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.