Giant Eagle Really Sucks

I used to be a fan of Giant Eagle, but no more. I've witnessed outrage after outrage in its aisles. Boxes of pasta are all $1. Pecorino romano is $8.99/lb if you're lucky! In New York City, where groceries are reasonably priced, I buy my pasta for $0.50 or $0.67 and my pecorino romano is $4.99/lb.

I paid $4.99 for a little jar of anchovies. I found them later at an Italian specialty shop for $2.99. They also had my pecorino romano for $4.99 LIKE GOD INTENDED IT TO BE PRICED!

I don't know who Giant Eagle thinks its impressing--the ignorant I suppose.

Resealable Bags at C-Town

C-Town puts its lunch meat in resealable bags now!

They were out of muenster, so I got mozzarella instead. I wonder how I'll like that with my turkey breast.

The Price of Eggs

I went to a Pathmark in the Atlantic Center in South Brooklyn. It was huge like a suburban grocery store. Eggs cost $2.50+ for a dozen of large ones. Not large as in I thought they were big, but large as in not extra large or jumbo.

A C-Town, I got a dozen jumbo eggs for $1.50.

Second Trader Joe's in NY

In Rego Park! Well, not quite. But I call it all Rego Park.

With all the fireworks, New Yorkers assumed that a second Trader Joe’s wasn’t far behind, probably in a hip and well-heeled neighborhood like the Upper West Side or SoHo.
They were half right. A second Trader Joe’s is headed for New York, but the where will surprise many. This time, the company is setting up shop in Queens, in a long-dormant factory on the southwestern edge of Forest Hills.

There's more here.

In Praise of Key Food

This afternoon, frequent commenter Italian Grandma called me. She was planning to go to Whole Foods in Manhattan, but then she realized she didn't have to. I told her I needed to go to Key Food to get instant coffee, and she offered to come with me.

She was in awe. She didn't know grocery stores like this existed in Williamsburg. Her praise, coupled with my hunger, resulted in my deciding to buy food to make baked ziti with veal sauce. Giant containers of ricotta cheese were on sale for cheap, so I got one. Now I have leftover ricotta.

After Key Food, we went to the Jesus vegetable store, where Italian Grandma was taken aback by the cheap vegetables.

Then we went our separate ways. But I see Key Food through new eyes now.

Trader Joe's Now Takes Amex

The big news at Trader Joe's is that now take American Express. When I signed up for a new credit card specifically to use at Trader Joe's, I got a $50 credit. Now I'm done using that credit card. Ha.

C-Town has chicken thigh/legs for $0.49/lb. I have 3 in the oven right now. I'm not sure what I'm doing with them, but so far they have butter, sea salt, and pepper on their skins. There's a half onion in each corner of the pan with the same things, plus a little balsamic vinegar. The oven's at 450 right now, but in a second I'm going to turn it down to about 325 and cover the chicken with aluminum foil.

Is eating at home cheaper?

Metafilter thinks so.

Cheap Tomatoes

I miss them. I have to figure out what's cheap now instead.

Garlic

I bought a tall jar of chopped up garlic the other day. I'm a bit leery. I was going to cook with it on Thursday but Debussy wanted to peel garlic and she went to the store and wanted me to update that she did so.

I was out of table salt, so I bought $4 of sea salt at Trader Joe's. It's too expensive for me to use, so I have to go buy the 50 cent Morton salt tomorrow.

I got 5 boxes of pasta for $2 at C-Town on Sunday. Now I don't have to starve. For a couple of weeks there was no acceptably inexpensive pasta, so I refused to buy it because it wasn't a good deal. I lost weight those weeks.

I learned a recipe for corn and black bean salsa.

Corn and Black Bean Salsa

---

1 can corn
1 can black beans
whatever else you want, like maybe some cayenne pepper or rooster sauce. some cut up onion is good, especially if red. salt. lime juice. garlic. cilantro. vinegar. anything that seems like it fits.

New Condiment

Sriracha is hot sauce with a rooster on the bottle. It's on the tables at 5 Dumplings for $1 (not the real name of the place, but an effective nickname). I got it at a Chinese grocery store across the street from it. A small bottle was $2.49 and a big one was $2.95, so I got the big one. I think I'll attempt a bloody mary with it.

Delis on Bedford Avenue

I was talking to Salieri last night about prices at the two delis near his apartment in Williamsburg. At the intersection of North 8th and Bedford, there are two delis. The one on the north side of North 8th has a pint of ice cream for $2.69, while the southern one has a pint for $2.89. But the north deli has tortilla chips for $3.50 and up, but you can get some at the southern one for $2.50. That's because the southern one has Herr's and the the northern one only has Tostitos, which I don't think are ever worth their price. The scoop shaped chips are a good invention though.

A BAD TIME AT KEY FOOD

LAST NIGHT WAS SO BAD I MUST USE CAPS LOCK.

I BOUGHT INGREDIENTS FOR QUESADILLAS. I DIDN'T REALIZE THE CASHIER PUT MY STUFF IN TWO BAGS. A WOMAN IN FRONT OF ME GOT A TON OF DIAPERS AND I THINK MY SECOND BAG WAS HIDDEN BEHIND IT.

I WENT BACK TO GET MY TORTILLAS AND SHREDDED CHEESE. I FORGET TO GET THE LOAF OF BREAD I BOUGHT. I DIDN'T GET THE ONION AND SOUR CREAM ON PURPOSE.

THE TORTILLAS HAD MOLD.

Odd Line Behavior at Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's changed its express lane from 6 items or less to 8 items or less. On Wednesday when I went to get olive oil, cereal, and meatballs, the express line wrapped around to the back by the cheeses. The other line didn't extend much past the ropes they put you through right before the check-out. I got in the long line because I only had 3 items and I thought there must be a catch. A lot of other people did too.

Relatedly, I got a new Visa card from PNC. I use American Express everywhere but Trader Joe's doesn't take that, so I was using Discover. With this credit card, I get a $50 credit as long as I use it by the end of the year. So I am going to get $50 of free wine. The only place I'll use it is Trader Joe's. $50 of free wine is the American Dream.

Cheap Beer

I went to the Brooklyn Brewery last night with a former bosom pal of mine and saw they were selling cases of Weisse. They said they were $21, then scratched that out and wrote $12. So I bought one. I wanted to buy 2, but my arms were tired with just the one. So now I have 24 bottles of one of my favorite beers. The last time I bought a six-pack of it, it cost $9.50.

This is like the time I had to have a sausage party. Good things come in 24s.

Everything's $1 at Key Food

Francesco Rinaldi spaghetti sauce is $1. 2 liter bottles of Pepsi are $1. I got Pepsi Jazz, which I had never heard of. It tastes like strawberries and cream creamsavers. Ronzoni pasta was 2/$1. Mrs. T's pierogies were $2 for a box. I guess not everything was $1.

In fact, most things that were $1 were actually 10 for $10. But you don't need to buy 10. Who'd buy 10 bottles of Kraft BBQ sauce? (That's another example.)

Pepsi Jazz is very bad with whiskey, but it's ok otherwise.

Where the Deals Are

I went to Trader Joe's today and got Kashi GoLean cereal because it's $2.49 there. It was $4.29 or so at Key Food. I also got some pecorino romano for $5.99/lb because I figured that's a standard price for it. Later I saw it on sale at Key Food for $4.99/lb! I also got shrimp and pork pot stickers. Shrimp were $3.29 for a bag. Pork was about $2.99. I got some turkey meatballs too. And salsa for $1.99, which isn't too bad but isn't as good as my C-Town $1.99 salsa.

At Key Food, I got shoulder steak on sale for $2.99/lb. I craved country fried steak after reading about Southern cuisine on wikipedia this morning. Maybe I can figure out how to make that. I also found Plochmann's chili dog mustard. There was only 1 bottle and it wasn't labelled on the shelf. I don't know why it was there. It cost $1.99, which is well worth it. Sardines were on sale for $0.79 for a can.

The Jesus grocery store has pints of cherry and grape tomatoes for $1. At Key Food they are $2.99 and $3.99.

Now go shop!

A Dream

Last night I had a dream that C-Town sold produce. It was a good one.

Unrelatedly, I got a coworker hooked on ginger beer.

Plum Tomato Prifces Around Town

The Jesus vegetable store had nice plum tomatoes for $0.99/lb last week. Now they have gross ones for $0.79 lb.

Key Food has some better ones for $1.49/lb.

Sunac has disgusting ones for $1.49/lb, but they do have wasabi horseradish there.

Associated in Greenpoint has subpar ones for $1.29/lb.

The vegetable store right north of C-town has bad ones for "2 for $1 (lb)". They put their damaged produce out front by the sidewalk, so they have an excuse.

None of them were good enough to buy.


The difference between grape and cherry tomatoes.

Krasdale Pasta

Krasdale is the generic brand at C-Town. I buy a lot of Krasdale things, such as hot dogs, frozen pizzas, and mozzarella cheese. They're all pretty good. Last week bags of Krasdale pasta were on sale for about $0.40. No other pasta had been on sale for a while and I was running low. Pasta was the last thing I expected to be much worse from the generic brand. I was wrong. It's not good. I'm never buying it again. The macaroni has an odd taste and it sticks together too much.

Pasta's one of those things you should never have to pay full price for. It's almost always on sale and you can stock up because it doesn't go bad (very quickly?). A good price for a 1 lb. box is $0.50. A frequent price is $0.67. A price at which I'll still buy it is $0.80. $1 is too much. I feel about $1.10 boxes of pasta the same way I feel about $48 Levi's at Macy's. I can't believe they have the gall to charge that!

I threw a sausage party (with a bonus recipe)

I have more sausage than I can eat. I threw a sausage party yesterday to try to get rid of some of it but I didn't get rid of enough and I might have to have another one. I spent so much more money on the things to go with the sausage than I did on the sausage itself. Here's what I served:

1. Baked ziti with sausage sauce
2. Sausage and white beans (specifically cannellini ones) in garlic sage sauce.
3. Caprese. Actually, a variation of it. I diced the mozzarella and tomatoes and tore up the basil. I dressed it with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.
4. Garlic bread.
5. Ice pops.

The bonus recipe was going to be the caprese one, but I just typed it. That's the whole thing. Mozzarella is on sale at C-town. The 8 oz package is, at least. It's cheaper to buy 2 8 oz ones than 1 16 one.

I just got one of the best deals of my life!

I just got 24 Italian sausages for $2.49! It had a label saying "Special: Today" and I didn't believe it but I got it because I didn't know what to eat for dinner but I knew I wanted meat. I haven't eaten Italian sausages since I lived in Italy back in my heyday.

I also got balsamic vinegar, mozzarella, anchovies, capers, and penne rigate. I like C-Town because it has all my Italian food. Key Food isn't as good for that.

Salsiccie!

Ew Gross (Ew Gross) Ew Gross

I was walking down the frozen food aisle of Key Food with my basket as full as it has ever been. I noticed a worker behind a table up ahead with what looked like free samples. That's the first time I ever noticed free samples in Key Food. I was coming from behind her because I was walking the aisles in the wrong directions today. As I got even, I noticed she had drinks.

"Would you like to try a sample of malta?" she asked.

I quickly imagined myself swallowing it, grimacing, and spitting it on her white coat if I accepted it. It would have been unavoidable.

"No thanks," I replied, heroically.

My First Purchases at Trader Joe's

I went with the commenter known as Italian Grandma to Trader Joe's on Monday night and since she was buying sea salt and olive oil and I'd be waiting in line anyway, I bought some things.

First I bought meatballs because there was a bag of them for about $3. Then I got separated from Ms. Grandma but wanded by the mozzarella and bought some for about $3. I found Ms. Grandma and I found Brunswick sardines for about $1, and I thought that was a good price. We got in line, which was a long long line. It snaked past the cereal and I picked up Kashi Go Lean cereal for $2.50. It costs $3.79 at C-Town.

The meatballs were pretty good. This picture isn't them.

Pomade

Giant Eagle lowered their price and it's cheaper there now than at Target. It's $2.06 at Giant Eagle. It's not just a sale.

Prices up at C-Town!

Sound the alarm! Inflation has struck! Coleslaw is now $1.49! Potato salad is $1.49! Macaroni salad is now $1.49! Just a week or two ago, they were $1.29. A year ago, they were, if I remember correctly, only $1.09. Back then, shrimp salad was $5.99. Now it's $7.99!

With prices like these, it's easy to starve oneself.

Ginger Beer

Last night, I went to the Giant Eagle in Greensburg,PA, and found this Jamaican Country Style Ginger Beer. It was $2.99 for a 2-liter bottle, which seems expensive, but it's not really that bad when you remember a 12-ounce bottle can cost over $1.50.



I got a 4-pack of Ginger People Ginger Beer12-ounce bottles for $6.26 (tax included) at McGinnis Sisters in Monroeville, PA. It's really good. Not spicy. Tastes like ginger, though. Has ginger juice and ginger extract in it.

Belarus

After reading about a placed called Belarus II in the Gothamist, Debussy and I decided to make the trip to Brighton Beach to see it ourselves. She's a big big Belarusian fan.



When you go in the store, on the left is a long counter of prepared salads (think macaroni salad and egg salad, only Belarusian), pastries, and some other things. A lot of it wasn't labelled in English. On the right are the meats and fishes. In the middle you can find things in cans and jars. The back has some buckets of pickled foods, including apples.

Debussy and I got 2 of the salads. The cashier assumed we spoke Russian or Belarusian or something because we look so slavic, but we don't. We went to the McDonalds down the street to get some forks and try them.



They weren't very good. Maybe next time we'll pick two different ones and get something better. Then we can take them to Coney Island and eat them at the beach.

We also went to the Key Food next door. It's slightly cheaper than my local Key Food.

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Belarus - 495 Neptune Avenue, Brooklyn

Cherry-pickers

Sale Shoppers Annoy Grocers as They Save

Grocers loathe the shoppers known as "cherry-pickers" — people who visit several stores on a single grocery run, choosing only the sale items in each. "I remember working with a grocery company, and the head buyer was talking about cherry-pickers. He used terms like 'rape,' " said Edward J. Fox, a professor of marketing at Southern Methodist University. "They feel it's a violation of trust."

So is charging me too much.

Titan Foods - Astoria, Queens

Today I went to Astoria to watch soccer at a beer hall with people from work. The line for the beer hall was around the block and I don't like soccer, so I went to Titan Foods. That's the grocery store I saw the last time I went to the beer hall. This time I went in.

It didn't do anything for me. I don't know how to cook Greek dishes. It had lots of authentic-looking Greek ingredients. I couldn't compare prices to things I know because they didn't sell much of what I know.

A review that's more positive than mine.

By the way, C-Town FINALLY put frozen pizzas on sale. Elio's are buy one get one free. They always make you buy two to get the deal. I did.

Local Deals

At Key Food:

All forms of Coke are on sale for $1 for a 2 liter bottle. Dr. Pepper too. I got Dr. Pepper, which I'm drinking with cachaca. I'm trying to acquire that taste.

Braunschweiger's on sale too. Someone tried to steal braunschweiger from a Giant Eagle in Pittsburgh and a security guard shot him. It's $1.79 at Key Food this week.

C-town has Kraft salad dressings on sale for $0.99, but if you have a C-town card, $0.69. Tuna is on sale for 2/$1, but there's a limit of 1 per family and you have to spend $10.

Pomade

Pomade was a good 20 cents more expensive at Giant Eagle than at the Target next door.

Giant Eagle Market District

Giant Eagle's rolling out a new type of store: Market District. It's going to offer upscale goods to compete with specialty stores like Trader Joe's. Alas, I hate to spend money, so the thing I'm most likely to buy is one of the apartments built on top of the Giant Eagle in Shadyside.

In both cases, existing stores were expanded and remodeled. The Centre Avenue store in Shadyside is very urban, with apartments on top and a garage with an elevator big enough for shopping carts below. The Village Square store on Oxford Drive is a sprawling suburban location.

Elevators big enough for shopping carts! What a great place for a homeless person to start a home.

Even Worse Grocery Stores

Thanks to a tip from the avid reader, I noticed this post in Gothamist about disgusting grocery stores. The problem with the report of the Dirty Dozen supermarkets is it doesn't tell me about the stores I go to!

Well, here's a short version.

Key Food and C-town are pretty clean.
Cat Pee smells like cat pee.
The other Cat Pee also smells like Cat Pee.

I think the first Cat Pee is a Compare Food and the second is an Associated.

I never noticed anything wrong with the Jesus vegetable store where I buy limes for dimes.

A Bad Grocery Store

There's a bad grocery store on East 14th St between 1st Ave and Ave A. I think it's an Associated. They don't have a good beer selection and the cashier was quite curt.

Some co-workers visited a grocery store in Astoria (A store ia!) and gave it rave reviews and said I should go in it. I didn't go in it though, so you'll have to take their word. It's between the Astoria Blvd stop of the N and the stop right before it.

I'm still buying limes for dimes. It's the best deal.

What kind of deal is that?

At my most recent visit to the Giant Eagle that used to be Festival Foods (I have no access to a Festival Foods anymore), I saw a weekly special sign for lobster tails. Then I looked at the lobster tails.

Too Busy to Post

I've been too busy at work to savor my grocery shopping lately, and without grocery shopping, I don't have things to post about. Last week seasoned fries were on sale for $2 and Axelrod sour cream was on sale for $1 at C-Town, but I never got around to buying some. Don't even ask me what's on sale this week. You're on your own.

Trader Joe's in Pittsburgh

No wine shop though.

It's moving in near Pittsburgh's only Whole Foods.

Ripped Off!

I should turn in my blog because I did some bad shopping today. At Key Food, Dr. Pepper is on sale for 2 liters for $1. You might think Diet Dr. Pepper is too, but you'd be wrong. I was wrong. (Catfish is on sale for $3.99/lb though, so that's dinner.)

I went to the Jesus vegetable store to buy asparagus to go with my catfish. It was $1.99/lb at Key Food, but I thought I remembered it being cheaper at the Jesus store. It didn't have a price this time, but I picked it up and bought it. I got 5 or 6 stalks for $2! At least I got a lime for a dime as well.

Price Chopper

So I finally went to Price Chopper, after having read so much about it here. I went with my brother, also named Grocery Chopin (we have weird parents), and we found a keeshka. They have a lot more kinds of braunschweiger there than then I can find in Brooklyn. The tomatoes were overpriced but the grating cheeses were about right. I didn't see any ginger beer worth buying.

Several Topics

This weekend I'm heading up to Troy, NY to visit a Price Chopper. I'm told it's the Publix of the Northeast.

Yesterday I walked into Key Food because I was hungry for egg salad and I knew it was $3.99/lb at C-Town. I figured it'd be comparably priced. I was wrong. $5.99! After that, I tried to find something else to put in my basket, but I couldn't find a thing. I was ruined.

I'm told that the Key Food in Park Slope is great because they place happy 80s songs and people bop.

Kennywood and Giant Eagle

Hmmm. My dad said he thinks he can buy tickets to Kennywood at Giant Eagle for $19 or so.

I had a dream last night that I wanted to wake up at 8:00am and go grocery shopping, but it was 9:30 already. So I woke up and it was a little after 8:00, so I did go grocery shopping. But not until about 9:30. I went to C-Town first. The sales did not impress me. I got a pork roast, which I'm going to make for dinner. There were no frozen pizzas at all on sale. I spent about $14. The previous three times I have gone grocery shopping, I spent somewhere between $13 and $14. I'm pretty consistent.

I went to Key Food after I stopped at home to get my free Coffee Mate. I got the amaretto flavor. I like it. I went to the Jesus vegetable store on the way back to get vegetables to cook with my pork roast. The vegetables are cheap and look good. For a while they weren't as cheap as Key Food and looked gross. I got carrots ($0.50), radishes ($1), mushrooms ($1), and scallions ($0.25). The quantities were "more than I'll need" for all of them.

I don't even know how to cook pork. I didn't know how to cook French toast or bacon either, but that's what I made for breakfast.

Free Coffee-mate!

I haven't updated very much recently because I've worked long hours at work and the deals at C-Town have been awful. I paid full price for a 2-liter bottle of Tropicana Orangeade! (I mixed it with Trader Joe's 3 Buck Chuck Merlot and had a delicious concoction.)

The other day I was at Key Food and when I paid, the cashier printed out coupons. One is for a free thing of Coffee-mate! I can't wait to pick it up.

Trader Joe's posted which credit cards it accepts now: Visa, Mastercard, and Discover. No Diner's Club.

Good Lady

She's smart.

Storemade Roast Beef

I went to C-Town on Tuesday and did all the buying I had wanted to do at Key Food when it disappointed me. And I spent $25, just like I expected. My best find was "storemade roast beef." It's the kind that is generic and not Boar's Head. It isn't homemade. Other stores might call something that's storemade homemade. But C-Town is scrupulously honest. Unless they didn't make it in the store. I am untroubled by that.

I think I'm going to the Trader Joe's Wine Shop tonight. Maybe Nora F will ring me up! I better get a different kind of wine so she can tell me about it. Or the same kind of wine so she can say "have you tried this before?" and I'll say "that is what you asked me on Monday." And I'll say that with all the off-the-cuffedness of someone who decided at 2:45 pm what his lines would be that evening.

Nora F. is a Great Cashier

I went to Trader Joe's Wine Shop after work (again) today. I got a bottle of Three Buck Chuck Merlot, a bottle of Pinot Grigio ($3.49 I think, but maybe it was a dollar more), and a bottle of San Giovese something ($3.49). My cashier was Nora F. again. Nora F. was my cashier the first time I ever went. She wasn't the next time, and maybe not the next time if I've bought wine four times. I lost count. She was my cashier again today and she is a good one. When you buy something from her, first she asks for your id. She has to do that because the wine shop is in an NYU dorm. They all do that at Trader Joe's, so I don't hold that against them. Then she asks you if you've tried one of the wines you're buying before. The first time she asked me if I had ever tried the Charles Shaw. I hadn't. I think I bungled my answer to the question though. This time she asked me if I had ever bought the Pinot Grigio. She said it was one of their best sellers and for $4, you can't go wrong. She's right. My first time, I tried to pay with American Express, but she said that is "like the only credit card we don't take." I wonder if they take Diners Club. I wonder if they take Discover. I'd like to pay with Discover, but I've been using Mastercard.

I have definitively bought wine 3 times. I remember how many times I've used my Mastercard. I have a sharper mind for credit cards than for grocery shopping, even.

By the way, before buying wine, I went to Walgreens to buy L'Oreal Studio Effects Whipped Filth for my hair. It was $4.49, but I decided to buy it because that seemed about right. The lines were way too long though, so I left. I bought my wine, then I went to Duane Reade. It was $3.99 there, and there was almost no line!

Stay Out of Key Food This Week

What a disappointment! I expected to go in and spend $25 or more, but I only spent $5. I got some braunschweiger ($2), 2 boxes of pasta (buy one get one free, $0.99 each, limit one per family), Diet Coke ($1.50) for Pachelbel, and some bananas ($0.59/lb). Some pierogies were on sale, but I already had pierogies. The frozen pizza sales were not that good. McCain fries were on sale, but I still have some, and I decided if I'm going to buy brand name frozen potato products, I'm getting Ore-Ida from now on because Ore-Ida's based in Pittsburgh. My frozen beef ravioli were $2.99 for a box, but there were only 2 boxes, and both had brown ooze on them. I wanted to buy a bag of frozen onions (on sale for $0.99) but I couldn't find them. I should have gone to C-Town.

The Jesus vegetable store had 4 tomatoes for $1. Maybe I should have got them so I could make insalata caprese. But I didn't, so I'll just have to look at this picture of it.

Slithery Onions

I ate those onions last night. They were quite good. They reminded me of slimey onions, and they were slightly better than the slimey onions I made one day (er, month) by accident. Here is the recipe:

1. Chop up some onions for something.
2. Don't use them all.
3. Put the left-overs in a plastic sealable bag and put it in the refrigerator.
4. Find it 3-4 weeks later and put it on a sandwich.

Perfectly fermented and slimey. I miss those days.

Here's another fun thing you can do with an onion: cut it in half and put it in a bowl of vinegar and leave it in the corner of your room. I don't know why you would do this though. I just do it out of instinct.

Why I haven't been posting

In short, I haven't been shopping. Easter was on Sunday, so Pachelbel and I did a lot of shopping for that, but we didn't get any deals. Since then, my refrigerator has been full and I've been eating leftovers. However, at the recommendation of my boss, I picked up some Sabrett push-cart style onions for hot dogs. I haven't tried them yet, but I imagine they're good--he's a hot dog connoisseur. Except he doesn't like ketchup.

Toothpaste

I was debating which toothpaste to get when I was at Price Chopper last night, and I saw this Aquafresh one on sale for $2.50. It has micro-active foaming action. And it foams so much! I love it! I'll never use anything else.

Cheese, Trader Joe's Wine Store

I bought 2 lbs of mozzarella! I don't even know what I'm going to do with it yet.

I went in the Trader Joe's Wine Store today. There was so much cheap wine. I'll never buy wine anywhere else. I'm not that big on wine, so if it's not cheap, I won't buy it at all. I bought 2 bottles of white and 1 of red. The red is Charles Shaw (i.e. 3 buck chuck 'round these parts.) The only trouble was that they don't take American Express. I was so depressed that I didn't even go into the regular Trader Joe's store, even though there wasn't a line to get in today. I was also carrying three bottles of wine and 2 balls of cheese though.

Holy Cow! Cheese Week!

I had to use my "Holy Cow!" subject again because this is a cheese post.

In addition to the $3.99/lb Pecorino Romano at Key Food I posted about on Saturday, there is $3.99/lb Mozzarella at Gourmet Garage this week. It's usually $5.99/lb! That's 1/3 off! There are little 1 lb globules of mozzarella all over. The only thing that prevented me from making my first purchase at Gourmet Garage since 2002 was that it said it should be refrigerated.

They also have Sharp Cheddar on sale for $3.99/lb, which is regularly $5.99/lb. Frankly, only Italian cheese excites me, though. I wouldn't make this post if that were the only cheese deal.

I'm probably never going to be able to buy cheese again. I'll be unwilling to pay more than $3.99/lb and it will always be more than that. That is really really sad.

Holy Cow! Great Deals at Key Food!

If you happen to be throwing a party tonight and need to pick up some mixers, you need to go to Key Food. Coke/Sprite/Dr. Pepper/Seagrams Ginger Ale is on sale for $0.89 for 2 liters (limit 5) with your card! I picked up three, and I'm merely attending a party.

The problem with that deal is I bought three bottles and that cost me about $2.70. The credit card minimum there is $5, so I had to keep Chopin. I thought about getting limes, but they were 5/$2. This was the only shortcoming at Key Food. The Jesus vegetable store had them 5/$1. You have to spend $10 there or pay cash, so I don't usually shop there. I can't buy limes that are not priced competitively, so no limes.

Anyway, Pecorino Romano is $3.99/lb this week! I made the most delicious macaroni and cheese the other night by boiling some macaroni and then grating too much cheese on it. By too much, I mean more than you'd think you should be using. Grated cheese is something that people have a weird idea of what "too much" means. You should be using a lot more, and at $3.99/lb, you can! (You shouldn't be paying more than 50 cents for a 1 lb box of pasta, by the way. When you see that deal, stock up on it. It keeps.)

Franceso Rainaldi pasta sauce is 10 bottles for $10. Or you can buy 2 for $2 like I did.

Elio's frozen pizzas (9 slices, which is actually 3 pizzas, for $4.69) are buy one get one free. I got them.

All this because of the $5 credit card minimum!

Malta India & Milk, Tomatoes & Spam & Christ

I'm told that the worst part of drinking Malta India (which is like Malta Goya only worse) and milk is that it still tastes like malta india, but there's more of it to get down.

One time on the subway I saw a man drinking Malta Goya and he didn't even wince. I almost threw up on him because that was so gross. At least when you see a guy wince, you know he's alive.

Tomatoes are $0.79/lb at the Jesus vegetable store on Grand St. They're redder than the other ones I've seen. I might have to have some more Spam sandwiches this weekend!

Beware!

Malta Goya is on sale 3/$1 at Key Food. Ew gross!

Yesterday I went in grocery stores four times. First I went to C-Town and didn't see anything I wanted and I was just going for a walk anyway. I walked north to Greenpoint and found a huge Key Food on McGuinness Blvd. It had wide aisles and all sorts of food. It was almost suburban. It was attached to a 24-hour food court that had a Taco Bell in it. I noticed that tomatoes were only $0.99/lb and thought that was a good deal. I've been waiting for tomatoes to stop being $1.49/lb and $1.99/lb. I walked some more and took a bus and a subway and came back to C-Town.

This time I found things to buy. I wanted to buy some meat, but I didn't see any I liked. I got a can of Spam Lite though because it was on sale for $2.50. The label showed a delicious-looking Spam sandwich with cheese and tomato, so I bought some hamburger buns too. I had cheese at home. I went next door to the vegetable place and was pleasantly surprised to find tomatoes for $0.99/lb. I guess they're cheap now.

Later, Pachelbel convinced me to go to Cat Pee with her to get Diet Coke and Pop-Tarts. There was a white and grey cat there. No wonder it smells like cat pee.

A Provolone Pity

At C-Town, a sign said Stella Provolone was $3.99/lb this week. I ordered a half pound. The slicer rang it up as $4.99/lb. Now I'm out 50 cents!

I also have way more cheese than I need for my lunch tomorrow (no meat during Lent is tough). I should make grilled cheese for dinner. And French onion soup on Saturday. Or Italian onion soup, because I'll use foccacia and provolone.

Mutton: De Agony of DeSheep

I was reading Much Ado about Mutton this morning in the NY Times and was laughing out loud. Where can I get some sheep meat around these parts? What does it taste like? How much does it cost?


Muttony is when you eat the capteen of the sheep!

Ginger Root Price Update

Reports have been trickling in about ginger root prices. I'm not sure if I have them right. You can get it in a grocery store (Harris Teeter) in Charlotte, NC for $2.99/lb. Trader Joe's in Manhattan is about $3.49/lb $3.29/lb. And I can't remember if this was a dream or not, but I remember someone telling me that it was $0.89/lb somewhere.

Good Deals Around West Bushwick

I found anchovies at C-Town today and they're cheaper than at Key Food. They're under $3. No pecorino at C-Town though.

I found pecorino at Key Food for $3.99/lb. Pachelbel bought me a cheese grater today, so I needed something hard to grate. I also got elbow macaroni for $0.79, and best of all, McCain frozen potato products are buy one get one free. I saved $4 on my 2 bags of Smiles.

Anchovies

I finally found the anchovies at Key Food. They're not near the sardines, clams, tuna, etc. They're with jars of minced garlic and other Italian things.

Pierogies weren't on sale, which was the whole reason I went to the store. Goya olives were on sale, so I got an 8 oz jar for $1.50. Mama Rosa ravioli cost $2.99 there, whereas they are $3.19 at C-Town.

I tried to go to Trader Joe's, but there was a long line to get in.

Juicing Ginger

I bought a Jack Lalanne Juicer for $49.99. It says Princess Juicer on it, but it says Princes Juicer on the box that isn't really for it. I got it for ginger to make ginger beer. I bought about 2 pounds of ginger and peeled it. I juiced it. It's easier to clean after juicing ginger than oranges. Two pounds of ginger yields 1 pint of juice.

This is easier than cutting it up and using a garlic press. And the pulp is a lot drier.

You can see more pictures here.

The Best Deal Ever!!!!

I had been buying Goya Ginger Beer in 12-ounce bottles for 50 cents, then 55 cents, and then they raised it to 65 cents. I'd buy 20 or 25 when I'd get them. I'd go to several stores to get more before breaks to keep my Pittsburgh friends stocked. But now they sell 2 liter bottles of it!!! They didn't have a price on them, so I just got one. I looked at the receipt after and saw it was only $1.19 for 67.6 ounces! It gets better! After looking at the receipt some more, I saw it was on sale with the AdvantEdge card for 99 cents! 99 cents for 67.6 ounces vs. 65 cents for 12 ounces. Best deal ever!

S'il vous plait, Peas, Por Favor

C-Town has 2 lbs of frozen peas on sale for $1.67! Know what they say about me in the old country? "Grocery Chopin, you're just like Jesus--you're the Prince of Peas." And they're right. I can put frozen peas in every single thing I boil.

Bags of Kraft shredded cheese are on sale 2/$5. This weekend I made 12 quesadillas (for a party) and 2 quesadillas (for my belly). You can also get La Costena salsa for $1.99. That's a lot cheaper than the Frito-Lay salsa (~$2.49) and it's better. Unfortunately, sour cream wasn't on sale.

Pierogies are on sale at Key Food. You can get 2 boxes for $5.

The Club

The floor was crowded, people bumped into me except when I was bumping into them, and people were telling us to dance. Trader Joe's is my favorite club. It's hard to judge it as a grocery store so far because it was so crowded that I couldn't browse everything and if I wanted to buy anything, the line was wrapped around two walls. I was impressed by what I saw though. I can't wait to go back.


There was horseradish hummus for $1.79. That seemed like a good deal. Well, there were lots of kinds of hummus for $1.79, but the horseradish seemed most tempting.

Slate's article on Trader Joe's

Macaroni & Cheese Soup at Gourmet Garage

A Grocery-Chopin-Correspondent (or co-worker, for those of you who don't like the mystery of this blog) reports that Gourmet Garage in SoHo has macaroni & cheese soup! And it's delicious. She says it's very much a soup, but chock full of noodles. There's a little bit of spice to it too.

Wow wow wow wow!

I can't believe I've never heard of something so obviously a good idea before.

Three Items of Note

1. Warehouse Liquors on Broadway and Waverly St has Swordsman Gin (it's palatable and 86 proof) for $9.99 for a bottle. But you can get 2 for $15.99!

2. I walked by Trader Joe's yesterday. It's looking good. I can't wait til Friday.

3. On Friday Astor Wine & Spirits is putting all Irish whiskeys on sale for 17% off on Friday for St. Patrick's Day.

Sorry this blog has turned to a booze blog lately. Hopefully I'll return to a solid diet.

Loyalty Cards

New York Magazine published an indictment of supermarket loyalty cards. Can Supermarket Loyalty Cards Cost You Your Freedom?. I think they get it fundamentally wrong.

For one thing, who knew your shopping list could be used against you in court? Loyalty-card data have been subpoenaed: In one case, a Washington man was falsely accused of arson after grocery records indicated he had bought a fire starter. But the real concern is a different kind of self-incrimination. Actuaries have long sought reliable information to predict who is at risk for heart disease and other ailments; the fear is that insurance companies will raise rates for shoppers with bacon and Mallomars habits.

First of all, it is worse to be falsely accused of arson than to have an insurer know more about you. I thought that was rather obvious, but apparently it's not. Second, it's not all that bad if insurers can reward healthy habits and punish unhealthy ones. It's not entirely good, but it's easy enough to point out how it is at least somewhat good.

Fundamentally, I like having grocery stores having more perfect information about my tastes and buying habits. It lets them cater to me. It lets them know what to put on sale to get me to buy something. I like to buy something. Key Food has cabbage on sale for $0.09/lb this week. If I go buy some and then buy everything else I need to make haluski or stuffed cabbage or coleslaw, Key Food wins by using cabbage as a loss-leader to get me to buy more food. But I also win because I am buying things I want to buy for a good price. At its best use, the loyalty cards keep track of what I buy and then give me coupons specifically for those things.

Most every chain grocery and drugstore in the city offers a program, including D’Agostino’s D’AG Rewards, the Food Emporium’s Gold Points, Duane Reade’s Dollar Rewards, Gristede’s Diamond Value Club, and CVS’s ExtraCare. The stores say that the programs are simply used for inventory control and to reward frequent shoppers. Nicholas D’Agostino III, owner-president of D’Agostino Supermarkets, estimates that 75 percent of his shoppers use the card and says, “D’Agostino’s policy is ironclad. We’re not sharing the information with anyone else.” But as CASPIAN’s Vanderlippe points out, “Once the data’s been collected, it has a nasty habit of never going away.”

Well, I wish they would share that information! I wish C-Town and Key Food would notice how many condiments I buy and tell Heinz and other condiment makers to send me condiment coupons to try new condiments.

The only information I don't want them sharing is that I bought fire starter and the government should arrest me. But that's the only sharing of information that this article dismisses.

Highballs in West Bushwick

A highball has two ingredients: whiskey and ginger ale. So this post will have two parts about my quest for both.

Yesterday after work I wanted whiskey, so I went to Warehouse Liquors on Broadway and 8th St. The whiskeys are crowded into a corner when you first walk in and an employee was standing in front of them. I hate being eyed by employees. Because Astor is a block away, I didn't put any effort into looking and just went there. Astor is moving down the street so its stock is running low. No Evan Williams! It's cheaper at Warehouse anyway. I wanted some Irish whiskey, but that's only because it's going to be on sale on St. Patrick's Day for 17% off. It'd be dumb to buy it early. So I left there too.

Today I wanted whiskey again, but didn't want to go back to the same stores I was at yesterday. I decided to walk around my neighborhood to try the liquor stores. Unfortunatley, most of the stores are the type with plexiglass separating you and the worker. I like to browse and pick up the bottles and read the labels, just like I do when I shop for groceries. So I didn't even go in any of those types. I went in only two liquor stores. The one on Lorimer, a block north of Grand St. had high prices and not much selection. The wine store on Graham had price tags on all the bottles but didn't have prices on them. The only thing I hate more than a high price is an uncertain price. This store was even worse because they said hi to me when I walked in and bye when I left.

So I have no whiskey.

The story of the ginger ale has a happier ending. This afternoon when I was buying the ingredients for chili at Key Food, I noticed that ginger ale was 4 for $4 (must buy 4) and Sprite was 4 for $4 and buy 4, get a 5th free if you use your card. I didn't buy any then, but I came back when I was wandering around because I assumed I'd actually get some whiskey and would need ginger ale. I picked up 1 bottle of Sprite and 1 of ginger ale. I realized that I didn't get enough to get to use my credit card, so this story isn't completely happy. However, the next thing I knew, the total came to $1.58. The sprite rang up as $1, the ginger ale as $1.29, and I used my key food card and it said "coca-cola coupon -$1.00." So I think I got the Sprite for free except for tax and deposit.

Ethnic Groceries in Pittsburgh

An anonymous commenter, who I assume is my sister, pointed me toward this article by Rachel Ankney in Pop City. Think Global, Eat Local

From pierogies to Primanti’s, Pittsburgh is an extraordinary food city where unique edibles are a signature. Here’s a little known fact for devoted cooks and foodies: an assortment of colorful markets with a wide range of ethnic groceries from around the globe can be found in one small, festive corner of South Oakland.

In fact, I didn't know that. I thought if I wanted ethnic foods I had to go to the Strip District. The article is worth reading for the photos alone.

If the article reads like an advertorial, it sort of is. The whole concept of the magazine is to make people not feel so negative about Pittsburgh.

Bonus fact: I went to high school with Ms. Ankney.

Other Ways Trader Joe's Can Impress Me

Having good instant coffee isn't the only way Trader Joe's can impress me. I'll like it if it's like Gourmet Garage. Especially if it's cheaper. I'm supposed to be receiving a cheese grater, so if I can find good cheap Paremesan cheese there, I'll be pleased. Olives for my martinis would impress me too. I realized my jars of Goya olives aren't all that cheap.

I stole the picture from MedND, which has an interesting guide to parmesan. When I lived in Italy for a while, Parmagiano Reggiano was really cheap and I ate it to excess on everything. Americans apply it like it's salt; Italians apply it like it's the sauce.

Trader Joe's Dismay

After reading this article about Trader Joe's in the NY Times, I think I'm a little less excited to finally go in one. It might be quotes like these:

"In the case of the peanuts, 'I tasted that snack in a Thai airport, but it was stale and too salty and full of MSG,' Ms. Latta said."

"About 80 percent of the items carry the Trader Joe's label, many imported from small producers in Europe and Asia, and all free of artificial colors, preservatives, flavors and MSG."

Know what I like? MSG. Know what I dislike? Snootiness about msg. I dislike snootiness about msg more than I like msg. I went to a coffee tasting last night I my tolerance for food snobbery is at a low point. This store chops your vegetables for you. I adore Chopin my vegetables! Except onions, which I like to use frozen and pre-chopped.

Here is my Trader Joe's litmus test: instant coffee. If they have a delicious and new instant coffee for me, I will like them. If they sell reasonably priced exotic beans, I probably won't shop there very much. And in 9 days, I'll find out.

The Nature of C-Town's Sales

C-Town is calling its sales this week "birthday bash." It has an abnormally large percentage of sales that are of the "with $10 purchase, limit 1 per family" variety. The $10 purchase isn't a high hurdle for me to meat because/despite Elio's frozen pizzas are Buy One Get One this week. The limit of 1 per family is what makes me nervous. What if Debussy or Pachelbel is shopping and eyes that deal and wants to take advantage of it and can't because I already did? That makes me feel bad for them even though they don't shop there anymore. And they don't buy tuna (2 cans for $1!) In fact, I know they don't use their cards because I was very very close to winning a ham or something this fall if I just had about 20 more points (you get one for each dollar you spend) and Pachelbel never used her card! And Debussy never ate! So maybe I should have just bought the tuna without any guilt.

Hot Dog Month Results

During February, in an attempt to not be skinny, to take advantage of a good deal on a meat, to eat more condiments, and for science itself, Mr. Modest Mussorgsky and I ate hot dogs. We ate as many hot dogs as we could. We feasted on frankfurters and laid waste to wieners. We were not having a contest, but we both ate:

21

The best condiments for soy mayo, cocktail sauce, thousand island dressing, ketchup and mustard, and regular mayo. The worst condiment was blue cheese dressing. I never asked Mussorgsky how he ate his. If he reads, maybe he can let us know.

Neither of us feels that we really ate more hot dogs than we would during a normal month. In June, we might do another experiment to see how a normal month stacks up.

Quick Update

C-Town sells Coke products again. 1.5 liters is on sale for $0.89.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.