Trader Joe's in Williamsburg is opening December 10!

 I guess I will buy capers and nuts and buttermilk and gorgonzola more often.

Trader Joe's Williamsburg outpost will officially open Friday, Dec. 10, the store announced Thursday. https://t.co/TfEsO0UJhZ

— Brooklyn Paper (@brooklynpaper) December 3, 2021

Weird Receipt at Brooklyn Harvest Market

 Maybe I'll keep posting these.

Here is what I got. Five things.

Here is my receipt. Fourteen line items.

I'll translate. The ricotta was $2.99. The mozzarella was $1.99. The lasagna was $1.24. The diet tonic water was $0.60. The buttermilk was $2.

I did get to use a coupon on the buttermilk that I added to my card through the website. That was thrilling.

What to buy this week - Coronavirus Edition

A couple of my friends were talking about stocking up on food in case there are quarantines or supply chain problems. I realized that all my usual shopping already prepared me. I have so many beans because they are always cheap. I have so much canned fish because it's Lent. But now I have an excuse to go buy even more beans. I want borlotti/cranberry/Roman (they are the same) because I've been watching Italian cooking videos.

Anyway...

Bravo: Barilla pasta is $1. I keep seeing that in my videos. I want weird shapes. A tin of anchovies is $1.69. I also see that in my videos. (They use so much more anchovy when that's an ingredient than we do.. and so much less garlic.)

Food Bazaar: Octopus is $3/lb. I watched several videos about that, but I am not ready to deal with one.

Green Corner: Lemons are 7/$2, which is more lemons than 6/$2, which is better than 50 cents each, which is usually a good lemon price. (This is how I do math in my head.)  A 2 pound bag of red onions is $1.25.

C-Town: Asparagus is $2/lb. Since when is Hormel salami $9/lb?

Key Food: Key Food has corned beef sales because St. Patrick's Day is coming up, but it doesn't have sales as good as last year, so I won't buy it. Last year I think it was like $0.40/lb. Now it is $2. Asparagus is also $2/lb here. Baby bella mushrooms are $3/lb. Mozzarella is $3.50/lb. Hmm. Cabot Greek yogurt is $4 for 2 lbs. Compare that to Fage, which is $6. Buttermilk is only $2. It's usually $2.50 here (but $1.69 at Trader Joe's). Colavita pasta is $1. Maybe they have good shapes.

Trader Joe's on the Lower East Side

I went there tonight. I wanted to get 3 things: a jar of capers, a bag of peanuts, and gorgonzola. I got 10 things. I also got 2 bags of orzo for $0.99/each, a box of water crackers, a bag of frozen brussels sprouts, a quart of buttermilk, a 2 lb bag of sweet potatoes, and a can of cannellini beans. I spent $17.42.

It was my first time at this store. It's pretty new. It's in the basement of a new building, so I didn't have cell phone service. I dislike that, but New York's zoning code forces retail into basements. The store was vast! Too vast! I had to walk all over the place. There's an almost empty corridor from the frozen section to the regular groceries. Once I made it to the nut area, I would definitely not walk back for something I might have forgotten early.

It was pretty empty and the line was short at 9:15, and it's right over the Williamsburg Bridge, so I'll go back. I just thought it was too big.

Grocery Circular Round Up 3/14

I can't even really go shopping. I'm getting a new roommate so I have to eat all my accumulated groceries so he will have room. For the first time, I think I'm going to have 2 roommates who like to cook and use the kitchen. I hope I survive.

On the other hand, both the Ides of March and St. Patrick's Day are upon us. I might have to cook appropriate foods.

Key Food: Cabbage is $0.29/lb. I still have cabbage though. It doesn't go bad very quickly. Potatoes are $0.30/lb if you buy a 5lb bag.  Oh no! Key Food raised the price of its store brand cottage cheese from $2 to $2.19! I live on cottage cheese. I had some with dill in it for breakfast. Axelrod cottage cheese is still $2 though so I won't starve.

C-Town: I walked into C-Town last night, but they didn't have the diced tomatoes I wanted to buy to try before I buy a case of them from Amazon. Nevermind--I cannot own a case of diced tomatoes once I have to share a kitchen with another person. C-Town wants way more for potatoes than Key Food does. You can get Jif peanut butter for $2, which is a pretty good deal. I bought a ton of peanut butter at Key Food on February 23 when I was drunk though, so that won't do me any good. They have Hunt's diced tomatoes for $1. I guess I could eat those. Buttermilk is only $2 here. That's the best price I've seen since Trader Joe's. Key Food wants $2.50. But C-Town wants $2.5 for Axelrod cottage cheese.

Associated: I don't really make special trips to Associated anymore. It has become my default store. I lived here for years without having a default store. And there's nothing worth going out of my way for this week.

Western Beef: They want $4/lb for mussels! Ha! I'll go to Food Bazaar and get them for $1.25/lb. There's nothing worth traveling here for this week.

Food Bazaar: As discussed previously, mussels. I only make a trip here for seafood.

Some Good Deals at Key Food

Orange juice was $1.69 for a carton, so I'm going to drink some screwdrivers when the sun sets. Colavita crushed tomatoes are still $1.50. C-Town charges a premium for them. The Key Food tomato sauces were 3/$1 and I want to make chili soon so those will be good. Eggs were $1.79, which is an ok price. It beats C-Town. Giardinera was $2. Rice is $1.49 for a pound. The 2 pound bags are $2.99, so I think I'll just save myself the penny and let them store the extra pound for more. That's penny-wise AND pound-wise. Milk is $2.69 for a half gallon. I have no idea if that's a good price. I can never run for president because despite buying milk and having a grocery blog, I don't know the price of milks.

They had buttermilk for either $2 or $2.50. Trader Joe's has it for $1.69, same brand. These buttermilks all expired yesterday or in 3 days. With prices like that, no wonder they have no turnover. With no turnover, no wonder they have prices like that. Not my problem--I'll wait til I'm at Trader Joe's.