short enough time where all the heads are nonsprouting, and the guy said no, i had to buy the pack as a whole. so i decided to show him who can eat five heads of garlic in a short enough time where all the heads are nonsprouting (me).
So far she has made garlic soup (and quintiupled the garlic in it) and garlic tea, not to mention the raw garlic she eats.

Let's Go to Tesco

Tesco's entering the U.S. market.

Now that's exciting! If you ever spot Grocery Chopin in a foreign land, it'll be in a foreign grocery store. Alas, Tesco is opening on the west coast and only opening convenience stores. Alasser, British supermarkets have an abyssmal record at operating in the United States.

I suppose I'll just continue to fantasize about the new Trader Joe's opening in Union Square.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Tony the Tiger's Unreasonable Expectations


The cereal companies are now trying to make children's breakfast cereals seem healthy. General Mills has changed everything to be whole grain, but Kellogg's seems to have just changed its box. Pachelbel brought home some Frosted Flakes the other day. The box lists 3 benefits on the front: energy, vitamins & minerals (10), and fat free.

The back has a grid of activities kids can do to "Get Active!" You earn tiger stripes for completing them. For instance, you get five points if you unplug your video game system, five stripes for eating fruits and vegetables at a meal, and 10 stripes for juggling a soccer ball 4-5 times in a row. The goal that really stands out is "Do 25 pullups." 25 pullups is hard even for a hunk! You do get 5 points for each pull up though.

Trader Joe's takes the cake. But who took the Coke?

I found this when I was researching the problem. It's interesting.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Update on the No Coke Situation

The secret of No Coke

I took that from Dave, who spotted that in a grocery store in SoHo.

Thanks for the intrepid reporting!

Monday, February 06, 2006

A Use for 99-cent Apple Juice


Last week, when C-Town had sales so good that lines were backed into the aisles, I wandered around for a good 7 minutes waiting for the lines to die down. They didn't, but I did pick up a bottle of apple juice for 99 cents. It's the store brand, but it was still 100% pure apple juice.

It's so versatile. I can obviously drink it straight, but I also have been serving it with whiskey. Tonight my roommate Pachelbel told me I could have the rest of the bottle of wine on the table (shiraz, if you're wondering) because it's awful. Old Grocery Chopin's roommate is no liar--awful is the word for it! But I remembered how much I used to like apple-grape juice when I was a young fella, so I poured my apple juice in and suddenly it's palatable. Praise be!

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Black Sunday

From The NY Times:
SHANKSVILLE, Pa., Feb. 2 — Rick King, a deli owner, promised his son black-and-gold pancakes on Super Bowl Sunday. Apparently, though, everybody in Somerset County got the same idea to paint their devotion to the Pittsburgh Steelers on a culinary canvas. By Tuesday, even the area Wal-Mart ran out of black food coloring.
There's always burnt toast and scrambled eggs or macaroni & cheese baked for too long. Those are other foods I've seen people mention.

Krys at Amusing Bouche has a post about her Black & Gold cookies.

Saturday, February 04, 2006

C-Town v. Diet Coke


C-Town, at least the one in Grocery Chopin-land, quit carrying Diet Coke (and Coke, Sprite, Fanta, etc.). For the life of me (1810-1849), I can't figure out why a grocery store would quit carrying Coke! People buy it! Do you know what they have instead of Coke? A giant wall of generic seltzer. Wouldn't it make more sense to give more shelf space to Pepsi and 7-Up than to have 12 feet of solid seltzer? My roommate, who doesn't like grocery shopping all that much (and is merely lukewarm about Grocery Chopin) quit going to that grocery store. Now she shops at the one we call "cat-pee," because that is its scent. I don't even remember its name. I think it's called "Compare Foods," but I don't shop there. Not because of the odor of cat pee, but because the minimum for a credit card is $10. I don't like that pressure.

C-Town: 330 Graham Avenue Brooklyn, NY

Hannaford vs. Price Chopper

Last year, I drank my weight in Goya Ginger Beer. They were $0.50 at both Hannaford and Price Chopper. Then Hannaford raised their price to $0.55. I only bought them from Price Chopper after that. But this year, Price Chopper raised their price to $0.69! That's highway robbery! They also started carrying the Saranac Ginger Beer I used to get at Hannaford. It's $4.99/6-pack at Price Chopper comapred to the $3.99/6-pack at Hannaford. Both stores stopped carrying my favorite mustard. I have to import that from Festival Foods. They have it at Giant Eagle, too, but Festival Foods sells it cheaper. They sell most things cheaper.

Giant Eagle sells Natural Brew Outrageous Ginger Ale cheaper than Price Chopper. It's better than some ginger beers. It's in the organic section. So is Reed's Ginger Beer.

Price Chopper in Troy, NY, vs. Giant Eagle in North Huntingdon, PA

I noticed that in Price Chopper, bread yeast and ginger root are refrigerated, and in Giant Eagle, they aren't. Ginger root is a dollar cheaper per pound in NY, too ($2.99/lb vs. $3.99/lb). The reason I noticed these is because I make my own ginger beer. I had this recipe. I made it that way, and I tasted more lemon than ginger. I only tasted ginger when biting the pulp. I made it again, but this time, I used a garlic press to press the ginger. Got tons and tons of ginger. It was good. But the pulp was still a bit of trouble. I don't have a strainer. So I made it again. This time, I just juiced the ginger with the garlic press. Put no pulp in. I got between 6-7 tablespoons of just ginger juice. It was the best ginger beer I've ever had. Johann and Ludwig loved it. I made two more batches which I think turned out to be poison. Don't use grapefruit in place of lemon. The little hunks of grapefruit in the beer float. I found out by playing with them that they pop. I wondered if they were flammable, so I tried lighting them on fire. They didn't ignite. These batches only had 1/4 c ginger juice (4 tablespoons), but you couldn't taste the ginger. You couldn't taste grapefruit either. It was the most carbonated drink I've ever drunk. It rattled my uvula when belching. I'm going to try lime.

Oh, and don't increase the amounts of sugar or yeast. My one bottle got stretch marks from that. The bottom of the bottle popped out, too. I had to refrigerate my grapefruit bottles a day early, too, because they started to get stretch marks. And they were the most carbonated!

Friday, February 03, 2006

Despana - Soho

Yesterday during my lunch hour, I trotted over to Despana, the Spanish grocery store I read about at the Food Section. As I approached the store, I thought "Oh no, this store is small and people inside will eye me at the least and greet me at the worst." And they did. Despite the door being only about 15 feet wide, half of which is taken up by a counter where you can order sandwiches or cheese, they had a greeter. At least he didn't sneak up on me like the guys at Mexx do. He said "If you need help figuring anything out, I can help you," or something equally awkward. There were about a dozen olive oils and vinegars you could try with little hunks of bread, though I did not partake, since I was already being eyed.

Two products caught my eye. There was instant lemon mousse for $2. That had 6 servings. And there was instant paella for $6. That had 3/4 of a serving. I think. That seems ridiculous--to include less than a full serving in the package. On the other hand, how could I make something like that up? Conspicuous in its absence was Spanish Fanta, which is much better than American Fanta and second only to Italian Fanta in quality. If I could get my Fanta fix there, I would be quite happy.

Despana - 408 Broome St. New York, NY